What is the Redeemed Christian Church of God?
Question:
I am a member of the Church of Christ and I study with many that are outside of the body of Christ. I have been doing Bible studies with a couple of different people in different states who say they attend worship at a Redeemed Christian Church of God. I am not familiar with this group. Can you give me information on them and what they believe? It would help me with my studies with them.
Answer:
The Redeemed Christian Church of God is a charismatic church, started in Nigeria in 1952. It was founded by a man named Pa Josiah Akindayomi who started a church he called "The Glory of God Fellowship." Shortly thereafter, he claimed to have a vision to call his church "The Redeemed Christian Church of God." He also claimed that he received a covenant from God, like Abraham. In this covenant, he stated that God would supply all the needs of the members of his church if they served God faithfully. Its headquarters is in Lagos, Nigeria.
Enoch Adejare Adeboye succeeded Mr. Akindayomi after his death. Under his direction, the church spread across Nigeria and then the world. He is currently the head of this denomination.
They believe in modern-day prophecies. I found a list of prophecies for 2007 on their website. What immediately struck me was how much they were like the astrologer's predictions and the horoscopes you read in the paper. They are so vague that just about anything can be ascribed to them. While the writing is better than most, I also notice that they contained several grammatical errors, and it has to be bad if I notice it. To me, this indicates that they are not inspired since God would not have bad grammar no matter what language He spoke. A third thing I notice is the focus on this denomination's home country of Nigeria. While there are general "prophesies" for the world, they give special ones for this one country and no other.
Since its foundation, they claimed that miracles happen during their services. Today they hold a "Holy Spirit Service" on the first Friday of each month where they claim miracles take place.
In beliefs, they accept the view that God is three beings in one. They believe the Bible is the unchanging teachings of God. But like other charismatic groups, they see two levels of believers, those who are saved and those who are being sanctified. They claim that people who are saved are cleansed of their sins, but those who are sanctified are progressively cleansed even more until they are completely cleansed from sins. Everyone can be saved by water baptism, but the saved must afterward pray to God and request baptism of the Holy Spirit, at which time he will be able to speak in tongues. The sign of speaking in tongues is required to show that the person is being sanctified.
It appears they reject the use of medicines and instead claim that sanctified people can pray that divine healing takes place.
They practice tithing of all income and business transaction. These funds are to be used to support the ministers in their church.
They believe it is a sin to speak against the ministers in their church.
They believe in only one marriage while both partners are alive. Divorce is only allowed if one partner commits adultery, but remarriage is not allowed until one partner dies.
They dedicate their children to their church when they are eight days old.
They hold premillennial beliefs with a resurrection of the righteous, a period of tribulation, Christ's reign over a physical kingdom for 1,000 years and then the final judgment. They believe there will be three judgments: a judgment of believers, a judgment of the nations, and a judgment of unbelievers.