₦airaland Forum

On a scale of morality measuring 0 to 10, 0 being the lowest meaning utterly corrupt and decadent and 10 meaning godliness, i would score Islam 1.5 out of 10, Christianity, probably less than 1.0, neighbor to utterly corrupt and decadent.

I was a devoted christian when i was, i confess, less educated than i am now. I am by nature a curious and inquisitive individual. Whenever i query the effect of religion, or christianity on the psyche of an average nigerian am only met with heartaches. Our society is so polluted that one wonders whether devils and demons are not even better behaved than us religious bigots. Pastors take advantage of our financial laws/system to extort money from "simple", albeit naive, worshipers. An average Nigerian would rather go to a pastor for the "solution" to his problems rather than develop his brain (a substance with infinite potentials) that may hold the key to the solution to not only his own problems but the society's. We fail to understand that we risk rotting away and early destruction due to mental degeneration if we fail to use our brains. The fear of hell as only made us filthy little sinners rather than through our "sinful nature" plough our way into righteousness and it's attendant benefits through sheer labour, mental toil and hardwork. The japanese may not be that religious as Nigerians are but a japanese would rather commit suicide than dishonour his name or family name through corruption or any untoward acts. But we, because our "God is weak" and always forgiving, we do evil with impunity. If there was any Sodom and Gomorrah, i'd ask you always compromising religious people, how did it end? How did Sodom and Gomorrah end? Christians would always deny being accomplice in the corruption infested nigerian society but facts show christians are more prone to collect bribe rather than dispense justice. A christian lady would easily give her body away to obtain favor rather than take the pain to do what is right. Churches task their followers both poor and rich to contribute money to fund never-ending hoax church projects. You hear them always saying "God said", "God said". My God says you are more corrupt than Lucifer, and therefore, your end will be worse than Lucifer's. Christianity, Islam,.....sending us to premature hell. Anything outside promoting justice, equity and harmony among all humans irrespective of their status and calling in life is against the laws of creation. All elements that negate natural laws will surely come to an end. All religions that promote disunity, corruption, and all forms of fatality will one day disappear from the surface of the earth. They may increase now but their decline will be rapid. Think on these things for once, o christian!

The enmity between the Jews and the Arabs dates back to the animosity between the two wives of Abraham, Sarah (the mother of Isaac) and Hagar (the mother of Ishmael). Based on that animosity, the Jews (Isaac’s descendants) and the Arabs (Ishmael’s descendants) have never really united. Ditto the religions of Judaism and Christianity which originated from the Jews, and Islam which originated from the Arabs.

How that animosity became Africa’s infection is the question reasonable Africans must ask themselves. You need to see tension even at academic conferences in Africa by Africans if discussion touches on the crisis in the Middle East. What type of God were the Westerners and the Arabs talking about? Could it be a contentious God that is forever pregnant with animosity and desire to either dominate or kill?

That would seem to be the only type of God totally unknown to African ancestors/ancestresses. But not the Supreme Being who created heaven and earth; described as omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, invincible, but forever merciful in African proverbs, pithy sayings, folksongs, etc. Christian missionaries came from Europe and North America to build hospitals as humanitarian gesture, and schools to convert and de-Africanize
upcoming generations of Africans. Their success in the latter regard became the envy of Muslims, and they have resolved to reverse it. The struggle between the former Governor of Lagos State, Lateef Jakande and Archbishop Olubunmi Okojie, and the recent defacing of schools taken-over from the missionaries in Osun State represented a clearest determination of Muslims to undo what they consider “the damage” done by the missionaries.

For thoughtful and self-respecting Africans, “the damage” is that the missionaries used their schools to de-Africanize Africans and rubbish the intellectual integrity of African forebears. For the Muslims, on the other hand, “the damage” refers to how the missionaries outsmarted them, and the deed has to be reversed. Similarly, some fanatical Christians seek to return the taken-over schools, towards advancing de-Africanisation of Africans. That is how Christianity and Islam endanger Nigeria’s soul, peace, and progress. The drivers of the two religions seek nothing but earthly kingdoms.

