Academic Engagement of Yoruba Oral Pentecostal Christology and Its Implications for Academic Theologians

ABSTRACT Yoruba academic theologians, by not fully maximising oral theology, deprive themselves the immense opportunity to positively influence the theology of fellow Christians who are mostly not interested in their academic writings. This negatively affects these theologians’ effectiveness and the spiritual vitality of the church. The researcher considers the engagement of Yoruba oral Pentecostal Christology in academic publications as evidence of the importance of oral theology for Yorubas and thus seeks to motivate Yoruba academic theologians to utilise orality to theologise others. The researcher primarily utilised a desk-based approach for this study and secondarily employs an online survey to collect data for a few sections of this study. The study highlighted the prominent position occupied by Yoruba Christians, academic theological institutions situated in Yorubaland, and Yoruba academic theologians, in the grand scheme of Nigerian Christianity, and argued that Yoruba academic theologians have a role to play in oral theologising of their people beyond the four walls of their classrooms. This position is undergirded by the effectiveness of oral theology in their context and their access to ministry among the lay people. This paper argued that when Yoruba academic theologians engage Yoruba Christians orally and not just restrict themselves to academic writings and contexts, the Christian faith will be better for it. It justified the need for Yoruba academic theologians to not restrict themselves to academic publications but rather involve themselves more in oral theologising of Yorubas and demonstrated how they can go about this oral theologising.