A pastor in Uganda has denied burning bibles, a pentecostal group has said.
The National Fellowship Of Born Again Pentecostal Churches of Uganda (NFBPC) said it met Pastor Aloysious Bugingo on Sunday after becoming “greatly alarmed” by reports that he was “leading a campaign to burn Bibles”.
A video emerged recently on social media of the pastor purportedly condemning the current version of the Bible.
Photos have also circulated of Bibles being set on fire, but Pastor Bugingo is not seen in them.
In the video, the pastor, speaking in a mixture of English and Luganda to his congregation, he said:
Have you examined it well? Is it full of [references to] ‘ghosts’. Yes, it is for burning. Did you read that one? It has ‘ghosts’? Bring it…
People from the Bible Society wanted to call me to explain to me. But I told them it is not necessary to explain to me.
Tell those who publish them to return the verse where it should be. And write it as it is supposed to be written. Actually I am not ready for any meeting with anyone. Not at all!.
If I am doing the wrong thing. I am ready for hell.
There is no era that is wise enough that prints Mathew 17 verse 20 and they hide verse 21. These are for burning.
But when you are [spiritually] strong [like I am] I keep some of them because I want to teach correctly about them…but if you are not strong and you are not planning to teach others just burn it… Put the Bible for burning there.”
In a statement, Joshua Lwere of the NFBPC said the pastor denied burning the bibles and accepted that “age-long original manuscript controversies can only be handled by a corporate body forum, and by specialized, professional and scholarly expertise”.
Mr Lwere added:
I, therefore, urge all Christians and non-Christians alike to desist from any act of burning bibles. Whatever version you have, respect it as the word of God, irrespective of the version, or apparent inconsistencies in translations.”
Uganda’s privately owned NBS TV also put a video of Pastor Bugingo in which he denies calling for the Bible to be burned, saying: Who can burn the Bible when it is where we find the word that binds us?”
Pastor Bugingo, the leader of House Of Prayer Ministries, is based in Uganda’s capital, Kampala. He calls the property where his church is based Canaan Land, or the Promised Land.
https://youtu.be/2ce9P9FN6j0
Source:BBC