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Nimi Wariboko

Boston University, Philosophy, Theology, and Ethics, Faculty Member

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I am a theological theorist more than a theologian or ethicist. I neither craft dogmatic treatises nor renovate, nor construct theological systems, partial or whole. I see myself as attempting to create social theories out of theology, theological ethics, and philosophical theology. If you read my oeuvre carefully you would notice that I work with and innovate critical social theories and radical continental philosophies by replenishing, refreshing, and reframing them with theological or religious sensibilities and insights. Simply, I am a theorist, theological theorist---just as you have political, economic, or social theorists.

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Papers by Nimi Wariboko

A Theory of Inflation and Deflation in Religious Commitment

This paper provides an alternative theory of religious change. lt offers a model of explanation i... more This paper provides an alternative theory of religious change. lt offers a model of explanation in line with the getnera! theory of inflation and deflation of commitments. lt examines the dynamics of inflation and deflation of religious commitments in terms of how societies understand, experience, and interpret time, and also in tie tight of their aftitude toward apocalypticism. using an economic theory of inftation and deflation of pricis the paper defines and analyzes the dynamics, attributes, and the conditions under which inflation or deflation of religious commitments occur. The paper illustrates the model by examining the religious commitments of the urapmin of Papua New Guinea and evangelicals in the United Sfafes.

Transcripts of the Sacred in Nigeria

Pneuma Book Award

Pneuma, Jun 12, 2023

Global Trade and Cultural Authentication: The Kalabari of the Niger Delta edited by Joanne B. Eicher Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2022. Pp. 330. $30 (pbk)

The Journal of Modern African Studies

Between Azusa Street and Stingless Death Is Pentecostal Scholarship

Pneuma

The Revelation and Re-veilation of American Politics

Pneuma

Politics in the United States of America is in a tumultuous era, with a divisiveness that has cra... more Politics in the United States of America is in a tumultuous era, with a divisiveness that has cracked open the preexisting social order. It seems as if American politics is in a life-and-death struggle for the soul of the nation. In this crucial moment, politics is both a revelation and a re-veilation. It conceals the beauty of the American common life, the interspaces of its democratic system, and the ideals of human flourishing that brought together and bonded its various and diverse groups. It also reveals the hidden tensions, antagonisms, and divisions that have been eating away at the ethical substance of this nation. The events and acrimonies of the present speak to being and being-together, which are always at stake, and to a nation's existence, qua coexistence, which is the nature of the political. One way to interpret politics is to view it as the way in which a people attend to the being that is at stake in how their lives hang together, the being of their existence which is always a coexistence. Politics is a way of sharing their beingwith, their coexistence in a common polity, their living together in a political space. In the last decade or so, the political has, more than ever before, brought to the attention of many observers that the being and well-being of the nation are at stake, open to contestations by various forces and interests, in ways that are strange, estranging, and threatening. The old ethos that defined politics appears to be giving way to something new or nebulous in the United States. And Pneuma, as the flagship of pentecostal-charismatic journals, wanted to gauge how this moment of perilous politics is playing out among Pentecostals in the country. We thus enlisted the services of the prominent pentecostal constructive and political theologian Steven M. Studebaker of McMaster Divinity College to gather a team of pentecostal-charismatic scholars to investigate pentecostal faith, practice, and theology, and their connection to the nature of the political in the United States. Studebaker gathered a stellar team of intellectuals: Jacqueline Grey, David D. Daniels, iii, Gastón Espinosa, and Marlon Millner. Together, these five scholars provide brilliant analyses of Pentecostalism and politics in the United States in one half of this double issue of Pneuma, and in so doing make sub

Adeshina Afolayan and Demosophy: An Introduction to an African Philosophy of the Future

Journal of Global South Studies

Metals and Movens of Colored Television: The Spirit is a Bone: A Response to Marla F. Frederick's Colored Television: American Religion Gone Global

