Comparative Study of Materialism in Contemporary Church and Yorùbá Religion: A Tool for National Integration in Nigerian Society

The quest for materialism and its influence in Christianity and Yoruba religion has been a global discourse that attracts attention of the general public. It is designed to defraud and exploit the sick, poor, biblical illiterate Christians and ignorant adherents of Yorùbá religion. This paper therefore set out to examine its prevalent dimension in human practice of religion and the contributing factors induced by some modern religious leaders to the social and economic upheaval in the society. The research adopted a comparative study approach in analysing discussions towards discovering the causes of materialism. This study delved with the structural roots of materialism in Nigeria and discovered, amongst other things, that many materialistic religious leaders are driven by the love of money and not love for God, or the people. The study also discovered that part of the reasons for the prevalence of materialism are that verses, and passages of the scripture and Ifá Corpus are taken and quoted out of context for selfish reasons. The study concluded that materialistic message is the worst kind of materialism and deception which lays the foundation of national disintegration, greed and social discontent in contemporary Nigerian society.