CHRISTIAN EDUCATION IN THE 21ST CENTURY NIGERIAN CHURCHES: CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS

Oyebode Paul Jegede (PhD), Abare Kallah

Abstract


In the beginning, Christian education was highly regarded in the Christendom because it is regarded as the gateway soundness of mind, hand and heart. In fact, it was viewed as the bed-rock for a meaningful and successful life. However, it is unfortunate to note that little or no attention is giving to Christian religious education. The little attention it seems to be enjoying is being threatened by the government officials, with the intention of removing the--Christian Religious Studies from the National Curriculum. This therefore, serves as a clarion call for the Nigerian churches and her leadership who rose to challenge the move and fight against the complete eradication of the subject from Nigerian curricula. Education without soundness of mind, heart and hands breeds in most cases moral backwardness and hardly can it contribute to national development. To this extent, the bugging questions are; how can Christian education be used for the all-round development of the person? To what extent, are Nigerian churches paying attention to the development of Christian education and national development? These questions are pertinent because without soundness of mind, heart and hands, it becomes impossible for national development in all spheres. Since the Nigerian churches are not exempted from the challenges facing Christian education, what steps are the churches taking to combat these challenges? These are the premises on which the paper built. The paper is an attempt to examine the challenges facing Christian religious education in the 21st century and solutions proffered. The method adopted was historical so as to be able to trace the origin of Christian education in Nigeria. The paper concluded that social ills in the society can only be reduced through sound quality religious education. The paper recommended that effective Christian education in the church is a panacea for national development.


Keywords


Education, Church, Christian Religious Education, Challenges, Solutions, Nigeria.

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