Review by natashavev -- Jesus, Prosperity Gospel and Pov...

[natashavev]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Jesus, Prosperity Gospel and Poverty in Africa" by Elijah Oladimeji.]

---

2 out of 4 stars

---

Share This Review

---

Rating: 2 out of 4

Overall, this was an interesting, if difficult, read. Elijah Oladimeji clearly has lots of passion for the work, and the drive to write this story was clear: he has had Godly experiences that he wants to share. The parts that were most compelling to me were those that discussed his personal connections to God and Christianity—as a non-Christian, I found a lot of power and empathy in his story about how God saved him from COVID-19.
However, there were a significant number of problems with the book. On the surface level, the grammar mistakes were glaring—at times, it seemed the book was written more like a screenplay, as dialogue was written with stage cues at times. This could have been blended in more if Oladimeji had restructured the book somewhat. I think I would have been far more continually engaged if he had brought back in more personal stories throughout, instead of telling the stories of others, and if readers were presented with more of his distinctive authorial voice. There were too many Bible quotes to keep a reader interested, and if Oladimeji had tied them into the more narrative aspects, it would have been very effective and interesting.
I think the book has a lot of potential, but I don’t think it’s quite where it needs to be. I believe some solid restructuring is necessary, as is a deep grammar edit. This could be a very powerful book if it were told with a slightly stronger voice—religious stories are often far more impactful if we can hear one voice making a passionate claim on why faith is so necessary. The passion is there, but it needs more of a story that flows.

******
Jesus, Prosperity Gospel and Poverty in Africa
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon