An African Christian Church History

263 Pages·2016·31.1 MB·English

AN AFRICAN
CHRISTIAN CHURCH
HISTORY
Seventh-day Adventist Cosmology in
Edo/Delta States: 1948 - 2012 & Ecumenical Initiatives.
Eregare, Orihentare Emmanuel, PhD.
Copyright 2013
Eregare, Emmanuel O.
All rights reserved
First Printing, June, 2013
No part of this book may be reproduced or
transformed in any form or by any means, electronic,
photocopying, recording or otherwise,
without prior permission from the author
The author assumes responsibility for all facts
and quotations as cited in the book
First Edition, June, 2013
Published By
Christ Coming Books
% Pastor (Dr.) Emmanuel Eregare
37 Queen Street, Yaba, Lagos State, Nigeria.
[phone], [phone],[phone]
Printed in Lagos, Nigeria By
Freedom Networks Nig. Ltd
[phone], 8023602885
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
DEDICATION
LIST OF MAPS
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
FOREWORD
PREFACE
CHAPTER ONE:THE BACKGROUNG OF THE S.D.A. CHRISTIAN
CHURCH IN EDO-DELTA
Historical Backdrop to the names of Edo-Delta States
Brief Background to the Coming of S.D.A. Faith into Nigeria
Definition of some important terms
Definition of the name Seventh-day Adventist
Understanding of the term Church
What is the term Edo-Delta Field
CHAPTER TWO: OVERVIEW OF S.D.A. FAITH IN AFRICAN SCENERY
The cultural Heritage of the Edo-Delta People
Delta People and their Romantic Cultural Values
Delta Pattern of Human Settlement
Edo People and their Romantic Cultural Values
Edo Pattern of Human Settlement
Encounters between S.D.A and Edo-Delta cultures
Problems Encountered by the early missionary evangelists
Denominational Patterns of Evangelization
Miller's Hermeneutical Principles
Typological Theory by E.G. White
The Theoretical Evidence as to the birth of S.D.A Church
The Origin of the Seventh-day Adventist Church
The Advent of the Seventh-day Adventist Church into Edo-Delta Field
Summary of Literature Review
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CHAPTER THREE: THE GROWTH OF THE S.D.A FAITH IN EDO-DELTA
FIELD
The Growth of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Delta State
Urhoboland
Igboland
Izonland
Isokoland
Itsekiriland
The Rise of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Edo State
The Edo
The Afemai
The Esan
The Owan
The Akoko-Edo

CHAPTER FOUR: LIMITATIONS TO GROWTH OF S.D.A. FAITH
The challenges faced by S.D.A. Faith in the Virgin areas
Late coming into the virgin areas
The strength of the pre-existing Churches
Nurturing of newly converted members
No existing church building
The quality of members
Absence of an extensive ground breaking
The Absence of Medical Ministry
The Challenging factors about the Ministers' Welfare
Manpower factor
The slow Educational Institutional Initiatives
The Socio-cultural influence of the Edo-Delta people
Finance
CHAPTER FIVE: INFLUENCE OF MARRIAGE WITHIN THE SAME
FAITH
The Concept of Marriage
Marriage in the Old Testament and New Testament
Brief Biblical Examination of the Textus Classicus- 2 Cor. 6:14
An Examination of the challenges of marrying within the faith
An Examination of the challenges of marrying outside the fait
CHAPTER SIX: THE S.D.A. CHRISTIAN CHURCH AND THE
ECUMENICAL GROUPS
The Term Ecumenism
Historical Backdrop to Ecumenism
Ecumenism and the Protestants
Ecumenism and the Roman Catholics
Is S.D.A Christian Church A Member of the Ecumenical Initiatives?
Seventh-day Adventist Christian and Interchurch relations
CHAPTER SEVEN: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
Summary
Conclusion
Recommendations
Suggestions for further research