• Pius Abioje,

University of Ilorin.

According to Karl Marx, a German philosopher, “Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people;” and this has proven to be the truth over the years as early missionaries would come from their own countries sacrificing all because of the people, then nearly everything they give are free, they provide free clothes, food and even education, but this is not so among the current league of Nigerian missionaries as they usually force their ever willing congregation to pay excessively for what ordinarily the early missionaries would have given free.

Investigation has revealed that Nigerian pastors are not really concerned about how their congregation gets the money; the important thing is for them to make sure their children attend the church-owned schools. This, we gathered, has been responsible for the involvement of many members of the church in activities that are not befitting God. A member of one of the new generation churches who spoke to Global News revealed that he became desperate of sending his children to their church-owned university because of the way the pastor whom many in his congregation now regard as an emissary of God, talks about the school. This kind of pep talks, according to investigation, has over the time forced many of their members into corruption and all sorts of dealings just because they want to measure up to the words of the pastor.



It was revealed that the cheapest course in Madonna University, an institution owned by the Catholic Church that has in its congregation petty traders and other less privileged in the country, is nothing less than ₦350,000 per session, whereas it is hoped that the woman who sells crayfish, melon, stock-fish and other little soup ingredients and still gives towards the funding of the school should be able to enjoy the benefits that come with her commitment to the church by having her children well trained in the school owned by her church. Instead of her children enjoying the quality education, it is being given to children of those who are able to pay the exorbitant fees the school charges.

Mr. Chibuzor a member of the church is of the belief that the church-owned university promises many things it will not do to the members of the church who do not have huge amount to cough out yet promises to revive in her community the age-long tradition of Catholic education and the exacting demand of the contemporary society for sound education enrooted in salubrious life-promoting morality.

Here is a quick rundown of other schools owned by churches in Nigeria and how their fees will be contributing more to corruption in the country rather than reducing it because the founders now see the schools as another means of generating funds and promoting self-induced programmes.

Apart from Madonna which is owned by the Catholic Church, the church also has Caritas University in Amorji-Nike, Enugu. It was revealed that the church decided to establish the second university to be able to compete favourably with other new church-owned varsities who will stop at nothing to push them out of the school business, And just like in the Madonna University, it was established to “revive in the community the age-long tradition of Catholic education and the exacting demand of the contemporary society for sound education enrooted in salubrious life-promoting morality,” only that this time around, the institution that was officially opened on January 21, 2005 has the vision of rescuing some of the church’s wandering and teaming youths from further slide into academic and moral decay, and development and transformation of our society through sound and unadulterated education, while its mission is to discover, sanctify and apply the knowledge of science, environmental and engineering for human well-being and sound development of man for better society and not forgetting that this will come at a price pegged at nothing less than ₦500,000 per session.



It was not surprising that The Supra Diocesan Board of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) decided just like their Catholic counterpart to establish their own tertiary institution as the two were known founders of missionary schools during the period of the early missionaries. So when the Church of Nigeria decided to start its own university it was hoped it will correct the mistake of the Catholic, but to the surprise of all, the church followed the footsteps of the other early missionary schools, showing all that the establishment of the university is not to propagate the gospel by giving quality education to those who cannot afford to send their children abroad, but to milk those who are here in Nigeria of their hard-earned money in the name of giving quality education to their children and wards. The least of the fees at the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion)-owned Ajayi Crowther University is nothing less than ₦400,000 per session.

It also did not go down well with parents that are of Baptist Church as Bowen University, was established by the Nigerian Baptist Convention and named after Reverend Thomas Jefferson Bowen who pioneered Baptist work in Nigeria in 1850. The university commenced academic activities in 2002. Just like other supposed missionary schools, the institution’s aim was to be a center of learning and research of distinction; combining academic excellence with love of humanity, borne out of a God-fearing attitude. The school whose lowest tuition is more than ₦600,000 claimed that the guiding philosophy is Excellence and Godliness, a situation which raises question on the fact that members of the church who were able to send their children to the university are paying through their nose. An aggrieved member who spoke with us questioned the rationale behind the fees, while reiterating that there was nothing godly about the exorbitant fees the school is collecting, he expressed anger at the school motto which is “Excellence and Godliness”.

