Editing Samuel Oshoffa

{{Short description|Nigerian religious leader (1909–1985)}}
{{Infobox person
| name                      = Samuel Bilewu Oshoffa
| image                     = SBJ oshoffa .jpg
| birth_date                = {{birth date|1909|10|11|df=y}}
| birth_place               = [[Porto-Novo]], [[French Dahomey]]
| death_date                = {{death date and age|1985|9|10|1909|10|11|df=y}}
| death_place               = [[Lagos]], Nigeria
| resting_place             = Imeko, [[Ogun State]], Nigeria
| resting_place_coordinates = 7°29′00″N 2°53′00″E
| known_for                 = Founder of the [[Celestial Church of Christ]]
| occupation                = Pastor
| spouse                    = Felicia Yaman and 13<ref name="henry oshoffa">{{cite journal|last=Ibrahim|first=J|year=1991|title=Religion and Political Turbulence in Nigeria|journal=Journal of Modern African Studies|volume=29|issue=1|pages=115–136|doi=10.1017/S0022278X00020760|jstor=160995|s2cid=154975958}}</ref>
}}
'''Samuel Bilewu Joseph Oshoffa'''{{Audio|LL-Q34311 (yor)-Tunmise123-Samuel Oshoffa.wav|Listen|help=no}} <ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20050701081644/http://www.dacb.org/stories/nigeria/oschoffa_samuelb.html Oschoffa, Samuel Bilewu Reverend Dr. Elijah Olu Akinwumi, Dictionary of African Christian Biography, accessed March 2010]</ref> (October 11, 1909 – September 10, 1985) was the founder of the [[Celestial Church of Christ]], a [[Pentecostalism|Pentecostal]] church in the [[Aladura]] movement.<ref name="Adetonah">{{cite book |first=A. |last=Adetonah |title=Lumière sur le Christianisme Céleste |year=1972 |language=French |pages=85}}</ref> He founded the church in 1947 in [[Porto-Novo]] in [[French Dahomey]], now modern [[Benin]].<ref name="crumbly">{{cite book|last=Crumbly|first=Deidre Helen|title=Spirit, Structure, and Flesh: Gendered Experiences in African Instituted Churches Among the Yoruba of Nigeria p. 54 on|publisher=University of Wisconsin Press|year=2008|pages=182|isbn=978-0-299-22910-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=olMmvHsB-C4C&dq=Samuel+Bilehou+Oshoffa&pg=PA54|accessdate=1 February 2010}}</ref> Oshoffa said that he founded the church in response to a "divine order" to [[Evangelism|evangelize]], which was issued to him by an [[angel]] of God.

==Early biography==
Samuel Bilewu Joseph Oshoffa (Ojú kìí ṣe ọfà) was born on October 11, 1909, in the [[West Africa]]n city of [[Porto-Novo]], then capital of the [[French colonial empire|colony]] of [[French Dahomey]] (now the country of [[Benin]]), into a [[Yoruba people|Yoruba]] family of mixed religion. His father Joseph Oshoffa was a former [[Muslims|Muslim]] who converted to [[Methodism]]. Joseph Oshoffa was a [[Carpentry|carpenter]], which Oshoffa viewed as portentous given that [[Joseph of Arimathea]] was also said to be a carpenter. His mother Alake Iyafo was from [[Imeko Afon]] in Nigeria and followed [[African traditional religions]]; she objected to conventional [[Christianity]]. Alake Iyafo left the family when Oshoffa was three months old to join her husband in [[Nigeria]].

==Revelation==
Oshoffa was working in the [[ebony]] trade in 1947 when he claimed that he was instructed by an angel to found a new church. He said that he became lost and had to live off the land for three months before finding his way back to his timber camp, and claimed to have been endowed with the gifts of [[Faith healing|divine healing]] and prophecy.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=i6qJ_lP3dSAC&dq=%22Samuel+Oshoffa%22&pg=PA119 The Spirit in the World: Emerging Pentecostal Theologies in Global Contexts], Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen, Jurgen Moltmann, 2009, accessed February 2010</ref>

[[File:Benin - batism ceremony in Cotonou.jpg|thumb|left|A spiritual purification ceremony in [[Cotonou]] in Benin in 2009—100 years after the birth of Oshoffa]]

An early [[miracle]] which his followers attribute to Oshoffa was the [[resurrection]] of his nephew. As a result, his sister Elizabeth became the first convert. The nephew became the first prophet of the new church. Oshoffa's followers believe he performed more resurrections.