References
Appendices
I. Interview Questions
II. List of Personal Communication
III. Seventh-day Adventist Church Mission Statement
IV. Seventh-day Adventist Fundamental Doctrinal Believes
V. Statement on Marriage
VI. Table showing the year each Local Church was established
VII. Pictures of some of the Edo-Delta Pioneers
INDEX
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My profound gratitude goes to the Almighty God who gave
me the wisdom and opportunity to begin and complete this
work. I am highly indebted to Professor J.E Madu for his full
support. To my resolute and erudite supervisor, The Very Rev.
Prof. D.C. Okeke of the Anglican Church who counselled me to
take up the topic: The Growth of the Seventh-day Adventist
Church in Edo/Delta Field: 1948-2010 for my Doctoral
Dissertation which eventually gave birth to this work. To Very
Rev. Dr. Nmah of the Methodist Church, who was always there to
give me useful suggestions on how to go about this work, I
appreciate you. My heartfelt gratitude also goes to all the
Academic staff of the Religious Studies Department of Nnamdi
Azikiwe University, Anambra State for their support.
To Mrs Enajite E. Ojaruega, Mr. Richard O. Maledo of English
and Literary Studies Department, Delta State University, Delta
State, I say thank you alot for your unbeatable editorial efforts.
To Ayo Opakunbi, whose editorial contribution cannot be
overlooked, I say God bless you.
I sincerely appreciate the following for making their special
contributions: Pastor (Professor) David O. Babalola of the
History and International Studies Department, Pastor
(Professor) S.M. Nwaomah of the Religious Studies Department
of Babcock University, Ogun State and Pastor (Professor) P.
Amanze of the Religious Studies Department of Babcock
University, Ogun State.
To my celebrated teachers who had imparted me for
academic excellence from the Adventist Seminary of West
Africa now Babcock University: Pastor (Professor) G. Damsteegt,
Pastor (Professor) J.A.K. Makinde, Pastor (Professor) A.A.
Alalade, Pastor (Professor) D.O. Babalola, Pastor (Dr.) J.A. Ola,
Pastor (Professor) C. Omeonu, Pastor (Professor) S.M.
Nwaomah, Pastor (Professor) A. Tayo, Late Pastor (Professor) S.
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Anuligo, Pastor (Dr.) M. O Akpa, Pastor (Dr.) J. Olarenwaju, and
Pastor Christopher Ogah. Thank you so much.
To Dr. Abiodun Adesegun, Pastor (Dr.) Dele Olaore, Pastor
(Dr.) Femi Adesina, Pastor Gbenga Adeoye, Elder & Mrs N. Idiodi,
Elder & Mrs R. Owens, Elder & Mrs Lawrence Oyem, Elder Remi
Oyewunmi, Raymond Adaigbe, Elder Francis Onapkofure, Bofy
S. Idiodi, Chief Eyarafe Emmanuel Okorodudu, Kola Fajoju, I say
thank you for your encouragement in my ministry. God bless you
all!
To Mrs Florence Modupe Oyeleke--daughter of Pastor
Solademi, Elders Seun and Tope Majolagbe who supplied the
pictures of their fathers who were missionaries in Edo-Delta
Field, I say keep the missionary spirit of your fathers and thank
you. To Pa G. B. Opakunbi who made available the picture of
Pastor Adewusi, I say thank you sir.
Not to be forgotten is Brother Solomon Osemwegie whose
support towards my study is quite remarkable. I truly appreciate
you. To my parents, Pastor & Mrs James Eregare who have
always been supporting me with their prayer, I say a big “Thank
you.” To my siblings, Blessing, Janet and Edafe, thanks for being
there for me in my most trying times. To my pastoral colleagues
in Edo/Delta field for their support in the gathering of useful
information for this commendable study, may God continually
bless you. My gratitude as well goes to my brother and a friend,
Pastor Christopher Ogah for his useful counsel during the
course of this study, I say thank you.
To my lovely wife and children who have cooperated with me
patiently during the course of writing this book, I owe you a lot.
To God be the glory and honour for His grace.
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DEDICATION
This work is dedicated to the Almighty God for making the
writing of this book possible.
To all the ministers of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in
Edo-Delta Field, for their wonderful assistance.
To my lovely wife, Eregare, Bunmi Bolanle, for her special
support in every wise in making this work possible.
To God be the glory!
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