DID HISTORY REPEAT ITSELF?
WHO EXACTLY DOES THIS STORY REMIND YOU OF?
:WHY WAS JOSIAH OSITELU’s MINISTRY REJECTED BY THE NIGERIAN PENTECOSTAL PIONEERS?
By Ayodeji Abodunde and A REJOINDER BY THE CHURCH OF THE LORD ALADURA
He was a remarkable figure in the early days of Pentecostalism in Nigeria. His fame even briefly eclipsed that of Joseph Babalola but then some leaders began to notice that something was not right.
On January 23, 1931, all the key figures in the budding Pentecostal movement in Yoruba Land met in Ibadan at the residence of Isaac Akinyele to resolve a burning issue. Church Gist. In attendance were Joseph Sadare, Isaac Akinyele, David Odubanjo, Joseph Babalola, Daniel Orekoya, Sophia Odunlami, J. A. Babatope, Jacob Ade Aina, Josiah Ositelu and others. It was a tense meeting, which lasted from 7:00 p.m. to about 4:00 am. This kind of meeting was not unusual. One of the notable features of the Pentecostal movement in Yoruba Land in its early days, was the commitment of its key figures to debate doctrine until they had arrived at what they believed was the biblical position. Church Gist. Virtually all of them were leaders in the Faith Tabernacle movement, and they were known for their solid commitment to the Scriptures. One scholar aptly called them “sober debaters.” In addition to Pentecostal literature, they were conversant with the works of notable evangelical thinkers such as Charles Finney, Oswald J. Smith, E. M. Bounds, Charles Spurgeon, John Wesley, and J. C. Ryle. The meeting was called to discuss some of the doctrines and ideas that were being practised and propagated by Josiah Ositelu, whose healing and evangelistic career came into the limelight around 1930. Ositelu was born in 1902 to an ljebu family from Ogere. He came from a non-Christian family, and it was at school that he became a Christian. He was baptised in 1914 with the name “Josiah” and confirmed eight years later. Church Gist. By 1919, he had completed his elementary education at an Anglican school in ljebu Ode. Afterwards, he was employed as a pupil teacher and served in various schools from this time till 1925. Between 1921 and 1923, he trained as a catechist under an Anglican minister in a village near Ogere and afterwards worked as both teacher and catechist. In 1925, he was posted to a village called Erekute, where he carried out his duties without incident until he had a strange experience that would alter the course of his life. As he recounted, in a vision, he saw “a large eye reflecting as a great orbit of the sun.” He was terrified and fled to the house of an elder in the church, spending the rest of the night there. After narrating his experience to all the elders the following day, he was advised to return to his family in Ogere for a while. Church Gist. Back at home, his mother consulted several medicine men, but none of them could help him. The strange experiences persisting, he returned to Erekute, where those who sympathised with his predicament suggested that he visit one Samuel Somoye an evangelist who lived near Erekute, with a reputation for being well versed in supernatural experiences. After Ositelu narrated his ordeal, which he believed were attacks from witches and wizards, Somoye calmed his fears and convinced him that the experiences were a sign that God was calling him into His service. He instructed him to stop using the charms that he had resorted to, and to begin reading certain psalms and praying with fasting. Ositelu experienced some relief after following these instructions. As far as we know, until May 1925 when he had the first visionary experience, Ositelu had faithfully followed Anglican doctrine. However, his relationship with Somoye would significantly shape his theology from this time onwards. Church Gist. After the initial contact with Somoye, Ositelu began to visit him regularly, and a mentor-protégé relationship developed. On Somoye’s instruction, Ositelu engaged in long periods of fasting starting in June 1925. As a result, he began to “hear voices and see visions,” and meticulously documented the revelations. According to historian Harold Turner, Ositelu made almost 10,000 entries of revelatory experiences in six massive journals over a period of nine years. These are some of the entries he made between June and November 1925: “I will anoint you as my prophet, even as Elijah anointed Elisha with oil in the olden days, so it shall be unto you.” “The Lord will give you a strong constitution, and people will be streaming after you.” “Gradually, the seals of power will come to you. Your good time draws on apace. “I will build New Jerusalem in you. Church Gist. You are the one whom Jesus Christ has sent like the last Elijah to repair the Lord’s road and make his way straight.” “I will give you the key of power like Moses, and will bless you like Job… I am the God of Kah… the God of Jah.”