Oshoffa's first wife Felicia Yaman was involved in the launch of the new church. Followers considered her a [[prophet]].

The church expanded in Benin between 1947 and 1951. In 1976, Oshoffa moved his operations due to a conflict with the government of Benin and a looming arrest. In Nigeria, his followers credited him with curing a "[[Mental disorder|mad]]" woman. Oshoffa held a public meeting in [[Yaba, Lagos]] where he proclaimed his prophecy. In the same year he again claimed a resurrection.<ref name="crumbly"/>

The new church grew rapidly, and it gained followers across West Africa and the world. The church was estimated to have several million followers in 1998.<ref name="adogame">{{cite journal|last=Adogame |first=Afe |title=Building Bridges and Barricades |journal=Marburg Journal of Religion |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=1–13 |url=http://www.uni-marburg.de/religionswissenschaft/journal/mjr/pdf/1998/adogame1998.pdf |accessdate=1 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20050224140534/http://www.uni-marburg.de/religionswissenschaft/journal/mjr/pdf/1998/adogame1998.pdf |archivedate=February 24, 2005 }}</ref> In Nigeria, Oshoffa was sold a large piece of land after the owner was assisted by a "holy man's" intervention in a dream with a legal dispute. The new church faced initial opposition from the Nigerian authorities, but was officially recognised in 1958. He took on two partners for the church, [[Alexander Abiodun Adebayo Bada]] and Samuel Ajanlekoko.

==Death, succession, and legacy==
Oshoffa was killed in an automobile accident on 10 September 1985; no one in his vehicle survived. He is buried in the main church of the Celestial Church of Christ, called [[Celestial City, Imeko|Celestial City]] by followers, in his mother's home region of Imeko Afon in the [[Ogun State]] state of Nigeria.<ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://www.celestialchurch.com/news/newsroom/cele_mourns_bada.htm
 |title=Court throws out suit over Bada's burial
 |work=The Comet
 |date=Sep 29, 2000
 |accessdate=2011-06-13
 |archive-date=2011-10-01
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001124707/http://www.celestialchurch.com/news/newsroom/cele_mourns_bada.htm
 |url-status=dead
 }}</ref> He was survived by 34 wives and 150 children.<ref>{{cite book
 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kYIMAQAAMAAJ&q=Samuel+Oshoffa+34+wives
 |page=118
 |title=The Journal of modern African studies, Volume 29
 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1991}}</ref>

Oshoffa had been the sole authority of the Celestial Church of Christ; this made for a contested succession after his death.<ref>[http://news.abidjan.net/article/?n=337309 Eglise du christianisme céleste/ Ediemou Blin Jacob: “Pourquoi j’ai tendu la main à Zagadou”] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090718203922/http://news.abidjan.net/article/?n=337309 |date=2009-07-18 }}, in French, Abidjan.net, accessed February 2010</ref> 
After some confusion, church trustees chose [[Alexander Abiodun Adebayo Bada]] as Oshoffa's successor.<ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://www.dacb.org/stories/nigeria/bada_alexander_abiodun_adebayo.html
 |title=Bada, Alexander Abiodun Adebayo
 |work=Dictionary of African Christian Biography
 |accessdate=2011-06-12
 |archive-date=2010-12-28
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101228205656/http://www.dacb.org/stories/nigeria/bada_alexander_abiodun_adebayo.html
 |url-status=dead
 }}</ref>

In 2009 the [[Celestial Church of Christ]] celebrated the 100-year anniversary of Oshoffa's birth with a music festival and award ceremony in Benin.<ref>[https://archive.today/20120718122432/http://www.afriquejet.com/news/africa-news/benin:-third-celestial-music-festival-opens-on-friday-in-benin-2009121740197.html Benin: Third Celestial Music Festival opens on Friday in Benin], Afrique en ligne, 2009, accessed September 2010</ref>

==References==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Oshoffa, Samuel Bilehou J}}
[[Category:1909 births]]
[[Category:1985 deaths]]
[[Category:Founders of new religious movements]]
[[Category:Nigerian Christian religious leaders]]
[[Category:People from Porto-Novo]]
[[Category:Road incident deaths in Nigeria]]
[[Category:Yoruba Christian clergy]]