Christian Ethics in a Corrupt Society: A Challenge to Christians in Nigeria

Abstract

Christian ethics revolves around morality that concentrates on whether an action is morally good or bad. It implies that Christian ethics which is a branch of religious ethics ensures that people’s actions are in tandem with the acceptable moral standard, thereby contributing a lot in human moral development. It becomes worrisome that despite Christian ethics, corruption is perpetrated freely in Nigeria without those concerned having requisite moral Compunction to abstain from corrupt acts. This ugly situation diminishes the role of Christian ethics in human moral development. Therefore it has become necessary to examine the factors that militate against Christian ethics in Nigeria which has made it possible for people, particularly politicians to engage in all sorts of corrupt acts. The work made use of phenomenological approach. It was descriptive and analytical. The work used primary and secondary sources. The primary source includes observation while secondary sources include books, journals, internet materials, encyclopedia and so on. Despite the fact that Nigeria is predominantly Christians, Nigeria is classified as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. There is no doubt that most of the Christians do not apply Christian ethics in their workplace due to Colonialism, Secularization, Materialism, change of moral values, irreligious attitude, Family background, Western influence, Imported religion and so on.

Keywords: Christian, Ethics and Corruption