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DOCTRINAL CONTROVERSIES AND ITS EFFECTS TO THE GROWTH OF CHRISTIANITY, A CASE STUDY OF KACHIA LOCAL GOVERNMENT CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES

| Format: Ms Word | 1-5 Chapters | Table of Content|

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Abstract

 

This study examine the influence of doctrinal controversies and its effects to the growth of Christianity, in Kachia Local Government a Christian communities in Nigeria. Doctrinal controversies often hampered unity among the competing Christian denominations in the 21st century. The findings of this study showed that there is lack of national unity among the churches in Nigeria. Factors that conditioned the doctrinal controversy included sacraments, sola scriptura, sola fide, sola gracia, indulgence, perpetual virginity of Mary, purgatory, infallibility of the Pope, women ordination, infant baptism, homosexuality among others. The work recommended that oneness of Christians in Nigeria should be Christocentric, unity in diversity, and sola scriptura. Methods of approach are historical, comparative and descriptive methods. This study used a mixed method approach combining focus group discussions, in-depth interviews and congregant’s survey. The findings of the study revealed that conflict was understood differently in church, understanding conflict as violence and conflict as misunderstandings. Major causes of church conflicts are doctrinal differences, social and political in nature.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

Introduction

1.1            Background of the Study

1.2            Statement of the Problem

1.3            Objectives of the Study

1.4            Research questions

1.5            Research hypotheses

1.6            Significance of the Study

1.7            Scope and limitation of the Study

1.8            Definitions of terms

CHAPTER TWO

2.0     Literature Review

2.1      Introduction

2.2      The Concept of Pentecostalism

2.2.1   Antecedence of Modern Pentecostalism

2.3      Historical Overview of the Nigerian Christendom

2.4      Expansion of the Pentecostalism

2.5      Pentecostalism in Nigeria

2.6      Typologies of Pentecostalism in Nigeria

2.6.1   African Initiated Form of Christianity- Sola Churches

2.6.2   African Initiated Form of Christianity- Scriptura Churches

2.6.3   African Initiated Form of Christianity- Et Churches

2.6.4   African Initiated Form of Christianity- Traditions Churches

2.7     The Relationship Between Pentecostal And Charismatic

2.8 Theoretical Framework

CHAPTER THREE

3.0     Research Methodology

3.1     Research Design

3.2     Study Area

3.3     Sampling Design and Procedures

3.4     Data Collection Instrument

3.5     Administration of the Data Collection Instrument

3.6     Data Presentation

3.7     Statistical Tools for Data Analyses

CHAPTER FOUR

4.0     Data Analysis and Interpretation

4.1     Introduction

4.2     Data Analysis

4.3     Research Questions and Testing Of hypotheses

CHAPTER FIVE

Findings, Summary and Recommendation

5.1      Findings

5.2      Summary

5.3      Recommendation

References                                

 

                                     CHAPTER ONE

                                    INTRODUCTION

  • Background Of The Study

Doctrinal controversies led to Pentecostalism which is now one of the fastest growing Christianity movements within Nigeria and the world at large. Today, one will not go through the history of the Early Church without getting involved with this subject, and be struck by the observation that he/she is dealing with an age of innumerable controversies arising from churches with different doctrines. Pentecostalism in Nigeria was inspired by new Religious Movements in Nigeria caused by doctrinal controversies, which share some common features with them.

Gaiya, 2002 buttresses this view that “during an influenza epidemic in 1918, revivals flared within Mission Churches and the Aladura Churches expanded”. For example, the Cherubim and Seraphim Society was founded in 1925 as well as the Church of the Lord (Aladura) in 1930 respectively. The Anglican form of prayer known as the Precious Stone Society came up to heal the influenza victims in 1918.The group left Anglican Church in the early 1920s and was affiliated with Faith Tabernacle Church based in Philadelphia. Also Joseph Babalola of Faith Tabernacle led a revival that converted thousands of people. The movement initiated ties with the Pentecostal Apostolic Church in Great Britain in 1932, but the ties were dissolved over the use of modern medicine. Pew Forum on Religion (2011: para.1) reports that the Celestial Church of Christ also came into western Nigeria from Benin and rapidly grew and expanded across the northern region. Later it became one of the largest Aladura Churches in Africa. Pa Josiah Akindayome, one of their members later established the Redeemed Christian Church of God. The Redeemed Christian Church of God “became increasingly Pentecostal in theology, practice and growth” Pew Forum on Religion (2011: para.2). It has become very large and their churches cut across the globe including United States. Another form of revival emerged between 1930 and 1960 which included both Charismatic and Pentecostal movements. Kalu (2008:34) maintains that this wave of revival includes “the Charismatic Youth Movement among the youth of various denominations that occurred in different parts of the country; challenging the parent group which allegedly suffered from power failure”. The group aimed at re- evangelizing the mainline churches and converting new souls for God. The Pew Forum on Religion (2011: para.2) confirms that the 1930 and 1960 revival aided the evangelical revival of the 1970s.This was a wave of Pentecostal expansion that started operating as fellowship but was later transformed into the establishment of new Churches. One of the leaders of such Churches was Benson Idahosa, who established the Church of God Mission International in 19782.

