Prophetic Voice of Amos on Contemporary Social Justice

Patrick Kofi Amissah, PhD (2016), King’s College London, is an Associate Lecturer at Cardiff University and Cardiff Baptist College, United Kingdom, and an Adjunct Lecturer at the Trinity Theological Seminary, Legon, Ghana. He has published on the Bible and social justice.

• ContentsForewordsWalter J. Houston, Nimi Wariboko and J. Kwabena Asamoah-GyaduPrefaceAcknowledgementsList of Figures and TablesAbbreviations1 Introduction1 Motivation2 Background3 The Gap4 What to Expect5 The Centrality of Social Justice in the Prophecy of Amos6 Hermeneutical Challenges2 Methodological Considerations1 Introduction2 Hermeneutical Challenges: the Starting Point3 Transpositional Hermeneutics: the Foundation4 Departing from Transpositional Hermeneutics5 Active Transpositional Hermeneutics6 Advantages of Active Transpositional Hermeneutics7 African Biblical Hermeneutics8 Synthesis3 Social Justice in the Context of the Hebrew Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Texts1 Introduction2 Expressing Social Justice in the Hebrew Bible3 Ancient Near Eastern Expression of Social Justice4 Agents for Delivering Social Justice in Biblical and Ancient Near Eastern Tradition5 Approaches to Social Justice in Biblical and ANE Traditions6 Working Definition of Social Justice7 Summary4 The Prophecy of Amos as a Model of Social Justice1 Introduction2 Background to the Prophecy of Amos3 The Message of the Book of Amos4 Social Justice in the Prophecy of Amos: the Prey, the Predator and the Protector5 Conclusion5 Social Justice Themes in the Prophecy of Amos1 Introduction2 Lack of Human Dignity in the Treatment of the Vulnerable (Amos 2:6–7)3 Extortion (Amos 2:8)4 Oppression (Amos 3:9–10; 4:1)5 Bribery, Corruption and Miscarriage of Justice (Amos 5:7, 10, 12; 6:12)6 Excessive Taxation of the Poor (Amos 5:11)7 Carefree Extravagant Opulence amidst Abject Poverty (Amos 6:1–7)8 Unjust Trade (Amos 8:4–6)9 Ecological Injustice10 Gender Abuse and Insensitivity11 Positive Call for Social Justice (Amos 5:24)12 Conclusion6 Ghanaian Reading of Social Justice Themes in the Prophecy of Amos1 Introduction2 Choice of Ghanaian Bible Translations3 Social Justice Themes in Amos in Mother Tongue Biblical Translations4 Implications for Social Justice Awareness in Ghana7 Issues of Contemporary Social Justice1 Introduction: Methodological Issues2 The Meaning of Social Justice3 Contemporary Issues of Social Injustice4 The Role of Some Churches in the Quest for Social Justice5 Conclusion8 The Grazing Sheep and the Screaming Fowl: Contemporary Social Injustice in the Light of the Prophetic Voice of Amos1 Introduction2 The Grazing Sheep and the Screaming Fowl3 Social Justice in Contemporary Ghana and the Prophetic Voice of Amos4 ConclusionAppendix: Selected Texts from the Prophecy of Amos in Hebrew (BHS), Gã, Akan and EweBibliographyIndex