A Study of the Background to the Book of Amos
Isaac Boaheng 
& Alfred Appiah
Issue: Vol.3 No.9 September 2022 Article 1 pp. 372-381
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.2022391 | Published online 1st September 2022.
© 2022 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
The book of Amos is among the most studied books in the Bible. The high scholarly interest in Amos is due to the prophet’s emphasis on true religion. Amos’ message cannot be understood without a proper understanding of the context in which it was delivered. Amos ministered in eighth-century Israel when the nation had prospered economically and politically. The nation’s prosperity had yielded a high level of religiosity evident in the payment of tithes, offerings, religious gatherings and singing of hymns. Unfortunately, the religiosity of the people had no positive impact on their social lives. This situation prompted Amos’ prophecy of an impending divine judgment which was to decimate the nation and finally send the people into exile. The purpose of this paper is to explore the contextual issues within which Amos’ message emerged and then compare Amos’ situation with the contemporary Ghanaian socio-religious and political contexts. The paper used literary research methodology as well as textual and historical analyses. The findings from the study serve as a hermeneutical framework for interpreting and applying Amos’ message. Lessons are also drawn for contemporary leaders. The paper contributes to Old Testament scholarship, particularly scholarship on the minor prophets.
Keywords: Amos, Ghana, Justice, Socio-economic context
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Isaac Boaheng holds a PhD in Theology from the University of the Free State, South Africa, a Master of Theology degree from the South African Theological Seminary, South Africa, a Master of Divinity degree from the Trinity Theological Seminary, Ghana and a Bachelor of Science degree in Geomatic Engineering from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana. He is a lecturer in Theology and Christian Ethics at the Christian Service University College, Ghana, and a Research Fellow at the Department of Biblical and Religion Studies, University of the Free State, South Africa. Boaheng has over seventy publications in Systematic Theology, Ethics, Biblical Studies, Translation Studies, African Christianity, Linguistics, Pentecostalism and Christian Mission, among others. He is an Ordained Minister of the Methodist Church Ghana serving the Nkwabeng circuit of the Sunyani Diocese.
Alfred Appiah holds a Master of Divinity from Columbia Theological Seminary, U.S.A. He is currently pursuing a Master of Art in Religious Studies with concentration on the Hebrew Bible at Yale Divinity School, USA.
Boaheng I. & Appiah A. “A Study of the Background to the Book of Amos,” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 3, no.9 (2022):372-381. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.2022391
© 2022 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Publishers. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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