Author Rev. Babatunde Ezekiel Ajibola
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Though the African worshipped the heathen gods and deities, the coming of Christianity did not make any difference in that the potency and dynamics of the Holy Spirit as demonstrated in the Acts of the Apostles and the invocation of the name of Jesus Christ to enhance signs and wonders was not visible. The church was therefore seen as another arms of the colonial government, aimed at imposing the foreign God of the colonial people and to take away the spiritual pride of the African worshippers inas having their own way of taking care of their spiritual matters.
In most cases people were converted to Christianity without the conviction of repentance unto salvation. As a result, the majority of African worshippers still owedwn allegiance to their fetish gods and deities. Prayers were said according to routine of doctrines and everything that Christianity stood for was based on a collection of rules and doctrines that became stereo-typed, and to be followed not as a a matter of conviction but as a mere religious rituals.
It was therefore in vogue to be a Christian and at the same time be a worshipper of some deities or fetish gods without anybody questioning your faith. A lot of clergies were even members of some secret cults and having to do with some curious arts.
The Africans exposed to Christianity at the coming of colonialism never had the opportunity that the eunuch of Ethiopia had when he met Phillip,s a disciple of Christ who exposed him to the scripture and brought him to the true knowledge of Christ.
Under the colonial government churches in Nigeria worked under the authority conferred on them by the limitations of the true knowledge of the power that is in the word of God that constitute the bible, and a lack of faith to apply these words to situations and get results through divine interventions. The injunctions of Christ that constitutes the great commission were seen as one of the numerous words of the scriptures that were, but no more.
“And he said unto them, Go ye into the entire world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
“And thesehis signs shall follow them that believe; in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” Mk.16:15-18
Even though the colonial churches did not manifest the workings of the apostles as demonstrated in the scriptures, they did a lot of good works that they need to be credited for. In the first place they brought about the consciousness of Christ as the Ssaviour of the world. They helped to enlighten the mind ofminds of many through education and health institutions that they established. It was obvious that they were emissaries of the living God to come as a fore runners of the true gospel. To lay the foundation of the knowledge of Christ in the heart of the people in this part of the world so that when the Holy Spirit shall be poured down in answer to the prayers of the faithful it will not be that strange.
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