TB Joshua Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==Early life and work== Joshua was born on 12 June 1963, as Temitope Balogun Joshua.<ref name=BBCProfile>{{Cite web|date=January 7, 2024|title=Nigeria's disgraced televangelist TB Joshua|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-29234245|publisher=BBC News|language=en-GB|access-date=21 June 2018|archive-date=23 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180123221341/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-29234245|url-status=live}}</ref> Joshua's home town was [[Arigidi Akoko]], [[Ondo State]].<ref>[https://saharareporters.com/2021/06/13/bring-prophet-t-b-joshuas-body-home-burial-ondo-youths-tell-family-late-cleric Bring Prophet T. B. Joshua's Body Home For Burial, Ondo Youths Tell Family Of Late Cleric] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108211322/https://saharareporters.com/2021/06/13/bring-prophet-t-b-joshuas-body-home-burial-ondo-youths-tell-family-late-cleric |date=8 January 2024 }}, ''Sahara Reporters'' (June 13, 2021).</ref> He claimed that miracles accompanied his birth,<ref name=Lee2014>{{Cite news | first = J. Lee | last = Grady | title = Nigerians Stand Against Occult Healer Masquerading As Evangelist | url = http://www.charismamag.com/site-archives/134-peopleevents/people-events/569-nigerians-stand-against-occult-healer-masquerading-as-evangelist | work = Charisma Magazine (US) | date = 28 February 2002 | access-date = 8 April 2016 | archive-date = 29 April 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140429202016/http://www.charismamag.com/site-archives/134-peopleevents/people-events/569-nigerians-stand-against-occult-healer-masquerading-as-evangelist | url-status = dead }}</ref> and that he spent 15 months in his mother's womb.<ref name=Kingsley>{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/constance-marten-tb-joshua-mark-gordon-b2279954.html|newspaper=The Independent|title=The televangelist who claimed to heal Aids and counted Premier League stars among his followers|author=Thomas Kingsley|date=February 13, 2023|access-date=8 January 2024|archive-date=8 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108211321/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/constance-marten-tb-joshua-mark-gordon-b2279954.html|url-status=live}}</ref> He claimed that his birth had been "prophesied" a century earlier.<ref name=Kingsley/> Born into poverty, Joshua's [[Yoruba]] family included both Muslims and Christians.<ref name=BBCProfile/><ref name=Campbell>John Campbell, [https://www.cfr.org/blog/tb-joshua-preacher-who-held-outsized-influence-nigeria-and-africa T.B. Joshua: A Preacher Who Held Outsized Influence in Nigeria and Africa] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240108210334/https://www.cfr.org/blog/tb-joshua-preacher-who-held-outsized-influence-nigeria-and-africa |date=8 January 2024 }}, Council on Foreign Relations (July 13, 2021).</ref> He grew up with a Muslim uncle after his father, a Christian, died.<ref name=BBCProfile/><ref name=Campbell/> According to SCOAN, the church he founded, he attended the St. Stephen's Anglican Primary School in [[Arigidi Akoko]], Nigeria, between 1971 and 1977. After a year of secondary school education, he left to work on a poultry farm.<ref>[https://dailynigerian.com/joshua-life-times-legacy/ TB Joshua: His life, times, legacy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211206033337/https://dailynigerian.com/joshua-life-times-legacy/ |date=6 December 2021 }}, ''[[Daily Nigerian]]'' (June 6, 2021).</ref> In school, he was known as "small pastor" because of his love for the [[Bible]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-06-07 |title=OBITUARY: The life, times and legacy of Prophet T.B. Joshua |url=https://www.premiumtimesng.com/features-and-interviews/466276-obituary-the-life-times-and-legacy-of-prophet-t-b-joshua.html |access-date=2022-03-01 |language=en-GB |archive-date=1 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220301121709/https://www.premiumtimesng.com/features-and-interviews/466276-obituary-the-life-times-and-legacy-of-prophet-t-b-joshua.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Joshua attempted to join the Nigerian military but was thwarted due to a train breakdown that left him stranded en route to the military academy. He died on 5 June 2021 at his home in [[Lagos State|Lagos]] shortly after his Saturday night teaching of undisclosed cause.<ref name=death>{{cite web |url=https://gazettengr.com/breaking-prophet-t-b-joshua-is-dead/ |title=Prophet T.B. Joshua is dead at 57 |newspaper=Peoples Gazette |date=6 June 2021 |access-date=6 June 2021 |archive-date=5 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210605235601/https://gazettengr.com/breaking-prophet-t-b-joshua-is-dead/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page