Certain practices, which Turner describes as “mildly unorthodox,” emerged in Ositelu’s life during this period. This resulted in conflict with his immediate Anglican superiors, who cautioned him repeatedly. Church Gist. When he refused to back down, he was first suspended from his duties as teacher and catechist and later dismissed by the church in February 1926. After his dismissal, he went to work as a clerk in his aunt’s shop in Ogere for about a year. He spent most of his time praying and fasting, and documenting the revelations he received. He left Ogere in February 1927 to serve as a disciple under Somoye. He was with Somoye from 1927 to 1929. During this period, Ositelu developed a holy script, which he wrote from right to left, like Arabic. Church Gist. Harold Turner observed that these writings had similarities to “Greek and Syriac forms” and that Ositelu had probably gotten ideas from Arabic and Greek texts. His journals contained drawings and “sealed words” depicted as “diagrams in red and black ink,” each having a spiritual meaning. Also, he began using several so-called holy names” for God, which he said had been specially revealed to him. His journals and published writings clearly show that he had been heavily influenced by masonic and occult literature, such as the Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses. Church Gist. Since Samuel Somoye was the major influence on Ositelu during this period and Ositelu acknowledged him as his master, it is important to know who Somoye was.
From about the mid-1920s, several independent evangelists began travelling throughout Yorubaland, presenting themselves as the answer to the growing complaints among Yorubas about the lack of spiritual power in the mission churches. Church Gist. There was clearly a hunger for a more vibrant Christianity that could provide answers to many of the physical and spiritual challenges that people were experiencing. Some of these evangelists were genuinely labouring for the furtherance of the gospel, going about preaching on the power of prayer and exhorting Christians to stop relying on charms. But there were others who, in the quest for spiritual power, delved into occultism and usually styled themselves prophets in the hopes of gaining recognition as powerful spiritual men who had secret knowledge that enabled them to discern and provide solutions to people’s problems. Church Gist. Though Somoye’s personal story is obscure, he certainly belonged to the latter group. We know that before launching out on his own, he had been a disciple of another travelling evangelist and that he professed to have supernatural experiences. Somoye was certainly deeply involved in occultism while openly preaching the basic tenets of Christianity. One can only imagine what Ositelu was exposed to during his years of training under him. After leaving Somoye, Ositelu launched out on his own in June 1929, with his base in Ogere. From the evidence of his considerably long career, it is clear that he maximised whatever lessons he got from Somoye, putting them to use in ways that even Somoye could only have dreamed of. This was made possible by his strong sense of ambition, thirst for knowledge, pathological self-absorption, resilience and charisma. Ositelu was described as having a “most magnetic and compelling personality.” This journal entry by Ositelu, made prior to launching out, gives us some insight into his thinking in general: “The day of destruction has come. tell the people of Judah your God has come. Church Gist. He has been waiting long for the power of God; he’s been searching for knowledge of the Almighty. He waited and has been crowned. The righteous Elijah hath come. The forerunner of the Lord, to prepare His way. I was put on a high mountain and given authority to own from Ogere to ljebu Ode to Ikorodu to Abeokuta to Ibadan to Owode. Ogere is the appointed place. We shall build a house of God in Judah and make every part of it a happy place, to make known the glory of God.”
