THE CROSS AS THE BADGE OF DISCIPLESHIP IN CHRISTIANITY: A THEOLOGICAL DISCOURSE

AUTHOR: IKE, EUGENE AFAM

DEPARTMENT: RELIGION AND HUMAN RELATIONS

AFFILIATION: NNAMDI AZIKIWE UNIVERSITY AWKA

Through the ages, man has been making relentless effort to conquer and subdue the earth through landslide, scientific, and technological breakthroughs in response to the biblical divine injunction of Genesis 1:28. Life in general, as a matter of fact, has been made more bearable and comfortable. The foregoing notwithstanding, suffering and pain in its various shades and forms have been staring man in the face. It is such that life itself can simply be described as a journey through pain and suffering. No man is exempted. Every man, every woman has his/her own cup of suffering to drink; Christians and non-Christians alike. Man’s effort to proffer solution to the problem of evil and suffering has remained as temporal as it is insufficient. This research work argues that there is indeed that aspect of suffering that eludes the grasp of human effort to conquer. Experiences and the Christian religion symbolized in the cross maintain that suffering is an indispensable part of reality which man cannot shy away from. It rather offers man hope in his journey through suffering and pain, that suffering when borne with faith and resignation to God, becomes an invaluable and enriching means to growth and ultimate victory. To suffer is to die, and to die is to live – a fact that finds its ultimate reality in the eschatological hope of the resurrection. Until then, man must engage himself in practical and concrete effort to respond to the challenge of his daily existence. His greatest miracle is to know in faith that God is with him in his pains and struggles. Our data collection relied heavily on primary and secondary sources of information. The primary sources included personal experiences, interviews, etc. while secondary sources included information from journals, magazines, books, dissertation, etc. Our information was accessed through library research deductively interpreted, analysed and applied.

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