By Gbadebo Adeagbo
10th May, 2020
Science and religion have a striking similtude. The former is solution oriented after due research and scientific justification. The latter only believe in miracles and wonders majorly from pastors who are seen as emmisary of God. The two sector is interwoven and must be taken serious. While I see science as the consequences of using God's given talent and brain to effect change, it has limitations which could have been solved by religion if all things are equally.
Of course, it is right to posit that science has been part of the us since the existence of earth.This is so because the religious beliefs can only make more sense through rediscovering of faith based belief to evidence based belief that would be conspicuous to all. The universe was such an idea of religious belief which later turned out to be a tool for scientific research by those who got inspired by the faith. This is also similar to the evolution of scientific field such as geology, astronomy, meteorology, when Job( believed to be the most afflicted person) began to decipher the voice of God, the mystery, amidst earthly challenges.
Same breakthrough cannot be far-fetched from other fields such as medicine, mathematics:a consequential effects of Aristotle's efforts who felt understanding the natural world is a precursor to consolidate the entanglement between science and religion.
Hence, for the avoidance of doubt, Jesus Christ remains the biggest healer as far as the world history is concerned. There might be some excellent healers and miracle workers around us but seems unpopular because they felt they should not be noticed. In actual sense, most miracles we see today has satanic undertone and so might not be linked to the most supreme being.
But, ordinarily, I see nothing bad in what the living faith senior pastor had said. He want the church reopened for normal religious activities. The normal fervent prayers of thousands of Christians have been greatly missed in our society. Many would even say there is no problem greater than God. That is why a sick person would be bathe with 'holy water' and get healed. Such fever would vanish immediately after using the water to bathe.Even at some points, those seeking for fruit of the womb would receive a bouncing baby boy or girl and such testimonies would reveal how Mighty God is.The church has indeed remained a mystery making these supernatural occurrences more interesting and fascinating to miss for every church goer.
Consequently, the statement needs further critiquing by those who are passionate about happenings around us. He want us to plead to God for divine assistance. Meaning no healing would come without exercising the courage to work and sweat. Therefore I hold no grudge with the pastor. In some parlance, pastors are modern day doctors and nurses. Some even would go additional miles to have " Ile agbebi" to assist pregnant women to cushion the effects of child labor. The pastor is right afterwards, and must not be crucified. But what if the church becomes victimised by the virus afterwards? Who are we to blame then?.
Nevertheless, coronavirus disease is far beyond 'spiritual affairs'. It is a matter that is strictly science oriented. It is so because, the healing tools and paraphernalia are within us. God does not want us to remain ignorant or toy with our lives when those ingredients of healing are next to our door steps. He has made us superior to our environment. This must be transformed into healing tools while we let God rest.
In reality, the covid-19 pandemic like have said in my previous write-up is a deadly one that is a no respecter of the pastor, the clergy, the church, or the 'holy water'. The virus has a command that it would listen to. Similar way, you cannot use prayer to stop an electric accident outbreak and devastation from occuring, ditto the covid-19. The virus is answerable to vaccine, whether, it is orthodox or alternative. This vaccine would neutralise the cells of the virus and return such body to a perfect state.
Sadly, today all over the world, covid-19 cases is skyrocketing across the Christian societies. The United States of America that has the highest congregation of Christians in the world is under seige of this venom making me feel the same way with the pastor that all we need is prayer after science has failed. On daily basis the country records well over one thousand cases of affected persons, while the death rates continue to increase in an alarming proportion.
In Italy, the world headquarter of Catholism, the virus have nearly consume the senior citizens and other ones who tends to obey the command of death.The implications of this is that, prayers alone might not be the best approach now, as we have seen that, from the guidelines of the health stakeholders across the world clearly warned against mass gathering, describing such move as impetus to the spread and growth of the diseases.
Meanwhile, the daily rise of the virus in Nigeria remains ever frightening and scary. The people are crying of hunger, so the market was opened. It was called gradual easing of lockdown. The resultant effects have been seen in recent days from the figures released from the NCDC. It has therefore been projected that, the covid-19 cases in Lagos might hit 120,000 while the full reopening of Kano and Lagos altogether might expose us to over 1.8million cases.
With this development, one should ponder what healing strategies Bishop Oyedepo has in place?The man of God must have genuinely had an encounter with God and was instructed to order all churches to be reopened. That might be the reason why the pastor want healing to start from the church so that other people in the world might get shocked and marveled about the wonderous works of God in Nigeria.
This might also be the same intentions of pastor Enoch Adeboye when he affirmed that healing would start from Nigeria. I was glad for this revelation and also hope for the very day this word would come to pass. Instead of basking in the euphoria of future victory against the deadly virus, what came to mind is the efforts made so far in scientific arena to stem the tides of this virus.
In clear terms, many religious leaders have turned church to a market place where buying and selling are unrestricted but, instead encouraged. Many only speak for themselves and cherish what the mouth will eat. In some churches, the monies acrrued from each sunday services and special donations are enough to liberate the poor, cater for the less privilege and more importantly support scientific research in case of unforseen circumstances we found ourselves today.
Little wonder the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja diocese, Bishop Kaigama, lamented the call for church reopening across the country as wrong idea. He was of the opinion that this is time when all pasotors must be ready to give all they have for the poor, since all they are doing is for God and humanity. What a word!
Bishop Oyedepo is among the few privilege clergy in Nigeria to own two private university.I think he has forgotten that his universities can instead serve as a breakthrough to end the ravaging pandemic. He would have done well enough to source for funds to support or kick start way forward through adequate and intense scientific research from the laboratory. The success of this in due time would save millions of lives in Africa and the world at large.
Above all, God does not want us to be ignorant. That is why he mandated us to translate our faith into work. The only work at this period is to get inspired from our religious beliefs, reform it, and apply it solely on scientific research. The end to this pandemic can only be near once we do the right thing, because religion cannever fail us but instead teaches us to be smart and think right. In coming days, the virus would consume more people until victory is ascertained.
Gbadebo Adeagbo writes from Ado Ekiti. He can be reached via adeagbo76@gmail.com and @adeagbo_gbadebo on Twitter.