A Concert of Many Tongues

Pneuma, 2021

Ifá Divination: Knowledge, Power, and Performance ed. by Jacob K. Olupona and Rowland O. Abiodun

Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft, 2018

Black Church Pastors as Chief Executive Officers: A Theoretical Reframing of the Debate

T&T Clark Handbook of African American Theology, 2019

Between Community and My Mother: A Theory of Agonistic Communitarianism

The Rising Significance of Class

Reclaiming the Great World House, 2019

African Pentecostal Political Philosophy: New Directions in the Study of Pentecostalism and Politics

Pentecostalism and Politics in Africa, 2018

In this chapter, Wariboko offers an evaluation and critical response to the previous chapters in ... more In this chapter, Wariboko offers an evaluation and critical response to the previous chapters in this volume. In doing so, he crafts a theoretical construct of African Pentecostal political philosophy, which serves as a lens through which to assess the contributions of each of the previous chapters toward the understanding of Pentecostalism and politics in Africa. The constructive paradigm of African Pentecostal political philosophy Wariboko constructs provides readers with concepts, tools, and propositions to relate the deeds, words, and ways of thinking of Pentecostals in relation to politics and society. In addition, he offers some guidance for thoughts on the political theology of African Pentecostalism. Thus, this chapter not only highlights the contributions of the previous chapters, but it also makes its own substantive contributions to the value and goal of this book.

The Divine King and His Five Bodies: Living History and the Logic of Interreligious Dialogue

Ethics and Society in Nigeria, 2019

Pentecostal Scholarship: A Shift Has Occurred

Pneuma, 2020

The ongoing development and maturation of pentecostal scholarship have reached new heights. Schol... more The ongoing development and maturation of pentecostal scholarship have reached new heights. Scholarship on global Pentecostalism is no longer what it used to be. It has decidedly moved into a new phase without abandoning its old roots. This issue of Pneuma seeks to capture the "spirit" of this evolution. In the beginning, the focus was on the history of the movement. Then came the effort and passion to lay a solid background for pentecostal biblical scholarship. The third wave witnessed the emergence of pentecostal scholars who rigorously laid out pentecostal pneumatological perspectives on constructive and systematic theologies. In the last ten years, we have witnessed pentecostal scholars producing philosophical theologies and philosophies that are increasingly set within broad frameworks that engage the wider academy and multiple philosophical traditions. This fourth phase includes pentecostal scholars who study global Pentecostalism using the tools of religious studies, sociology, political theory, and the like. The above summation, based on periodicity, gives the impression that pentecostal scholarship is in its fourth wave. This, however, is an incomplete perspective. It does not, indeed, capture the qualitative leap that has occurred in the field. We will say that, alongside these four phases, there is a fifth phase that weaves its "being" all through the four phases. The sheer force of its emergence moves the whole field of pentecostal studies to a new era, a new frontier, lifting it to a glorious height, and thus inaugurating an entirely new history of pentecostal scholarship. The lines of scholarship have shifted. The lines are falling in pleasant places. A new horizon has opened up. Yet, we will not say that pentecostal scholarship has come into its glorious age. There is still room to grow. As your new editors, we pledge to work with you as readers, reviewers, contributors, and advisers to nurture that growth. The growth that we are calling you to bear witness to today is not limited to North America and Europe. It is global; it is worldwide. Everywhere Pentecostals are eager to tell their own stories, and excellence can no longer be presumed to reside in certain hitherto privileged corners of the world. The circle of good scholarship has widened and is now generally recognized to have exceeded its previous confinements. The lines of the circle are deeper and wider, and those invited to participate in the circle are more diverse, more colorful, and more representative of the worldwide move of God's Spirit. The

Business Ethics in Biblical Perspective: A Comprehensive Introduction. By Michael E. Cafferky

Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics, 2019

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Christianity and Freedom, Vol. II: Contemporary Perspectives. Edited by Allen D. Hertzke and Timothy Samuel Shah