Ositelu spent a considerable amount of time in open-air preaching, calling people to repent and turn to God. His first sermon had a ten-point outline, each beginning with the phrase, “Hear the Gospel of Joy!” Overall, his messages were focused on God’s displeasure with idolatry, healing through the power of prayer, securing God’s blessings through obedience, and the establishment of God’s kingdom. Church Gist. Contemporary reports show that he had an outstanding gift of prophecy. On the surface, his message wouldn’t have set alarm bells ringing. By mid-1930, Ositelu’s activities had attracted the attention of key figures in the Faith Tabernacle movement. Faith Tabernacle leaders had been consistently praying for revival for about seven years and always welcomed reports of spiritual outpouring. About a year earlier, they had received a similar report about Joseph Babalola, who was at the time unknown beyond Ilofa, his hometown. After some investigation to ascertain that his call and ministry were biblical, they fully embraced him, baptised him, and began supporting him. It was during a Faith Tabernacle congress in Ilesa that the famous 1930 revival broke out. Now it seemed God had raised another person with a ministry like that of Babalola, and they were excited. Church Gist. Some Faith Tabernacle leaders visited Ositelu to personally observe his ministry and to ask questions. Isaac Akinyele and Joseph Babalola visited Ositelu in Ogere in July 1930. Jacob Ade Aina visited him in August. Joseph Sadare hosted him in ljebu Ode in August. It is unlikely that these initial interactions could have afforded them the opportunity to see through Ositelu’s carefully crafted public image. Ositelu was a master manipulator, and in a bid to expand his influence, likely concealed the aspects of his operations he knew would raise doubts in their minds. Besides Sadare’s aversion to Ositelu’s obsession with witch-finding, it seems they came away with a generally positive opinion of his ministry. Perhaps to make doubly sure of his genuineness, Sadare wanted him to submit to baptism by Faith Tabernacle leaders, but Ositelu demurred, stating that he had been baptised by the Spirit. Church Gist. The Faith Tabernacle platform was thus thrown wide open to him. This was the peak of the 1930 revival, and Ositelu’s ministry brought added zest to an already combustible revival atmosphere. There was a continuous coming and going between the revival centres. In the months following, Ositelu held revival meetings that often lasted for weeks in Ijebu Ode with Sadare and Sophia Odunlami; in Ibadan with Akinyele, Ade Aina, and Daniel Orekoya; in Abeokuta with Babalola, Orekoya and Akinyele; and in Ogere with Akinyele, Babalola and J. A. Babatope. There were reports of healings, the baptism of hundreds of converts, and an impressive prophetic ministry. There was so much collaboration that the Ositelu and Faith Tabernacle revivals were virtually becoming one movement. Church Gist. However, as Faith Tabernacle leaders related more closely with Ositelu, they observed several things that troubled them, one of which was the use of holy names and strange words. It is unclear when exactly they first noticed these aberrations, but they had obviously known for a while before deciding to confront the issue. Probably, they were initially willing to give Ositelu the benefit of the doubt considering the results of their collaboration. But perhaps after further reflection and comparing notes, they concluded that something was fundamentally wrong. A congress was held on January 23, 1931 to deliberate on their concerns. Faith Tabernacle leaders, Ositelu, and also Faith Tabernacle delegates from several towns were in attendance. Church Gist. Several issues were raised, but the main thrust of the meeting was challenging Ositelu’s claims of having secret knowledge and personal revelation from God that had no Scriptural basis. Joseph Sadare complained about Ositelu’s tendency to exaggerate the results of his ministry and his fixation with publicly identifying witches. Isaac Akinyele thought that the so-called holy names provided no spiritual benefit and stated, “There is no use in calling these names. Christ came and showed us His real name and as we are promised everything in the name of Christ, all other names should be left aside.” Joseph Babalola said that he had initially not given much thought to Ositelu’s use of the names and strange words, but that some events forced him to investigate its origins. He said that Ositelu’s main assistant, who had also been a disciple of Somoye, told him that they were in the bush for some years tormenting themselves and that they had received the names during that period. Church Gist. Babalola therefore concluded that the names could not be from God and should no longer be used. Sophia Odunlami condemned the use of the holy names and strange words and also said Ositelu had made advances to her feigning prophetic revelation. Daniel Orekoya found it strange that some of the people who had been healed through his ministry experienced a relapse after visiting Ositelu for prayers. J. A. Babatope simply thought the use of the strange words was childish nonsense. Church Gist. David Odubanjo said the strange names and words were clearly from Satan and that Ositelu’s duplicity would be exposed in due course.
