African Plume

“Where Did Trichotomy Come From?” The phrase “I am a spirit, who has a soul, and lives in a body” is a popular teaching in many Christian religious systems on the tripartite nature of human beings. It highlights that the true inner self is spiritual, distinct from the mental-emotional mind and the physical shell.  The technical term for it is trichotomy.  In Christian anthropology, trichotomy is the belief that the human person consists of three distinguishable components: 1. Body — the material or physical dimension 2. Soul — commonly assigned the intellect, emotions, personality, and will 3. Spirit — commonly described as the faculty through which a person communicates with God Trichotomy is generally contrasted with dichotomy, which understands the human being as consisting of a material body and an immaterial inner person.  From the dichotomist perspective, soul and spirit are overlapping biblical descriptions of the same immaterial dimension rather than two independe...

By Akin Ojumu During a Q&A session at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, a woman from the audience stepped up to the microphone to ask Pastor John MacArthur a question. You could sense her apprehension almost immediately. The paper from which she read was visibly shaking. Her voice trembled. She was clearly uneasy about what she was about to ask. Nevertheless, she gathered her courage and pressed on. And the question she asked is, I believe, one that sits silently in the hearts of countless confused, intimidated, and spiritually battered Christians around the world—people who have been abused, manipulated, controlled, and sometimes terrorized by pastors who have grossly exaggerated the scope of pastoral authority. Her question was simple: “How much authority does a pastor actually have over the people he shepherds?” The answer she received may come as a shock to Christians who have been conditioned to regard their Pastors as spiritual monarchs. It is certainly not th...

“The Gnostic Echo in Arome Osayi’s Teachings” By Akin Ojumu Secrets. Dimensions. Hidden protocols. Arome Osayi’s teaching seems perpetually fascinated with the hidden: secret realities, mysterious principles, spiritual dimensions, concealed protocols, and privileged spiritual intelligence. Listening to him—and to his fellow travelers in the realms, portals, dimensions, and “deep mysteries” movement—you could easily come away with the impression that they belong to an elite caste of Christians whom God has taken into His private confidence and entrusted with Top Secret, classified intelligence from Heaven, while ordinary believers are left standing outside the celestial briefing room. But this fascination with hidden spiritual knowledge is hardly new. The early Church encountered people who spoke in remarkably similar terms. They were the GNOSTICS. These speculative mystics claimed possession of a higher, secret knowledge, called gnosis, that was supposedly unavailable to ordinary belie...

“Stop Looking for God in Numbers, Fleeces, Feelings, and Coincidences” By Akin Ojumu Perhaps the most dangerous feature of sign-driven Christianity is the confidence with which human interpretations are attributed directly to God. A circumstance occurs. You interpret it. Then you announce: “God told me.” But notice what actually happened. God did not audibly explain the event. Scripture did not explain the event. No biblical prophet explained the event. You observed something, interpreted it privately, and then attached God’s name to your interpretation. That should make anyone who takes divine revelation seriously extremely cautious. There is a profound difference between saying: “I think this circumstance may be significant.” and saying: “God is telling me through this circumstance that…” The second statement claims divine authorship for your interpretation. And Christians use such language with astonishing recklessness. “I felt goosebumps, so the Holy Spirit confirmed it.” “The door...