Journal of Church and State, 2017

Thinking Prayer: Theology and Spirituality Amid the Crises of Modernity, AndrewPrevot, University of Notre Dame Press, 2015 (ISBN 978‐0‐268‐03845‐8), xi + 448 pp., pb $39

Reviews in Religion & Theology, 2016

case hostile religious leaders, etc. Few if any of the scholars cited would agree. Porter's need ... more case hostile religious leaders, etc. Few if any of the scholars cited would agree. Porter's need to heighten conflicts leads him, for example, to engage with a specialized article by Urban von Wahlde that is over 30 years old rather than his more recent commentary (2010, cited elsewhere by Porter), where he and Porter agree more often than not on the contextual meanings of 'the Jews'. The chapter is another case of defending the status quo while presenting its position as radical and new. Porter ends with three somewhat stronger essays. First is a nice study of 'truth' in John's Gospel (Chapter 7), both relational (i.e. to God) and propositional, 'with the propositional content growing out of the relational substance' (p. 197). Second is a revised examination of John's use of the Passover theme (Chapter 8) that draws a number of connections worthy of ongoing consideration. Third is a revised defense of the originality of John 21 (Chapter 9), a chapter that a number of scholars have argued is a later addition. Porter counters that the differences in grammar and vocabulary between John 1-20 and 21 are inconclusive and that the chapter is unified in its focus on Peter; in the absence of any manuscripts lacking John 21 there are no compelling reasons to view it as an addition. A brief concluding chapter from Porter attempts to tie the admittedly diverse studies together. I agree with many of his positions, and some of the essays in Stanley Porter's study of the Gospel of John are thought-provoking. However, I am hesitant to recommend John, His Gospel, and Jesus. Scholars will find little that is new in the volume, and students may be misled by Porter's characterizations of the field, which too frequently appear to serve only to set up opponents for him to knock down. Porter's remains an important voice in New Testament studies, one to whom anyone writing on the particular topics covered in these diverse essays may wish to respond, but otherwise the studies are too wide-rangingin topic and in qualityfor the volume to be essential reading.

Paul Tillich and Pentecostal Theology: Spiritual Presence & Spiritual Power, edited by Nimi Wariboko and Amos Yong

Pneuma, 2016

A Theory of Inflation and Deflation in Religious Commitment

This paper provides an alternative theory of religious change. lt offers a model of explanation i... more This paper provides an alternative theory of religious change. lt offers a model of explanation in line with the getnera! theory of inflation and deflation of commitments. lt examines the dynamics of inflation and deflation of religious commitments in terms of how societies understand, experience, and interpret time, and also in tie tight of their aftitude toward apocalypticism. using an economic theory of inftation and deflation of pricis the paper defines and analyzes the dynamics, attributes, and the conditions under which inflation or deflation of religious commitments occur. The paper illustrates the model by examining the religious commitments of the urapmin of Papua New Guinea and evangelicals in the United Sfafes.

Transcripts of the Sacred in Nigeria

Pneuma Book Award

Pneuma, Jun 12, 2023

Global Trade and Cultural Authentication: The Kalabari of the Niger Delta edited by Joanne B. Eicher Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2022. Pp. 330. $30 (pbk)

