Overcoming Toxic Emotions: A Christian Ethical Framework for Restorative Peacebuilding - Hardcover

by Raymond Olusesan Aina (Author), Johan Verstraeten (Foreword by)

Overcoming Toxic Emotions is a compelling theme to enrich the restorative justice literature on the complex tasks of relational repair in a transitional society. With its emphasis on the centrality of "rebuilding trust" and renewing the mode of being together, this book is an innovative addition to the literature on justice in transitional societies. It offers an original assessment of the Nigerian experience of restorative justice in peacebuilding. This genuinely theological work opens new perspectives for a more adequate understanding of the Christian contribution to peacebuilding and the secular debate on restorative justice. Yet, the author expresses himself as an African theologian, paying attention to the specific context of the problems about transitional justice and integrating spontaneously the wisdom of his dual cultures--Yoruba and Christianity. With its attentiveness to victim perspectives, the book engages the traditional notion of divine omnipotence and vulnerability. The book rejects the notion of the fetish omnipotent God. It opts instead for an image of God as vulnerable, yet powerful in love, compelling, inspiring, and rallying us.

Author Biography

Raymond Olusesan Aina is a senior lecturer at the National Missionary Seminary of St Paul, Abuja, and visiting lecturer at the Veritas University (the Catholic University of Nigeria), Abuja. Specializing in special moral theology with emphasis on restorative justice and peacebuilding in transitional societies, his current research is on the intersection of religions and violence in Africa.