According to the chancellor of Covenant University who is also the presiding bishop of the parent church, the Living Faith Tabernacle also known as Winners Chapel, Bishop Dr. David O. Oyedepo: “We are committed to raising a new generation of leaders who will positively impact their nation, the African continent and the world at large.” It is the aim of the church to create a leading World-class Christian mission university committed to raising a new generation of leaders in all fields of human endeavour. But just like the Nigerian pastors who are only emulating the early missionaries only in words but not action, Covenant University which was described as a part of the liberation commission that God gave to the pastor some years ago has become an avenue of generating money for the church. The cheapest course in the institution goes for nothing less N700,000 which means those who devoted their energy to working during the construction of university and those whose offering in the church had played a part in the actualisation of the dream, are left in the cold. Though the presiding bishop is always quick to say that the funds that were used during construction of the church were not offering from the church, it is obvious that the school is just an arm of the church and it is therefore impossible to take offerings from the church away from the existence of the school, whereas the school is generally attended by children of politicians and some others in the society.

Just like Covenant University also owned by the Living Faith Tabernacle also known as Winners Chapel, Landmark University is also said to be a product of the education mandate given to Dr. David Oyedepo, the president of the Living Faith Church Worldwide. The focus of the church school, they claim, is to assist the nation and indeed the continent of Africa in self-discovery so that she may recover her leading position in education and in civilization, as it was in the 15th century. Its goal, it is further stated, is also to set the pace in making the Nigerian nation fully, competitively and profitably engage her comparative advantage in human and agricultural resource potentials and development and it was because of this that the school was purportedly sited in Omu-Aran, the home town of the man his congregation love to call Papa. Knowing that the business is now lucrative, the church, we gathered, invested heavily in the place, placing the bishop’s randy younger brother Pastor Gideon in charge of the construction and the fees just like its sister institution is in the region of N600,000, which makes it the church’s second tertiary institution placed above ordinary members of the church. In its effort to make the place even more lucrative there is an important admission message the church includes which states: “Intending students of Landmark University must fear God, love Him and be unreservedly committed to obeying Him. Students are expected to show in all their conducts the core values of the university. These are: Spirituality, Possibility Mentality, Capacity Building, Integrity, Responsibility, Diligence and Sacrifice. Applicants are advised to consider these important requirements of admission before applying and recognize that the screening test will, among others, focus on these requirements.” But it is the children of those corrupt Nigerian politicians that are been given admission into the school all because of money.

It is without doubt that the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) is capable of running a tertiary institution in the early missionary style where the students will not be paying any amount, but like other Nigerian churches, the church could not wait to turn the education sector into a very lucrative business venture and it is indeed yielding the desired profit. The church established Redeemer’s University which is said to be in line with the objective of the RCCG. General Overseer Pastor E. A. Adeboye aimed at not only increasing the number of Nigerian youths seeking higher education, but also to arrest the decay in the educational system through appropriate training. It was further stated that the vision is to seek for the return to the glorious days of mission schools, where students acquired high quality education with the fear of God and became useful citizens and with a careful omission of the fact that the mission schools were free. While the cheapest fees are about 500,000, the church concedes some discounts to some students and the categories are as follows:

7.5% discount on fees for students whose parent is a full time pastor of RCCG.

7.5% discount on fees for parents who have two or more children in the university

7.5% discount on fees for students whose parent is an employee of the university

Even with the discount, the fees each of the students are still going are still on the high side considering the fact that full-time pastors of the church are sparsely paid which might also have been responsible for all sorts of atrocities being committed by pastors of the church in the recent past.

The rate at which Nigerian churches now venture into the church business is completely something else as it has now become the ambition of every church in Nigeria to establish schools and the fees are jacked up heaven-high.

