In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7:15–20), Jesus warned his followers of false prophets: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles?”
Jesus continued by telling those who cared to listen that those false prophets can be known by their fruits.
And then He explained that “a good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit” before He wrapped up his sermon by pointing out that false prophets can be known “by their fruits.”
Although the message is crystal clear, it seems, however, that many Nigerian Christians still struggle to identify false prophets, let alone know what their fruits are, and the situation is not helped by the fact that many Christians worry that a great deal of teachings that emanate from the pulpit could be considered to be heretic.
This is where Abel Damina enters the picture.
Damina is the senior pastor of Power City International, headquartered in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria and though he insists that the ministry’s vision is to “re-introduce Jesus to our world,” he has, for all his trouble, gained “notoriety” for being the most controversial preacher in Nigeria.
The 64-year-old Damina’s mission to “equip you the believer to know who you are in Christ, what you have in Christ, and what Christ can do through you” has also pitted him against other Christians who are adamant that his teachings could spell doom for his listeners.
Global papa, as Damina is usually called by his adherents, drew the ire of Christians when they criticised him for teaching that the man “created” in the book of Genesis 1:26, where God said “Let us make man in our own image,’ was not Adam, but Christ.
According to Damina, the man that was created in the first chapter of Genesis was not Adam because the New Testament, which he says explains the Old Testament, calls Jesus “the image of God.”
And Damina, whose 2024 New Year’s eve message to his congregation went viral after he said that Adam and Eve did not sin because they ate a fruit in the Garden of Eden, added that Adam was actually formed in Genesis 2:7.
“The man in Genesis 1:26 was not Adam because in Chapter two of Genesis, we now see God formed man,” he told his bewildered listeners.
He, however, clarifies that men can also be the image of God if they become “born again,” a position he was upbraided for.
Damina, who notes that he is often called “controversial” because “when a man is used to hearing lies, truth becomes a controversy,” has also taught, to the chagrin of many Christians that God does not kill or get angry.
Explaining his position, Damina says he is convinced that God is not responsible for all the deaths and destructions that took place in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament where Christians read about God, for instance, drowning Pharaoh and his men in the Red sea as they pursued the Israelites who had been liberated from slavery in Egypt.
The stand Damina is taking against the perception that God is also to blame for some of the killings and destructions in the Bible is that Jesus, characteristically, did not kill anyone when he sojourned on earth and because He is God, did not kill anyone in the Old Testament since God’s character does not change.
The uproar over Damina’s teachings has also intensified following his submission that the Bible teaches “once saved, forever saved,” and other hyper-grace promises believers enjoy “in-Christ.”
“I don’t totally agree with everything Damina says but I have noticed that when most of the things he teaches are carefully analysed, it would be discovered that he speaks truth most times”
Thus, contrary to the view many men of God hold on salvation, Damina maintains that anyone who has been saved cannot lose his or her salvation, no matter the sin the individual commits.
Although Damina uses a stream of Bible passages to corroborate his “once saved, forever saved” doctrine, he was indirectly countered and reminded by the General Overseer of Faith Tabernacle, David Oyedepo, that one of the disciples of Jesus, Judas Iscariot, lost his own salvation.
Damina has also stood vehemently against the prosperity gospel, which he calls a “scam” and “really no gospel at all.”
The eloquent preacher, whose oratory skills his followers say is a joy to behold, also asserts that instead of believers being blessed with material possessions, the riches of Christ they are already enjoying are the forgiveness of sin, God’s unmerited grace, His power in the believer, and the like.
Consequently, many Christians have slammed Damina for being a heretic for promoting the idea that God does not give a hoot about the material possessions Christians acquire on earth, as well as for his conviction that the Bible does not teach Christians how to make money.
The father of three, Jemima, Jesimiel and Jeiel, is also known to have stirred the hornet’s nest when he said that people do not go to hell because of their sins but because of their “unwillingness to believe in Jesus.”
Damina adds that morality and good works do not count in God’s salvation gift to men.
These messages did not go down well with many pastors who were left with no choice but to come down heavily on Damina, unleashing a chiding rebuttal of what has been taught and calling him out for encouraging moral laxity among Christians.
Lately, Damina has been engaging in doctrinal fisticuffs with some Catholic priests over the taking of “holy communion.”
Expectedly, some members of the Catholic church called Damina a heretic and some others taunted him mercilessly for “spreading a lie” regarding their age-old practice of eating bread and drinking wine, which a priest must have blessed and signified to be the body and blood of Christ.
While the Catholic Church insists that the breaking of bread and drinking of wine is a commandment Jesus himself instituted before his death, Damina teaches that the practice is a waste of time.
He avers that the eating of bread and drinking of wine in question are simply Christ directing believers to preach the gospel of Christ.
Damina has also been called an agent of the antichrist – a man the Bible says will use Satan’s power to oppose Christ on the earth – because of his teachings.
But this has not stopped him from telling the world that “the antichrist is not a man” or that the term is a metaphorical expression that describes the opposition to Christ and His church, which is already ongoing.
A clergyman, Emeka Onwuachu, told The Point, “Nigeria is one of the most religious nations on earth and churches litter the length and breadth of the country, but the unity of the Christian faith is still zero.
“I don’t totally agree with everything Damina says but I have noticed that when most of the things he teaches are carefully analysed, it would be discovered that he speaks truth most times.
“The problem with us here, and I don’t intend that as an insult, is that as children, we were taught a lot of Bible stories that we find very difficult to let go of today.
“Those messages we heard while growing up had shaped our lives and so any new message that teaches otherwise will be termed to be heresy.
“And another thing is that black men don’t know how to read and study for themselves.
“Ideally, if we hear any new doctrine, it should be our responsibility to go back home and do some research. But no, we don’t do anything because we are mentally lazy and just swallow anything and everything thrown at us by charlatans pretending to be pastors.”
Another contributor, Atinuke Ifedapo, who says she worships with one of the popular Pentecostal churches in the country and would soon establish her own ministry said, “I listen to Abel Damina and I must say that he is a good preacher.
“However, I don’t like how he goes about correcting what he calls errors in people’s messages. Why not focus on your own message and calling?
“When believers attack themselves like this, what do you think that people in other religions will say about us? Of course, they will say that we are not serious and that Christians are washing their dirty linen in public.
“If you also noticed, so-called Christians who are supposed to be role models have turned social media to something else.
“If there is any Christian post or message by a man of God, you will find people who call themselves brethren insulting one another simply because their views differ.
“Until we respect each other and our pastors, the world will not respect us. It is that simple.”
