Amos and ‘"Ghana in the Eyes of God": a Public Theological Response to Bribery and Corruption

The purpose of this article is to draw upon the condemnation of bribery, corruption and miscarriage of justice to be found in the book of Amos for the sake of a public theology. The occasion for such is a bribery scandal that hit the Ghanaian judiciary. An investigative journalist presented evidence...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Amissah, Patrick Kofi (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill [2019]
In: International journal of public theology
Year: 2019, Volume: 13, Issue: 3, Pages: 282-300
IxTheo Classification:CG Christianity and Politics
HB Old Testament
KAJ Church history 1914-; recent history
KBN Sub-Saharan Africa
NCC Social ethics
NCD Political ethics
XA Law
Further subjects:B judicial bribery
B Social Justice
B Bible
B Public Theology
B Scandal
B Amos
B Prophecy
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
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Description
Summary:The purpose of this article is to draw upon the condemnation of bribery, corruption and miscarriage of justice to be found in the book of Amos for the sake of a public theology. The occasion for such is a bribery scandal that hit the Ghanaian judiciary. An investigative journalist presented evidence to substantiate the hitherto unsubstantiated perception that some judges in Ghana take bribes to skew judgement. The scandal is deepened through many of the judges being Christian. They attracted widespread criticism from religious leaders, both Christian and others, as well as from the wider society. The public sphere of a fair and independent judiciary was thus compromised. The argument draws upon an assessment of Amos 5:7; 10, 12 and 6:12. These texts are examined in the light of this judicial bribery and corruption scandal and thus provide an example of how the Bible can play a part in a public theology and nurture of social justice.
ISSN:1569-7320
Contains:Enthalten in: International journal of public theology
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15697320-12341579