ABEL DAMINA IS A FIREHOSE OF HERESY (PART I)

“Grace and Truth are One and the Same”

By Akin Ojumu

Martin Luther King Jr. it was who said, “Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”

When it comes to sound doctrine, Abel Damina is a sincerely ignorant man. As far as fidelity to God’s Truth is concerned, Damina is as conscientiously stupid as they come. And what makes the man the most dangerous heretic the Church in Nigeria has ever encountered is the sincerity of his ignorance and the conscientiousness of his stupidity.

If you listen to as many of Abel Damina’s sermons as I have done, one thing that quickly comes across is the obstinacy of the man in his beliefs. After watching enough YouTube videos of Damina's messages, you realize that he adamantly believes in what he teaches. The fervor and implacability of Damina in his erroneous teachings set him apart as a particularly dangerous man.

Apostle Paul, in his letter to Titus, enjoins pastors to hold firm to the trustworthy Word as taught, so that they may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. Whether you are a clergy standing upfront behind the pulpit or you are a laity sitting in the back row of the Church pews, this command is for you. We’ve all been called to fealty to God’s Truth, and it’s the duty of each and every Christian to uphold the fidelity of His Word.

As part of my own little effort to steer people away from erroneous doctrines, I’ve had to foray into the lion’s den of false teachings on several occasions. To expose the lies of false teachers to their followers, I often engage them on their home turf on social media.

Expectedly, the critical tone of my comments often generates considerable pushback by the disciples of false teachers. Almost always, I get excoriated by the devotees of heretics who find my denunciation of their man’s teachings an unacceptable affront. These fanatical followers of charlatans often assail my theological pedigree, and they are quick to dismiss my criticism of their hero without giving it much thought.

Today’s commentary is based on one those comments. This time, it’s on a video posted on Abel Damina’s YouTube channel. In the video, Damina gives an interpretation of John 1:17 that, when you hear him, is anything but what the Bible text actually says.

“For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”  (John 1:17).

Interpreting this passage, Abel Damina makes the following remarks:

“Grace and truth are not two things. The word “and” here is the “kai.” The TKS rule of Bible interpretation which is copulative which is not a conjunction but a further explanation. So, “grace, which is the truth, exists as Jesus Christ.” That’s actually the way it is in the original Greek.”

Kudos to you if you are able to make head or tail of that. What you just read is a bunch of word salad that makes absolutely no sense. Abel Damina is trying to sound intelligent while making an unintelligent mumbo jumbo. This is exactly how he’s able to draw his teeming followers to his false teachings. He counts on the intellectual incuriosity of his listeners, and he relies on their lack of incredulity.

A proper reading of John 1:17 makes it crystal clear that grace and truth in that passage are referring to completely different things. I’m going to prove this to you using a very important rule employed by Bible scholars in the interpretation of Koine Greek which is the language in which the New Testament was originally written.

In his aforementioned gobbledygook remarks, Abel Damina alludes to the TKS rule of Bible interpretation, inferring that as the method he is using to interpret John 1:17. What he probably meant to say is the Granville Sharp’s rule of interpretation of the New Testament Greek.

For those who don’t know, the Granville Sharp’s rule is a grammatical principle that is applied to the translation of Koine Greek (i.e., the layman Greek which is the original language of the New Testament) whereby the deity of Christ is explicitly affirmed. This rule is originally applied to the interpretation of Titus 2:13 and 2 Peter 1:1.

Specifically, Granville Sharp’s rule has to do with the use of the following parts of speech in the New Testament:

Definite Article 

A definitive article is a determiner that introduces a noun phrase and implies that the thing mentioned has already been mentioned, or is common knowledge, or is about to be defined.

There’s only one example of a definitive article in the English language, and it’s the word “THE.”

Copulative Conjunction 

A copulative conjunction (also called additive conjunction) is a type of conjunction that connects words, phrases, or clauses, and indicates that the meanings of the units are being added together.

Examples of copulative conjunctions include: “AND,” “ALSO,” “AS WELL AS,” “FURTHERMORE,” “MOREOVER,” etc.

We’ll discuss Granville Sharp’s rule in depth next time.