CONTEXTUALIZING THE GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT IN I CORINTHIANS 12

David T. Ejenobo

Department of Religious Studies and Philosophy

Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria

ABSTRACT

The major controversy between the orthodox and evangelical Churches and the Pentecostal and neo-Pentecostal Churches today revolve around the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  The question that has defied unified answer is: how should the gifts of the Holy Spirit be understood, possessed and displayed in the Church of God? While the Pentecostal and neo-Pentecostal churches believe that the gifts of the Holy Spirit should be displayed publicly by all Christians, particularly the gift of speaking in tongues, it is the contention of those in the mainline orthodox evangelical churches that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are for the private possession and utilization of every Christian.  Thus the public display of gifts of the Holy Spirit, particularly that of speaking in tongues in public places of worship ought and should be condemned by the Church. It is against this background that this study is undertaken.  The hue and cry over the actual gifts of the Holy Spirit, as against those that are faked by some Christians has been a matter of concern in the midst of the proliferation of Churches all over Nigeria.  Sometimes it is disturbing to see the hypocritical display of actions which are attributed to the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the Church by some notable Christians.  This has led to the disintegration of several churches and thus the emergence of new ones.  Using the textual analytical method, this paper critically examined I Corinthians 12 and came to the conclusion that the Church in Nigerian must be careful so that the use of the gifts of the Spirit does not lead to further disintegration and disunity.

Key Words: Gifts, Spirit, Body