THEOLOGIA CRUCIS VERSUS THEOLOGIA GLORIA: A COLLOCATION FOR BALANCED THEOLOGY IN THE NIGERIAN CONTEMPORARY CHURCH

Abstract

This article juxtaposes the Theology of the Cross and the Theology of Glory, or the prosperity gospel, to create a balanced theology in Nigerian Christian Churches. It carries out a general theological discourse on both the theologies of the cross and glory for conceptual clarification. It identifies areas of divergence and the meeting points for Christians in Nigeria. The research uses data from primary and secondary sources. The primary source includes theological applications of some biblical pericope and an unstructured interview with the Bishop Theologian of the Church of Nigerian Anglican Communion. The secondary sources included Bible commentaries, Bible dictionaries, books, journal articles and the Internet. The data collected were analysed using contextual hermeneutics. The research found that the traditional emphasis on the cross underscored basic themes such as suffering, perseverance, reconciliation, love, Christian discipleship, humility, unity and self-sacrifice. The contemporary emphasis of the theology of glory, which some prominent Nigerian pastors are propagating, is on the temporal benefit of atonement, such as prosperity, healing, deliverance, blessing, success, affluence, power, money and fame. This work observes that the teaching of the prosperity gospel had undermined the teachings on the theology of the cross. This research recommends that the basic tenets of the theology of the cross need to be emphasised alongside the theology of glory for a holistic understanding of the Christian doctrine among the Christian Churches generally in Nigeria.