According to Francis Wernick, division and disunity have marked the history of the Christian Church from at least the end of the first century. While not immune from this danger of dissent, Seventh-day Adventists have been relatively free of serious discord, having a remarkable unity on Bible truth. But danger is always present as the enemy of the church seeks in every way possible to bring in variance and disagreement. Controversial issues have the potential of dividing the church. If the pioneers had to deal with controversial issues at that time, what more with the same church that now has a membership all round the world from various backgrounds? If the pioneers needed to be careful with the process of dealing with controversial issues then, we need to be more careful now.

Therefore, the purpose of this study is to enumerate some ground rules for dealing with potentially divisive theological issues. To achieve this it would be well to look at the history of doctrinal controversy, both at the beginning of the Christian Church and at the Pentecostal churches, and learn from the first Christian disciples.

  • Statement of the Problem

The continuous question of why are there so many Christian denominations in Nigeria led to the argument that will be addressed in the course of this study. Looking at scholar’s response to the above question, we must first differentiate between denominations within the body of Christ and non-Christian cults and false religions. Denominations are based on disagreements over the interpretation of Scripture. An example would be the meaning and purpose of baptism. Disagreements over the interpretation of Scripture are taken personally and become points of contention. This leads to arguments which can and have done much to destroy the witness of the church. Denominations today are used to one man’s self-interest which is the founder or overseer. There are denominations today that are in a state of self-destruction as they are being led into apostasy by those who are promoting their personal agendas. The rise of denominations within the Christian faith can be traced back to the Protestant Reformation, the movement to “reform” the Roman Catholic Church during the 16th century, out of which four major divisions or traditions of Protestantism would emerge: Lutheran, Reformed, Anabaptist, and Anglican. From these four, other denominations grew over the centuries. Denominations today are many and varied. The original “mainline” denominations mentioned above have spawned numerous offshoots such as Assemblies of God, Christian and Missionary Alliance, Nazarenes, Evangelical Free, independent Bible churches, and others. Some denominations emphasize slight doctrinal controversies, but more often they simply offer different styles of worship to fit the differing tastes and preferences of Christians. But make no mistake: ignoring this fact that as believers, should be of one mind on the essentials of the faith, but beyond that there is great deal of latitude in how Christians should worship in a corporate setting. This latitude is what causes so many doctrinal controversies “flavors” of Christianity. This separation, though, does not lift the responsibility Christians have to love one another (1 John 4:11-12) and ultimately be united as one in Christ (John 17:21-22).

Unlike other religions with just one or few denominations, the Christian religion posted so many challenges ranging from doctrinal controversies. This led the researcher to look into these challenges, using some selected churches as the reference point.

  • Objectives of the Study

The main purpose for this research work was to examine doctrinal controversies and its effects to the growth of Christianity, the researcher intend to achieve the following sub-objectives in the course of the study;

  1. To ascertain the effect of doctrinal controversies on the growth of the church.
  2. To find out the issues between Pentecostal churches and orthodox churches in Nigeria.
  • To examine the role that doctrine plays in solving religious fanatics issues in Nigeria
  1. To proffer possible solutions to the challenges associated with doctrinal controversies in Nigeria.
    • Research Questions
  2. Why are there so many Christian denominations in Nigeria?
  3. What is the significant relationship between the early church and today’s church?
  4. What is the doctrinal difference between the orthodox and Pentecostal churches?
  5. What role does church doctrine plays in solving religious fanatics in Nigeria?
    • Research Hypotheses

H0: The church doctrine plays no significant role in ensuring peace and harmony in the Nigeria.

H1: The church doctrine plays a significant role in ensuring peace and harmony in the Nigeria.

H0: there are no doctrinal controversies between the orthodox and Pentecostal churches

H2: there are doctrinal controversies between the orthodox and Pentecostal churches

1.6   Significance of the Study

The following are the significance of this study:

The findings of this study will be useful for the government, church leaders and the general public on the role of the church in ensuring sustainable peace and harmony among churches. This research will also serve as a resource base to other scholars and researchers interested in carrying out further research in this field subsequently, if applied will go to an extent to provide new explanation to the topic.

1.7   Scope and Limitations of the Study

This study will cover the role of the church and Christianity in general as regards to the issue of doctrinal controversies, societal peace and harmony.

Financial constraint– Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

Time constraint- The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.

1.8 Definition of Terms

Doctrine: Doctrine (from Latin: doctrina) is a codification of beliefs or a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the essence of teachings in a given branch of knowledge or belief system. The Greek analogue is the etymology of catechism.

Controversies: Controversy is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view

Differences: the quality or state of being dissimilar or different, like the different between right and wrong or black or white.

Doctrinal differences: this is defined in this context as the different views, belief and mode of operation of various churches that varies with that of others.

Church: A church building, often simply called a church, is a building used for Christian religious activities, particularly for worship services. The term in its architectural sense is most often used by Christians to refer to their religious buildings, but it is sometimes used (by analogy) to refer to buildings of other religions.

Pentecostal: Pentecostalism or Classical Pentecostalism is a renewal movement within Protestant Christianity that places special emphasis on a direct personal experience of God through the baptism with the Holy Spirit.

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