ACTIVIDADES INDICADOR PLANIFICADO INDICADOR LOGRADO

The research is on an Exegetical analysis of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16: 19-31) in Nigeria context. The work was undertaken to carry out a detailed exegetical interpretation of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16: 19-31) as the reference point. The hermeneutic application of the text (Luke 16:19-31) to Nigeria context bring out different issues associated with the problem of poverty and social interaction between the haves and haves-not in contemporary Nigeria society.

The problem that attracted the interest in such research on how best to understand a big paradox in Nigeria: why poverty prevails in such a country that is endowed with great natural resources that if properly managed will make Nigeria a poverty free nation. The problem of poverty is fuelled with a social gap between the rich and the poor. It is sorry situation when one remembers that there was a time in this country during which there was oil boom. When the nation was so rich and the problem was how to spend the money, there was rapid infrastructural development and rich and poor lived happily among themselves. It is most unfortunately that most rich men especially the politicians focus mainly on enriching themselves to the detriment of the poor people, mostly those elected them into their offices.

From on set, the research purposed that the proper hermeneutical application of the parable

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will offer a moral and spiritual solution to the above problem. Hence the parable will encourage the right use of wealth and possession among the rich and hope and assurance of the transforming love of God among the poor.

The chapter two of the work is on the review of the existing literature on the topic. This chapter tries to recapitulate all the known discussion on the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) carried out down through the ages by many erudite scholars. The literature review as arranged under the headings; the conceptual framework, the theoretical frame work and empirical studies. In the conceptual frame work, the research seeks how thinkers intellectually try to understand the concepts: the poor and the rich. Poor has multidimensional approach. Jesus being a Jew took Hebrews concept of poverty and later the Greek terms were considered. Most of the scholars understood poverty as situation in which an individual is unable because of economic, social, political and psychological incapacitation to provide himself and family the barest basic necessities of life.

To some, the word is not economic deprivation but a situation of psychological and sociological terms. Social, as it regards the distribution of wealth among the criticism and consequences of social strata. This place the very small number of men who are rich on the top while a huge number of masses on the bottom line of social structure. From the pages of the gospel of Luke, we see and read the materials on possession, riches and poverty. The research scrutinized the issue of poverty and riches.

The chapter three of the research centers on the historical evaluation of the Gospel of Luke and the Nigerian economic situation. In this chapter, we commenced by critical survey of the arguments surrounding the authorship of the Gospel of Luke. The traditional authorship of

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Luke attributed to Luke the physician is questioned. Though a lot of arguments are levelled against the authorship of Luke yet the evidences fall short of final proof and have no suitable alternative. Hence the research attributes the authorship to Luke. From there the research delved into the dating of the Gospel. It identified the three levels of argument concerning the dating. These sections are suggested by the scholars are 62-63 Ad, 75-85Ad, and early second century. After harmonizing the proofs that supports the above dates, the research agreed that the date might have likely to be mid-sixties.

The chapter three further considered the language as the mixture of classical Greek, Hebraic and Aramaic. The purpose of the writing of the gospel of Luke also forms the major work in chapter three. A universal gospel that tends to break down all bearers that keep people outside the boundary of the salvation brought through Jesus Christ. In Christ, God is establishing a kingdom that welcomes all men. The peculiarity of Luke favours that the Gospel is presented in such a way that favours the poor and those who’s nature and condition have placed them at the periphery of the kingdom. The structure and content of the gospel of Luke favour the poor, and the recipients are mostly the poor though some New Testament scholars have debated over it. Construction of the social world of Lucan Greco-Roman world forms the major work in chapter three. The socio-political background was considered. The role of Jesus ministry in an already existing society made some to term Jesus and John as being antagonistic to the existing Government. The political, social and economic worlds of Luke Gospel are known for gaps and social strata mainly between the few elites and majority of the population fall within the poverty level. The parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16.19-31) evokes a realistic portrait of the above worlds. The bottom line is that the society in which Luke wrote was seriously under tension, tension in the sense that the greater percentage of the population live in poverty level. They rely on the mercies of the rich. The

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parable of the rich man and Lazarus is told in the economic, political and socio-religious backgrounds as portrayed above. The Nigeria economic and social structure and social interaction formed the basis of comparative analysis between the Greco-Roman world and Nigerian society.

The chapter four of the research work discussed in details the exegetical interpretation of the parable. We started the interpretation by the orientation of the text, Luke 16.19-31. After which we delved into the examination of the setting of the parable and argue that the setting falls into the whole chapter that deals with wealth and possession. The text was given in Greek text and presentation of the text in English language, textual criticism of the text Luke 16.19-31. We also considered some linguistic analysis of the text. For the message of the parable, we gave some levels of interpretations as suggested by scholars. These levels of interpretations are Augustine’s and Gregory’s approaches of allegory. Another attempt to the interpretation of the parable is eschatological, the final judgment between the Israelites and the Gentiles represented in the parable by two figures: the rich man and Lazarus. The semantic analyses looked into the style, sentences and organization of the parable and admire the high and classical language, style and method in which the parable is presented.

Chapter five centered on the Hermeneutical application of the parable (Luke 16.19-31) to the contemporary Nigerian society. The message is applied to Nigerian contemporary society.

Here the research acknowledges that poverty is among the major challenges confronting Africa and Nigeria in particular. The increasing incidence of poverty in Nigeria in spite various efforts used by a range of poverty-related programmes and schemes in the country is really an irony. It is paradox in the sense that Nigeria is endowed with great potentials that is capable of making it a poverty free nation yet a huge number of Nigerians live in poverty

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level. The chapter also acknowledges a mad rush for wealth as an escape route to poverty and many ends up poorer and devastated. Many who labour to make it have no opportunity to do so, hence the wealth falls in the hands of very few Nigerians.