Luther Seminary Digital Commons @ Luther Seminary MA Theses Student Theses 2013 Martin Luther's Theology of the Cross in the Face of the Challenge of the Neo-Pentecostal Movement and Its Prosperity Gospel Message Hossana Yohanna Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.luthersem.edu/ma_theses Part of the Christian Denominations and Sects Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Yohanna, Hossana, "Martin Luther's Theology of the Cross in the Face of the Challenge of the Neo-Pentecostal Movement and Its Prosperity Gospel Message" (2013). MA Theses. Paper 27. This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Theses at Digital Commons @ Luther Seminary. It has been accepted for inclusion in MA Theses by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Luther Seminary. For more information, please contact [email protected]. MARTIN LUTHER’S THEOLOGY OF THE CROSS IN THE FACE OF THE CHALLENGE OF THE NEO-PENTECOSTAL MOVEMENT AND ITS PROSPERITY GOSPEL MESSAGE by HOSSANA YOHANNA A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Luther Seminary In Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS THESIS ADVISER: PROFESSOR GUILLERMO C. HANSEN ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA 2013 This thesis may be duplicated only by special permission of the author. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS It is obvious that a project such as this would not have been possible without the support of so many people. My appreciation goes to my thesis advisor and academic advisor, Dr. Guillermo C. Hansen, whose teaching and theological approach has influenced my thinking and guided me through the process of this work by formulating the topic and adeptly guided me and provided helpful suggestions all the way long so that the work moved to completion. Dr. Lois Malcolm and Dr. Charles Amjad-Ali both offered expert suggestions that improved the thesis greatly. I am grateful to Mr. & Mrs. Gary and Deanne Sande who were both my parents and friends while in the USA, and Prof. & Mrs. Bradley Holt and all my friends in Nigeria, United States, and St. Paul Reformation Lutheran Church (SPR) for their love, concern and support. I appreciate my parents; the late Baba Yohanna Dan Rettinya and Mama Maryamu Yohanna, for their parental care and other family members who have help me in many practical and generous ways. A big appreciation to my beloved wife Mrs. Sarauniya Hossana and children, Rachel Hossana, Luther Adakponsunme Hossana, Glad Inyoh Yohanna and Pillar Hossana, who have all served as my source of inspiration in the cause of this work. My appreciation is also extended to the my church, The Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria (LCCN), The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) for the ii scholarship, without which I wouldn’t have embarked on this journey. I also appreciate the entire members of the Lutheran Church of Christian Nigeria (LCCN) Ikeja, and the whole of Lagos Division, Abuja Diocese. Finally, the greatest of all my appreciation is to God almighty, under whose arms I have studied. To him be the glory and honor forever more. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. ii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................. vi 1. INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................1 Definition of Terms ...............................................................................................3 Pentecostalism.......................................................................................................3 Charismatics ..........................................................................................................4 Neo-Pentecostalism...............................................................................................5 Prosperity Gospel ..................................................................................................5 Mainline Protestant ...............................................................................................6 Statement of the Problem ......................................................................................8 Purpose of the Research ......................................................................................13 Scope and Limitation of the Research .................................................................15 Notes on the Chapters ..........................................................................................15 2. NEO-PENTECOSTALISM .........................................................................................17 Origins of Pentecostalism ....................................................................................19 Christianity in Nigeria .........................................................................................20 Pentecostalism in Nigeria ....................................................................................23 The Beginning of Neo-Pentecostalism ................................................................26 The Beginning of the Prosperity Gospel .............................................................27 The Neo-Pentecostal Prosperity Messages in Nigeria .........................................29 3. BRIEF HISTORY OF LUTHER AND HIS THEOLOGY OF THE CROSS ............36 An Introduction to Martin Luther’s Theology of The Cross ...............................38 Luther’s Theology of the Cross ...........................................................................42 4. LUTHER’S THEOLOGY OF THE CROSS VERSES THE NEO-PENTECOSTAL ON PROSPERITY GOSPEL .......................................................................................49 Pentecostals in Nigeria on Poverty ......................................................................51 Luther’s Challenge of the Prosperity Gospel ......................................................54 5. CONCLUSION: SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS ..................................60 Summary ..............................................................................................................60 Conclusion ...........................................................................................................63 Recommendations ...............................................................................................64 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..............................................................................................................65 iv v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS BBC British Broadcasting Cooperation BC The Book of Concord. Edited by Robert Kolb and Timothy J. Wengert. Minneapolis, MN: 2000. ELCN Evangelical Lutheran Church in America LC Large Catechism LCCN The Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria. LW Luther’s Works Edited by Hilton C Oswald, 56 vols. Saint Louis Missouri: Concordia Publishing House, 1974. MFM Mountain of Fire and Miracle NRSV New Reversed Standard Version SCOAN Synagogue Church of All Nations SPCK Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge SPR Saint Paul Reformation Lutheran Church vi INTRODUCTION This thesis was informed by the recent changes that emerged within the Christian church, as a result of the introduction of the gospel of prosperity by some neo-Pentecostal preachers with special emphasis on Nigeria. Nigeria, the main focus of this thesis, is a country with a population of 160 million people which is blessed with enough resources to live on, but a few greedy individuals have confiscated the wealth for themselves, leaving the larger population in abject poverty. The neo-Pentecostals have made attempts to find a solution and a means of survival in this rather alarming situation and concluded that the only way out of this situation was to change their message from the saving work of Christ on the cross to that of embracing the Prosperity Gospel. They claim that Prosperity Gospel is relevant for Nigeria because God gave them more than just the Gospel. He gave them his son as an example of how to live, and he gave them the tools (sacraments) to keep them in his Grace. One of the most often repeated teachings in recent times has been centered on the Biblical prophecies which state that "the wealth of the wicked will be given to the righteous" (Prov. 13:22). The prophecies actually go further than this and state that the wealth of the nations will be brought to the righteous. The wealth is not to be hoarded, but passed on to those that are preaching the gospel (Isa. 23:18). They believe these are Biblical prophecies and they will come to pass. This has begun, and we must fight it or we will destroy our churches. 1 2 I have noticed with great concern that the wealth that is acquired by the Prosperity Gospel preachers is not used by all, but only by either the preachers themselves or the inner-workers of their churches. This is not far from what is obtainable in the secular society and the government which we frown at. Therefore, this unprecedented prosperity gospel message that has come to our people may destroy the church if nothing is done about it. This is a sign that Nigeria has gotten itself into a serious church robbery that has changed the entire gospel of our Lord into a money-making venture. Those who knew no stealing are now stealing from their offices to give handsomely to their pastors in expectation of a double measure in return. A shining example of what informed this thesis is an incident that happened in one of the Neo-Pentecostal