“PAUL AND CHRISTIAN LIBERTY”

Dr. David T. Ejenobo

Department of Religious Studies

Delta State University, Abraka

ABSTRACT

The Apostle Paul has been rightly described as the Apostle of Christian liberty.  It was his dogged fight against the Judaizing tendency to enslave Gentile converts with Mosaic Laws which led to his arrest and eventual death in the city of Rome.  However, it is unfortunate that modern Christianity, rather than towing the line of Christian liberty, has developed rules and regulations that have tended to ostracize the average Christian from fellowship within the Church.  This paper examined the essential teaching of Paul on Christian liberty as espoused in Galatians 5 and juxtaposed this with modern trends at Christian legalism. The paper finally suggests ways in which the African Church can contextualize the concept of Christian liberty.