The Journal of Modern African Studies

Between Azusa Street and Stingless Death Is Pentecostal Scholarship

Pneuma

The Revelation and Re-veilation of American Politics

Pneuma

Politics in the United States of America is in a tumultuous era, with a divisiveness that has cra... more Politics in the United States of America is in a tumultuous era, with a divisiveness that has cracked open the preexisting social order. It seems as if American politics is in a life-and-death struggle for the soul of the nation. In this crucial moment, politics is both a revelation and a re-veilation. It conceals the beauty of the American common life, the interspaces of its democratic system, and the ideals of human flourishing that brought together and bonded its various and diverse groups. It also reveals the hidden tensions, antagonisms, and divisions that have been eating away at the ethical substance of this nation. The events and acrimonies of the present speak to being and being-together, which are always at stake, and to a nation's existence, qua coexistence, which is the nature of the political. One way to interpret politics is to view it as the way in which a people attend to the being that is at stake in how their lives hang together, the being of their existence which is always a coexistence. Politics is a way of sharing their beingwith, their coexistence in a common polity, their living together in a political space. In the last decade or so, the political has, more than ever before, brought to the attention of many observers that the being and well-being of the nation are at stake, open to contestations by various forces and interests, in ways that are strange, estranging, and threatening. The old ethos that defined politics appears to be giving way to something new or nebulous in the United States. And Pneuma, as the flagship of pentecostal-charismatic journals, wanted to gauge how this moment of perilous politics is playing out among Pentecostals in the country. We thus enlisted the services of the prominent pentecostal constructive and political theologian Steven M. Studebaker of McMaster Divinity College to gather a team of pentecostal-charismatic scholars to investigate pentecostal faith, practice, and theology, and their connection to the nature of the political in the United States. Studebaker gathered a stellar team of intellectuals: Jacqueline Grey, David D. Daniels, iii, Gastón Espinosa, and Marlon Millner. Together, these five scholars provide brilliant analyses of Pentecostalism and politics in the United States in one half of this double issue of Pneuma, and in so doing make sub

Adeshina Afolayan and Demosophy: An Introduction to an African Philosophy of the Future

Journal of Global South Studies

Metals and Movens of Colored Television: The Spirit is a Bone: A Response to Marla F. Frederick's Colored Television: American Religion Gone Global

A Concert of Many Tongues

Pneuma, 2021

Ifá Divination: Knowledge, Power, and Performance ed. by Jacob K. Olupona and Rowland O. Abiodun

Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft, 2018

Black Church Pastors as Chief Executive Officers: A Theoretical Reframing of the Debate

T&T Clark Handbook of African American Theology, 2019

Between Community and My Mother: A Theory of Agonistic Communitarianism

The Rising Significance of Class

Reclaiming the Great World House, 2019

African Pentecostal Political Philosophy: New Directions in the Study of Pentecostalism and Politics

Pentecostalism and Politics in Africa, 2018

In this chapter, Wariboko offers an evaluation and critical response to the previous chapters in ... more In this chapter, Wariboko offers an evaluation and critical response to the previous chapters in this volume. In doing so, he crafts a theoretical construct of African Pentecostal political philosophy, which serves as a lens through which to assess the contributions of each of the previous chapters toward the understanding of Pentecostalism and politics in Africa. The constructive paradigm of African Pentecostal political philosophy Wariboko constructs provides readers with concepts, tools, and propositions to relate the deeds, words, and ways of thinking of Pentecostals in relation to politics and society. In addition, he offers some guidance for thoughts on the political theology of African Pentecostalism. Thus, this chapter not only highlights the contributions of the previous chapters, but it also makes its own substantive contributions to the value and goal of this book.

The Divine King and His Five Bodies: Living History and the Logic of Interreligious Dialogue