It is doubtful that Faith Tabernacle leaders knew what they were actually dealing with at the time. There is no indication that at that point they were familiar with occult symbols and ideas or that they made any connection between Ositelu’s practices and occult literature. Church Gist. They must have assumed that Ositelu was a genuine Christian evangelist who had erred in some fundamental ways and could be persuaded as a brother to see his error. Unfortunately, they were dealing with a full-blown occultist in the guise of a revivalist. They certainly realised this afterwards, but not at the time of the congress. Corresponding with Odubanjo some years after this, one Faith Tabernacle member made this scathing remark about Ositelu and his followers: “God in his mercy cut them off… mere spiritualists.” Ositelu denied all the charges brought against him and said that accusing him of heresy was blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Church Gist. He defended himself using verses such as Ezekiel 39:7 in a twisted way. Finally, he said, “The only thing to be done now is that everybody should mind his own business. I would not venture to go into details concerning the origin of these names. As there is nobody willing to be responsible for quenching the Spirit, nobody can therefore keep me from the use of the Holy Names. There is but one tree and there are many branches.” This marked the end of the relationship between Faith Tabernacle leaders and Josiah Ositelu. Historian Robert Mitchell superbly summarised this parting of ways: “The Faith Tabernacle emphasis upon biblical authority was incongruent with the personal authority Ositelu felt God had granted him.” Church Gist. Strangely, Jacob Ade Aina was swayed by Ositelu’s arguments and eventually sided with him; and so he had to leave the Faith Tabernacle.
In rejecting Josiah Ositelu’s ministry, Faith Tabernacle leaders laid down certain principles that safeguarded the integrity of the nascent Pentecostal movement: Despite evidence of supernatural manifestations, if a person believes and defends doctrines that are unbiblical, their ministry should be rejected. Church Gist. A leader’s unwillingness to submit personal revelation to scrutiny or to discuss or debate a doctrine or practice that other trustworthy leaders consider questionable should be seen as a red flag. Ositelu went on to establish the Church of the Lord (Aladura) on a hotchpotch of occult ideas and practices and Christian teachings. His published prophecies for certain years, starting in 1931, show a deeply twisted mind. Besides other clearly unchristian ideas and practices, he married at least seven wives. He and his followers embarked on evangelistic campaigns, which resulted in the spread of the church to Liberia, Ghana, Sierra Leone and the United Kingdom within a few decades. Church Gist. By the time he died on July 12, 1966, he had created a template for occultists who wanted to use the Christian church to legitimize and expand their platform.
Transcript extracted from: Deji Abodunde YouTube Video
THE REJOINDER BY THE CHURCH OF THE LORD ALADURA
Our attention has been drawn to a story published on YouTube by the one named Ayodeji Abodunde. The said Ayodeji in his documentary presented a distorted history of events which is defamatory of the person and institution represented by our late founder and first primate Pa Josiah Olunowo Ositelu of blessed memory. The story which he must have writtenbased on information he could access and which without any doubt he distorted consists of true and false information.
Around 1920s, there was no Pentecostal movement or pioneers in Yoruba Land. What we had then was Aladura Movement. Egbe Aladura of which was made of Precious Stone or Diamond Society, “Okura Iyebiye” led by Joseph Shadare, Faith Tabernacle led by Akinyele, The Church of the Lord led by Josiah Olunowo Ositelu and Cherubim and Seraphim Society led by Moses Orimolade. Amongst the four groups, only the first three worked together which resulted in The Great Revival in Ibadan in 1930. What was very interesting about the first three groups is that only the Ositelu’s group, The Church of the Lord remains intact till today. The Faith Tabernacle broke into different factions including the The Apostolic Church (TAC), Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), etcetera. The Diamond Society of Shadare has gone into oblivion and therefore no more in existence.
