The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria and famous Christain clerics in the country have conspicuously maintained silence over the death of Synagogue Church of All Nations’ founder, Prophet Temitope Joshua.
Known to the public as T.B Joshua, the SCOAN founder died on June 5 after a church programme in Lagos.
The preacher was not a member of neither CAN nor PFN, both of the faith’s most prominent bodies. It was recorded that these bodies publicly renounced the Prophet, with the tag ‘son of the devil’. Hence, there hasn’t been any interaction.
Joshua was reputed to have said that he was converted in his mother’s womb and grew in faith without any known mentor.
His unorthodox methods, however, turned his contemporaries against him.
General overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye; presiding bishop of the Living Faith Church, David Oyedepo; and the general superintendent of Deeper Christian Life Ministry, Pastor William Kumuyi, have not publicly said a word concerning Joshua’s demise.
Adeboye, in 2009, said he would never go to Joshua’s church to minister.
He was quoted as saying so in the Vanguard newspaper when asked whether he could worship in Joshua’s church, “No! Definitely not! If he wants me to come and minister in his church, we will sit down; we will discuss the issue of salvation the way I understand it, according to the scriptures.
“If we agree on that and he now wants me to come and preach the same message of salvation in his church, then I will go.”
Another recent clash was during the coronavirus pandemic. T.B Joshua, who is best known for his prophecies, revealed there would be rain and it will wash away the coronavirus from the face of the Earth.
In a Facebook post by Joshua, he said, “Since Yesterday, when the Lord brought the revelation about the rain and this rain will wipe away the epidemic coronavirus, I asked the Lord to make this happen in the place where the coronavirus started which is Wuhan, China.
“Right now, it is raining in Wuhan, China. The purpose of this rain is to wipe out the epidemic called coronavirus and it will continue till the end of the week.
However, Pastor Enoch Adeboye challenged the claim. He said the virus can not be permanently eradicated, it will only subside.
While Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor was PFN president, he was quoted to have said the body would not admit Joshua to its fold because they were not convinced that he was a child of God.
“Jesus did not say by their words you will know them; he said by the fruit you shall know them. If T.B. Joshua can show me his pastor who pastored him before he said he was called into the ministry; if T.B. Joshua can tell me when he got converted and how he got converted, then we would consider him. Anybody who is a Christian is a Christian because he received Jesus Christ at a point,” he said.
“I gather he said he was converted in his mother’s womb and I don’t see anybody like that in the Bible. It is a conscious decision you make and it doesn’t happen in your mother’s womb.”
Apostle Johnson Suleman of the Omega Fire Ministries International has blasted T.B Joshua on numerous occasions. In a video while ministering, he called Joshua out for claiming to visit mountains and other miracles.
He said, “T.B Joshua is small, the synagogue is too small. I cannot fight, church can not fight church. But I must correct an impression….There is no mountain on Lagos/Ibadan expressway.
“What I don’t understand is was it a mistake? Speaking against me alone is already death, you are now add Pastor Adeboye… You are not afraid.
“A man who has been with God, You can lie about him on the altar,” he said.
TB Joshua, who died aged 57, was into the healing ministry, becoming the go-to person for sick people who needed healing.
He however died less than a week to his 58th birthday.