For example years after the death of pentecostal preacher, Archbishop Benson Idahosa, a university was formed in his name. Called Benson Idahosa University, the university was purportedly formed in accordance with the wish of the man whom they claimed first applied to establish a tertiary institution in 1992, after which it began operation as the Institute of Continuous Learning (ICL). It was stated further that the institute which was later named Christian Faith University became Benson Idahosa University in 1998 before it later began operations in 2002, and just like other church schools, it promises to give the students what others will not give them. With a slogan that reads: “Raising Leaders Who… Are Complete In Spirit, Mind And Body”, the school will offer all these for an amount that will not also be in the range of an ordinary public servant who bases his expenses only on the salary he or she is earning. The least expensive of the fees are in the range of N350,000.

Christ Apostolic Church-owned Joseph Ayo Babalola University (JABU), is another church that was built with special offering from the church members who are predominantly Yorubas. With members spanning from market women to captains of industries, the offering it was gathered was specially called for at every Sunday service where members were implored to donate towards the actualization of the dream of the church owning a university. Unlike other churches, they cannot attach the vision of a university to the founder of the church whom they name the institution after because the man did not really have any serious form of western education before his death more than 40 years ago, but the church through the support of artisans and everybody that are members completed its own school and in the process of fixing fees, it was done in such a way that most these people who contributed generously for the setting up of the school could not afford to send their children to the school as fees were pegged at between N480,000 to N550,000 per session.


It was not surprising when Archbishop Sam Amaga-owned Salem International Christian Center decided to come to the party of churches with tertiary institutions. The vision for Salem University was said to have come on the 6th of August 2002 while the archbishop was before the Lord in his prayer chambers where the Lord delivered to him the vision of the university. According to the church, the vision was further enhanced in 2004 while in a council meeting before the church-owned university eventually became operational in 2007. The institution which recently sent some of the teachers to Covenant University is said to be another of such schools that are not meant for ordinary Nigerians even when the money for its establishment came from the people’s labour.

Apostolic Faith Mission is a religious institution that is believed not to be too keen about what other religious institutions are doing; it is believed that they are from a different sphere entirely, but findings revealed that against the belief that they are saints, the church is after all led by men, as the church did not only join the league of churches that owns their own church, but are also part of those who charges exorbitant fees. Findings revealed that the average fee in their Crawford University is not less than 400,000 per session. The institution claims it is committed to academic excellence and the highest levels of discipline and morals.

The Seventh Day Adventist Church-owned Babcock University was at a time the most popular in the country and it is still one of the most expensive universities in Nigeria. Founded in 1959 as the Adventist College of West Africa (ACWA), Babcock has since grown to be strong as it is one of the earliest private universities in the country having started operations since 1999. The school which believes it has traditions that include the centrality of faith-based teaching – emphasizing the integration of faith and learning, knowing that to educate a man without God is to educate an intelligent devil, is without doubt the most expensive as their fees ranges from N400,000 to N1 million depending on the course and the choice of residence in the school. It is therefore common knowledge that with the fee it is likely that the school may be a place where intelligent devils are being bred.

They are among the newest in the church school business; it has not really begun its full operations but the hype around it means it is in the league of schools that are really worth mentioning. That is talking about the Mountain of Fire and Miracle Ministry-owned Mountain Top University, which is located along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. The university is planned to be “a dynamic center of academic excellence in the liberal tradition for the production of top-rate, morally sound graduates of distinction.”

Joining the league is the newly completed university of Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo’s Kingsway International Christian Center, the KICC University, which is situated at Ode-Omu area of Osun State. Though the institution is yet to formally commence lectures, it was gathered that the fees for the school of this London-based pastor cannot be lesser than that of his peers. The university which was sited on 500 acres of land instead of the 250 acres mandated by the NUC, is said to be necessary because of the level of poverty in the continent of Africa.