While they were working together, only Josiah Ositelu was a Bible student. He was a catechist in the Anglican Church. All other contemporaries received the knowledge of the Scripture through Sunday School and Church tracts from the Faith Tabernacle in the USA. This is no wonder when they say that speaking in tongues is not Biblical which is due to their limited knowledge. Today, the CAC people speak in tongues which was rejected by Joseph Babalola and the reason why they parted with Ositelu in 1931. The reference to Baba Ositelu as a cultist sheds Ayodeji as someone with a shallow depth of knowledge. He’s advised to go and read the true history of the man whose story he sought to tell in a publication – The Oracle of God, Josiah Olunowo: An African Prophet. It is available on eBay. He should read more books and contact us for more information. Prophet, Superintendent, General, Most Reverend Dr. Josiah Olunowo Ositelu fondly remembered as the Oracle of God Almighty was an extraordinary African Prophet and servant leader. He was the founder and first primate of the Church of the Lord, TCL Worldwide, established in 1925 and formally inaugurated in 1930, a transformative figure in African Christianity.
Prophet Ositelu’s legacy continues to inspire millions globally. Renowned for his evangelistic zeal, he emphasized on repentance, salvation and holiness. Under his leadership, The Church of the Lord grew into a dynamic global movement that remains relevant today. Prophet Ositelu’s spiritual journey reflects a profound divine calling marked by unwavering commitment, dedication and innovative contributions to both African and global Christianity.
Jealous and slander. The Bible said that it is unwise to even associate with those who slander. Proverbs 20:19. Apostles Paul and Peter joined James repeatedly to warn Christians and commanded Christians to repent of slander. Ephesians 4:31. Colossians 3:8. 2 Peter 2:1. Therefore, do not slander for it leads to destruction. Let’s remember that our Lord, Christ Jesus was slandered and falsely accused of all kinds of offenses. No wonder we are told, “the good person out of his good treasure brings forth good and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil”. Therefore, slanderers should get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger and slander along with every form of envy and malice. Ephesians 4:31. Colossians 3:8. Proverbs 16:28. For evil in the heart produces wicked speech and slanderous writeup.
Slanderers include Ayodeji Abodunde are just envious of what God is doing in The Church of the Lord till now. Amongst the three Churches that started The Great Revival of 1930 in Ibadan, only Ositelu’s Church – The Church of the Lord Worldwide – is intact. The Precious Stone Church of Joseph Shadare has gone into oblivion and no more in existence. The Faith Tabernacle after internal crises metamorphosed into different factions – The Apostolic Church (TAC), Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) and etcetera. But God has since been using Ositelu’s Church mightily for His glory. It is on record today that The Church of the Lord Worldwide is the only Church amongst them all that started in the 1920s that is a member of the World Council of Church, WCC based in Geneva, Switzerland; Global Christian Forum, GCF, based in Upper Malboro, Maryland in the United States of America; All African Conference of Churches, AACC based in Nairobi, Kenya, just to mention a few. Right now, the Primate of The Church of the Lord Worldwide is the President of the World Council of Churches from Africa. To God be the glory.
It is quite obvious why they’re jealous of Ositelu and the Church he founded. No amount of Jealousy and hatred towards The Church of the Lord Worldwide will be able to change the fact that The Church of the Lord Worldwide is the leading and paramount African-instituted Churches with its headquarters at Ogere Remo, Ogun State, Nigeria. May the good Lord continually use The Church of the Lord Worldwide for His glory in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.
Transcript from TLC Worldwide video.
#ChurchGist
