The era where innocent lives are taken to accompany a deceased leader in society would have still strongly persisted, but for Christianity, according to Founder and Senior Pastor of Lovereign Bible Church, Pastor John Winfred.
In a recent sermon, Pastor John Winfred decried the spate at which the Christian Religion has been vilified, thereby diminishing its impact made on individuals for centuries.
The man of God addressed the issue of Christianity allegedly taking the good from Africa and leaving many deceived.
“They say Christianity has come to take from Africa and has deceived us” he highlighted. But Pastor John Winfred quickly posed the question ‘what did Christianity take?’.
He noted that many deliberately evade the question which brings to light some inhumane practices taking place prior to the introduction of Christianity in Africa.
According to Pastor John Winfred, the era of human sacrifice was eventually brought to a halt owing to the emergence of teachings hovering around Christ Jesus.
“Christianity took human sacrifice. Why wouldn’t you follow the African Traditional Religion?
Number one. I don’t want somebody to die and my children will be killed to go and serve the person,” he said.
A resolution has been proffered, he said, which is that “God has killed his own son. There is no need to kill anybody again.”
“So taking the scriptures even on the surface of common sense. But one will say now we don’t practice human sacrifice again. Why don’t you practice it again? When was there a restructuring of African religion? What book was it written in that they had to be reviewed?
It was the impact of Christianity that took it away,” he added.
Pastor John Winfred further noted that life threatening issues such as Female Genital Mutilation, clitoridectomy, which was “dehumanizing, indignifying, a travesty on human hood” are close to extinction due to the Christian Religion.
Given the pros of Christianity, Pastor John Winifred is of the assertion that the malignment of the religion stems from miscomprehension and disinterest in finding the truth.
“They have not thought deeply into it. People say things they don’t understand. People do things they don’t understand and some don’t care to know. Let me tell you something African and our dignity, to me, was because of Christianity,” he said.
@lovereignbiblechurch Watch this excerpt to understand the contribution of Christianity in contemporary African society. #pastorjohnwinfred #lovereignbiblechurch #gospel #christian #christianity #christiantiktok #christianvibesgh #walkintestimonies #faith #gospelhypers #gospelgh #worshippersgh #letlovelead #myfootprinttv #christianblog #christianliving #christianlife #gospelmusic ♬ original sound – Lovereign Bible Church
Most recently, an educational material for Primary school students took a swipe at Christianity and religion as a whole.
‘History of Ghana for Basic Schools’ published by Excellence Publications noted that Christianity has led to hike in the number of impoverished individuals as they have become inert due to no interest in resolving issues practically but with hope and faith.
“Christianity has led to an increase (in) poverty; There is a direct link between religion and laziness which contributes to poverty in Ghana and Africa as a whole. Religion makes people lackadaisical in their attitude towards finding practical ways to improve their undesirable living conditions,” part of the textbook read.
Also, it noted that religion has served as a catalyst for fraud, which many people, particularly paupers fall victim to.
“Religion creates an avenue for many tricksters or charlatans to parade as men of God to fleece the poor or their meagre resources.”
“Religion in Ghana does not encourage creativity, invention or critical thinking because of its conservative or static nature,” it added.
On the issue of togetherness, the textbook accused Ghanaian politicians of riding on religion to foster disunity “in a bid to advance their political interests.”
In view of this, it holds the assertion that “religion is a major cause of physical conflicts and doctrinal disputes in Ghana and the world as a whole.”
Other controversial assertions in the textbook include: “Some religious doctrines brought by missionaries create a sense of fear or timidity in their adherents” and “most religious groups discriminate against women in so many ways.”
Due to the derogatory point of view the textbook pushes on pupils, social media users likely to be religious called for its immediate withdrawal as well as sanctions for institutions responsible for its use in schools.
Deputy Education Minister, John Ntim Fordjour, sternly condemned Excellence Publications for publishing the textbook he described as “obnoxious and misconceived.”
Due to the raging concerns, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) has recalled the books on the market.