Now, one is wondering if the Deeper Christian Life Ministry will also not be joining the train owing to the fact that the church also decided some time ago to join the league of churches with properties on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway. It was later when people started seeing transformation at the church-owned International Bible Training College in the Ayobo area of Lagos State that they started seeing the vision of Anchor University. It was gathered that save for the Dana Air crash which occurred last year, the church’s university would have begun operation. According to sources, the NUC officials who died in the crash were actually travelling to inspect the school, but one thing that is sure is that like the rest of the Nigerian new-age mission schools, it is designed only for the rich and the corrupt.

read the whole article at http://www.globalnewsnig.com/how-nigerian-pastors-are-encouraging-corruption-robbery/

Why Christians Should Adopt the BCE/CE Dating System



By Robert R. Cargill
Center for the Digital Humanities,
Qumran Visualization Project

UCLA

September 2009


I have heard every argument. I have read every justification. And I have spent far too much time on Wikipedia changing BCs and ADs back to BCEs and CEs. It is a centuries-old argument that some maintain is integral to one’s identity as a Christian. Despite the rise of science, Christians have used—and many times have insisted upon—the continued use of the labels “AD” and “BC” to designate calendrical years, and thereby portray human history as directly relative to the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. But in our modern world of scientific reason and religious plurality, the battle over whether or not to use the increasingly accepted international scientific standard of BCE (“Before Common Era”) and CE (“Common Era”) has not waned, but rather has intensified. However, it is time for this battle to end; Christians should leave behind the BC/AD labels and adopt the BCE/CE dating system for all calendrical references.


Christians have offered many reasons for maintaining the BC/AD system. Many Christians perceive the BCE/CE system to be an affront to Christianity. They see the system as an attempt to eliminate “Christ” from the calendar, just as many reject the expression “x-mas” for removing “Christ” from Christmas. Some simply appeal to arguments of tradition and familiarity with the system. Still many other Christians object to the “scientific” origin of this designation. For whatever reason, be it an aversion to natural selection and evolution, the debunking or explanation of many so-called “miracles,” or a bad grade in a freshman biology class, some Christians cling to the BC/AD system because of the symbolic superiority they feel it offers its adherents over science. Because when all else fails, one can always deny the facts and use different labels (i.e., “intelligent design”).


There are, however, several excellent reasons for Christians to leave behind the BC/AD dating system. In fact, the use of BC and AD causes more problems for Christians than it solves. For one, it perpetuates the stereotype that Christians are arrogant tyrants who insist on couching all of human history (including Jewish, Islamic, Indian, Chinese, etc.) as relative to the birth of Christ. Rather than living the lives of humble servants that their Bible calls them to do, many Christians maintain that all history should be subject to their own religious claims. Even the period of history that took place before Jesus supposedly came to earth is relegated to mere anticipatory events prior to the birth of Jesus.


However, this insistence upon subjecting all of human history to one’s own religious interpretation opens Christians up to accusations of sectarian fundamentalism. Every time Christians insist upon the BC/AD dating system, they open the door to claims by adherents to other faiths that wish to impose their own relative dating system upon society. Jews will claim that the year 2009 is actually year 5770 (based on the supposed date of the creation of the earth in the Jewish tradition), while Muslims will insist that we are in year 1430 (AH = Anno Hajiri, or the year of the pilgrimage (“hajj”) of the Prophet Muhammad). By adopting a BCE/CE system, we avoid any haggling over religious origins of calendrical dates.


Adopting the BCE/CE also allows us to avoid having to re-date significant periods in the world’s history. The “Common Era” dating system uses the same dates as the “Anno Domini” (“Year of our Lord”) system, which designates dates as either “Before Christ” (BC), or “Anno Domini” (AD). Because the BCE/CE system utilizes the same dates as the BC/AD system, no alteration of historical dates is necessary; only a change of the label is needed to convert BC/AD to BCE/CE.


But, the continued insistence upon the BC/AD system causes even bigger theological and historical problems for Christians, problems of which many Christians are not even aware. These theological and historical problems are accentuated by the continued use of the BC/AD system.


