Security Issues in Nigeria: A Re-reading of Lk 12:39-42 in the Light of the Terror within and Its Consequences on Vision 20:2020 [1]

The comparative and the historical methods in the study of Religions had long been pronounced a scientific study of the major religions of the world. Max Muller (1856-1900), founder of Comparative Study of Religions had declared the approach a formal and independent field of study that does not pass any judgmental sentence on the truth claims of religions. In the light of such proposals, our paper was motivated by the massive failure rate of our students in the course T 403 Comparative Study of Religions. The poor performance indicated to us that Mosotho students and perhaps, their people, have little or no knowledge of Islam. The situation is worrisome, especially when, in recent times, militant Islam and fundamentalist Christian groups are vitiating the belief systems of these religions in Africa and the world. It was felt that a research paper on the two faiths in Lesotho is opportune. The paper is therefore written to establish certain comparisons between Christianity and Islam as they manifest themselves in the kingdom of Lesotho. To achieve these objectives, we made disquisitions on the works of reputed scholars in the discipline to uncover the history and essential creeds and practices of both Christianity and Islam as well as on the place of the adherents and their interactions in the country. Comparative elements in the two religions are tabularized to showcase some real contacts. The paper concludes inter alia on the fact that both adherents worship the same God in spite of the names he is given in each tradition which is a boon for inter-religious tolerance and co-existence.