An Ethical Appraisal of Social Justice in the Book of Amos and Its Implications for Socio-Religious Integrity in Contemporary Nigerian Society

Abstract

Social justice is a situation or social condition predicated on human rights and equality which social injustice does not guarantee. This paper examines the concept of social justice in the book of Amos and presents its ethical implications for the contemporary Nigerian society. The aim of this paper is not to do an exegesis of the book of Amos, but to consider the moral messages of prophecy of Amos as it affects the socio-religious integrity in contemporary Nigerian society. The work uses the tripartite historical, sociological and expository approaches in analysing data which is mainly obtained from secondary sources. The findings in this paper revealed that Nigeria accommodates certain social conditions that are similar to those in Israel at the time of Amos; the wealth of the nation is concentrated in the hands of the few privileged and mostly corrupt Nigerians. The poor masses are suffering in the midst of multimillionaires who corruptly enriched themselves at the expense of the poor masses who are divided along tribal and religious lines without the unity needed to challenge their corrupt leaders. This paper therefore recommends the application of, Amos' teaching on social justice by Christians in Nigeria to remedy the situation of gross injustice and economic inequality in the contemporary Nigerian society that is obviously lacking in religious and moral integrity