Our present calendar is based upon the Gregorian calendar of 1582 CE (named after Pope Gregory XIII), which was a reform of the earlier Julian calendar of 45 BCE (named after Julius Caesar). The labels BC and AD were added in 525 by Dionysius Exiguus, who used them to compute the date of Easter. However, Dionysius miscalculated, and this error has been retained in the BC/AD system. While the Gregorian calendar accurately represents years of 365.25 days, Dionysius’ calculations skipped the year zero, jumping immediately from the year 1 BC to the year 1 AD. The result is a calendar that claims to be based upon the birth of Jesus, but which skips the first year of his life.


But besides the absence of the first year CE from our present calendar, an even greater problem exists with the BC/AD system: Jesus was not born in year zero. According to the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus was born during the reign of Herod the Great. According to multiple ancient sources, Herod died in 4 BCE. If the Gospel of Matthew is historically accurate, this would mean that Jesus of Nazareth was born on or before 4 BCE—meaning Jesus was born 4 BC (4 years Before Christ)! If we add to these 4 years the fact that Herod the Great did not die immediately after the birth of Jesus, but, according to Matthew, ordered the death of all children two years of age and younger in an attempt to kill Jesus, we can add an additional two years to the birth of Jesus, making his birth approximately 6 BCE. If we also add the missing year zero, it is most likely that, according to the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus was born around 7 BCE!


Thus, the BC/AD system is fundamentally flawed in that it misrepresents the birth of Jesus by approximately 7 years. This means that Jesus’ ministry did not begin around the year 30, but instead around the year 23. Likewise, Pentecost and the origin of the Christian Church should not be dated to “33 AD,” but to about 26 CE.


An even greater problem still exists with the BC/AD system: the year of Jesus’ birth differs depending on which Gospel one reads. While the Gospel of Matthew states in chapter 2:1 that Jesus was born during the reign of Herod the Great, the Gospel of Luke states in chapter 2:1-2 that Jesus was born during the first census of the rule of Quirinius, governor of Syria. According to ancient sources, the date of this census is about 6 CE. Thus, the Bible is internally inconsistent regarding the year of Jesus’ birth. Was Jesus born about around 7 BCE under the reign of Herod the Great as Matthew states, or was Jesus born about 6 CE under the reign of Quirinius, long after Herod the Great had died as Luke contends?


Insisting that the world use a calendar based upon the birth of Jesus only exacerbates the internal biblical inconsistencies of dating the birth of Jesus. Therefore, it would be better for all people—Christians and non-Christians alike—to adopt the BCE/CE system of dating. While it was originally supposedly based upon the date of Jesus’ birth, it in fact was not, but is rather loosely tied to events in the Roman Empire during that time that we can arbitrarily refer to as the beginning of a modern, common era. The BC/AD system no more accurately reflects the reality of Jesus’ life than does Monty Python’s The Life of Brian.


Thus, it is time for Christians to let go of the inaccurate, and to many, offensive BC and AD calendar labels and adopt the BCE/CE system. If using BC and AD to designate calendrical dates is the central identifier of a person as a Christian, then that person has bigger problems than an insistence upon a calendar. Likewise, adopting the BCE/CE system allays the discrepancies of the chronologies of Jesus’ life, while the archaic BC/AD system only highlights them. The BCE/CE system is the de facto dating system for the scientific community, joining the metric system as a standard that peoples of all nations and faiths can accept. This dating system is also the most widely used system outside of the scientific community. The BCE/CE system requires no conversions and no re-dating of historical events; only the renaming of BC to BCE and AD to CE is needed. And, as has been demonstrated above, because the AD/BC system is not actually based upon the birth of Jesus, but is rather off by approximately 7 years, there is no concern from non-Christian peoples to be suspicious of being surreptitiously forced into adopting a dating system based upon the life of Christ.


In the end, it is better to allow the calendar to arbitrarily differentiate the Common Era from the period Before the Common Era, and let Christians demonstrate their faith in some more meaningful way than simply insisting upon a particular set of calendar labels.






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