ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AS A TOOL FOR STUDYING NEW TESTAMENT TEXTS IN NIGERIAN TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS

Abstract

Nigeria, as a nation, has leveraged artificial intelligence and the numerous opportunities of the digital world. The pace of this assimilation, particularly in the education sector, is relatively slow. It is one of the reasons for the poor academic performance of many Nigerian students. The interest in biblical studies among many students of religious studies in Nigeria is considerably low. The challenges of mastering the language aspect of these specialisations (Old and New Testament) usually discourage a significant number of students from furthering in these areas. The Divino Afflante Spiritus of Pope Pius XII remains the foremost in the quest for a critical study of Scripture. This critical study must be continued, especially in the digital age. This paper aims to critically explore the possibility of integrating AI in the modern teaching and learning of the New Testament. The paper adopts connectivism learning theory as the theoretical framework for this study. The research, therefore, adopts expository and content analysis methods of inquiry. It is the submission of this paper that motivating students to pursue the New Testament as an academic discipline in Nigeria, where expertise and language mastery are deficits, requires furnishing them with an aid to study efficiently, as provided by AI in modern times.