Ethics and Society in Nigeria, 2019

Pentecostal Scholarship: A Shift Has Occurred

Pneuma, 2020

The ongoing development and maturation of pentecostal scholarship have reached new heights. Schol... more The ongoing development and maturation of pentecostal scholarship have reached new heights. Scholarship on global Pentecostalism is no longer what it used to be. It has decidedly moved into a new phase without abandoning its old roots. This issue of Pneuma seeks to capture the "spirit" of this evolution. In the beginning, the focus was on the history of the movement. Then came the effort and passion to lay a solid background for pentecostal biblical scholarship. The third wave witnessed the emergence of pentecostal scholars who rigorously laid out pentecostal pneumatological perspectives on constructive and systematic theologies. In the last ten years, we have witnessed pentecostal scholars producing philosophical theologies and philosophies that are increasingly set within broad frameworks that engage the wider academy and multiple philosophical traditions. This fourth phase includes pentecostal scholars who study global Pentecostalism using the tools of religious studies, sociology, political theory, and the like. The above summation, based on periodicity, gives the impression that pentecostal scholarship is in its fourth wave. This, however, is an incomplete perspective. It does not, indeed, capture the qualitative leap that has occurred in the field. We will say that, alongside these four phases, there is a fifth phase that weaves its "being" all through the four phases. The sheer force of its emergence moves the whole field of pentecostal studies to a new era, a new frontier, lifting it to a glorious height, and thus inaugurating an entirely new history of pentecostal scholarship. The lines of scholarship have shifted. The lines are falling in pleasant places. A new horizon has opened up. Yet, we will not say that pentecostal scholarship has come into its glorious age. There is still room to grow. As your new editors, we pledge to work with you as readers, reviewers, contributors, and advisers to nurture that growth. The growth that we are calling you to bear witness to today is not limited to North America and Europe. It is global; it is worldwide. Everywhere Pentecostals are eager to tell their own stories, and excellence can no longer be presumed to reside in certain hitherto privileged corners of the world. The circle of good scholarship has widened and is now generally recognized to have exceeded its previous confinements. The lines of the circle are deeper and wider, and those invited to participate in the circle are more diverse, more colorful, and more representative of the worldwide move of God's Spirit. The

Business Ethics in Biblical Perspective: A Comprehensive Introduction. By Michael E. Cafferky

Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics, 2019

<jats:p />

Christianity and Freedom, Vol. II: Contemporary Perspectives. Edited by Allen D. Hertzke and Timothy Samuel Shah

Journal of Church and State, 2017

Thinking Prayer: Theology and Spirituality Amid the Crises of Modernity, AndrewPrevot, University of Notre Dame Press, 2015 (ISBN 978‐0‐268‐03845‐8), xi + 448 pp., pb $39

Reviews in Religion & Theology, 2016

case hostile religious leaders, etc. Few if any of the scholars cited would agree. Porter's need ... more case hostile religious leaders, etc. Few if any of the scholars cited would agree. Porter's need to heighten conflicts leads him, for example, to engage with a specialized article by Urban von Wahlde that is over 30 years old rather than his more recent commentary (2010, cited elsewhere by Porter), where he and Porter agree more often than not on the contextual meanings of 'the Jews'. The chapter is another case of defending the status quo while presenting its position as radical and new. Porter ends with three somewhat stronger essays. First is a nice study of 'truth' in John's Gospel (Chapter 7), both relational (i.e. to God) and propositional, 'with the propositional content growing out of the relational substance' (p. 197). Second is a revised examination of John's use of the Passover theme (Chapter 8) that draws a number of connections worthy of ongoing consideration. Third is a revised defense of the originality of John 21 (Chapter 9), a chapter that a number of scholars have argued is a later addition. Porter counters that the differences in grammar and vocabulary between John 1-20 and 21 are inconclusive and that the chapter is unified in its focus on Peter; in the absence of any manuscripts lacking John 21 there are no compelling reasons to view it as an addition. A brief concluding chapter from Porter attempts to tie the admittedly diverse studies together. I agree with many of his positions, and some of the essays in Stanley Porter's study of the Gospel of John are thought-provoking. However, I am hesitant to recommend John, His Gospel, and Jesus. Scholars will find little that is new in the volume, and students may be misled by Porter's characterizations of the field, which too frequently appear to serve only to set up opponents for him to knock down. Porter's remains an important voice in New Testament studies, one to whom anyone writing on the particular topics covered in these diverse essays may wish to respond, but otherwise the studies are too wide-rangingin topic and in qualityfor the volume to be essential reading.

Paul Tillich and Pentecostal Theology: Spiritual Presence & Spiritual Power, edited by Nimi Wariboko and Amos Yong

Pneuma, 2016