JORAS - Nigerian Journal of Religion and Society

Nigeria is a religious country because of her multiplicity of religious institutions, expressions, religious symbols and places of worship. Places of worship are regularly filled to capacity and the leaders of these different religious institutions claim divine origin of their calling. From the foregoing, one could assert that Nigerians are a-God-fearing people, but on the contrary, the nation is bedevilled by unimaginable evils. Evils that have informed an increase in injustice and unrighteousness caused by the fake religiosity expressed in worships. Israel, in prophet Amos' time, had such fake religiosity displayed in worship, but equally devoid of justice and righteousness. The prophet condemned it. This study contends that the true worship of YHWH is not manifested in pleasurable acts of worships alone, but also in acts of justice and righteousness. Employing the historico-critical method on Amos 5:21-24, this article argues that without justice and righteousness, religious expressions are incomplete and they do not contribute to nation growth.

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