President of the Trinity Theological Seminary at Legon has stated that Christianity has become a nuisance due to the conduct of some pastors and their members.
Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on October 30, 2021, Rev. Prof Johnson Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu bemoaned the fact that some pastors, especially those who identify themselves as prophets, engage in various acts which are not in line with the doctrine of Christianity.
“You see them sometimes kicking people, others stripping people naked, stepping on the bellies of pregnant women. So it’s almost like religion or Christianity, which is something that’s to build, has become a nuisance,” he noted.
“If you read the theology of prophecy, from what Paul says, is to encourage, strengthen, it shouldn’t be a source of nuisance to the public,” he added.
The pastor, who stated that he has lost faith in most prophets, emphasised that a lot of them have turned the prophetic ministry into an economic venture.
“More than half of the people who consider themselves prophets, I don’t consider them to be prophets. All you have to do is to interrogate what they do in the light of Biblical teaching and you’ll realise that a lot of them are just doing it either for commercial purposes or economic reasons, of course that is not to deny that the prophetic is genuine,” he said.
He further condemned a prevailing attitude of some Christians who abandon their various trades to attend church service, especially on working days, insisting that this attitude, if not checked can have an adverse economic impact on the country.
“I have a friend who established a savings and loans business and this individual purposely sited this business in the market so that he can loan money to the market women. The business collapsed because these market women took the loans, shut up their shops to go to church on weekdays,” he recounted.
He acknowledged that the state cannot prohibit people from freely exercising their religious rights, however, it can institute mechanisms to check the conduct of such pastors.
“The state cannot stop people from going to church on a weekday but the institution for which these people work can keep an eye on them and ensure that they are fulfilling their duties for which they are paid.
“So as much as we need to call out these prophetic figures, for causing fear, panic, and chaos in society, we also need to exercise our civic duty in calling people to order.”
He also charged the IGP and his team not to relent in discharging their duties diligently in relation to the subject matter.
“They should not be cowed by the threats in any case,” he added.