Together as One: Interfaith Relationships between African Traditional Religion, Islam, and Christianity in Nigeria.

About the Book

The Nigerian religious landscape is characterized by series of violence leading to bloodshed, loss of thousands of life and property worth billions of Naira. This unfortunate situation raises much concern in the minds of well-meaning Nigerians. Hence, this book raises such crucial questions as: How can Nigeria remain a secular state, and still maintain its plurality of religion and at same time survive disintegration because of religious violence, conflict and intolerance? How can followers of these different religions maintain their religious identity, while at the same time co-operating with one another in making Nigeria a home for all, where all can worship God in freedom and peace? This book offers hope in the midst of hopelessness, it underscores the fact that, though tribe and tongue may differ, though religious differences exist, Nigeria is still one sovereign nation. Consequently, the opening title: Together as One resonates with the opening statements of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that professes unity, harmony and peace as one indivisible and indissoluble sovereign nation under God. This book finds the hope of reclaiming and rebuilding this unity and harmony, threatened by religious violence, in Interfaith Relationships between African Traditional Religion, Islam, and Christianity.

About the Author

Hyacinth Kalu, Ph.D., is a Nigerian born Catholic Priest and a scholar with great passion for research, teaching and learning. He holds degrees in diverse academic fields of study including Religion, Education, Theology, Philosophy, Interfaith, and Culture, from Universities and Institutions around the World. He studied at University of the West, Rosemead, California; California Coast University, Santa Ana, California; Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, California; Norwich University, Northfield, Vermont; United States Institute of Peace, Washington, D.C.; all in the United States of America. He also studied at the St. Joseph Major Seminary, an affiliate of Pontifical Urban University, Rome; and Bigard Memorial Seminary, Nigeria. He specializes in Comparative Religion, and translates his research and scholarship into classroom and concrete daily-live examples. He is the author of the following books, The Word Took Flesh: Incarnating the Christian Message in Igbo Land of Nigeria in the Light of Vatican II’s Theology of Inculturation; Essays on World Religious Thoughts: A Comparative Study; The Nigerian Nation and Religion (Interfaith Series, Vol. I).