
Digital Dissemination of Neo-Prophetic Theologies in Ghana: Societal Impact and Challenges in the Age of Social Media
Issue: Vol.11 No. 6 2025 Issue Article 4 pp.279 – 292
DOI : https://doi.org/10.38159/erats.20251164 | Published online 19th June, 2025.
© 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Social media has become a primary platform for the spread of Neo-Prophetic theologies, particularly within Ghana’s Pentecostal movement. Through a qualitative research approach, this study examines how contemporary Ghanaian prophetic ministries affect religious behaviours and become integrated into society. The online Neo-Prophetic content frequently features prosperity gospel, spiritual warfare narratives, and extraordinarily sensational prophecies. Data was collected through group and individual interviews, participant observation, and analysis of content on Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, and Instagram across a variety of participants from Christian traditions. The results show a significant impact on the worldviews, behaviours, and decision-making of believers. While some prophetic leaders exploit their followers economically and psychologically, many adherents reported finding spiritual fulfilment within these ministries. The potential fallout from the digital revolution within prophetic recognition creates both potentially enriching and potentially harmful pathways in personal spirituality. Government agencies and civil society organisations, among others, have devised countermeasures in the form of public education campaigns and legislative action to help assess religious content on social media. The study recommends integrating media literacy and critical thinking in Ghanaian schools’ curricula, strengthening the regulatory framework and enforcement, and fostering interfaith dialogue and community engagement would go a long way to minimise the impact of these Neo-Prophetic theologies. The study contributes to a scholarly understanding of the intersection of religion and technology, media studies in religious contexts, the Pentecostal and charismatic movements in Ghana, and contemporary Ghanaian Christianity.
Keywords: Neo-Prophetic Theologies, Social Media, Neo-Prophetic Movement, Digital Religion
Agboadannon, Koumagnon A Djossou, and Ashani Michel Dossoumou. “Fake Prophets and Evangelism for Sale in Amma Darko’s Not without Flowers.” International Journal on Studies in English Language and Literature, 6 no 6 (2018): 15-29.
Anderson, George Jnr. “Ghana’s Neo-Prophetic Pentecostal/Charismatic Christianity: Future Prospects.” E-Journal of Religious and Theological Studies 5, no. 1 (2019): 16–27.
Asamoah-Gyadu, J Kwabena. “Migration, Diaspora Mission, and Religious Others in World Christianity: An African Perspective.” International Bulletin of Missionary Research 39, no. 4 (2015): 189–92.
Boaheng, Isaac. “‘Kejetia Preaching’: An Analysis of Contemporary Phenomena of Street Preaching
in Kumasi, Ghana,” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 5 no. 1(2024): 13-25.
https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.2024512
Campbell, Heidi A., and Giulia Evolvi. “Contextualizing Current Digital Religion Research on Emerging Technologies.” Human Behaviour and Emerging Technologies 2, no. 1 (2020): 5–17.
Christian Council of Ghana. “Beware of False Teachers and Messiahs,” Christian Ecumenical Body in Ghana, July 11, 2024.
Daily Graphic. “Church Business.” https://www.graphic.com.gh/daily-graphic-editorials.html, 2018.
Darko-Adjei, Noah, Mariam Ansaa Animante, and Harry Akussah. “Use of Social Media by Leaders of Charismatic Churches in Ghana.” Library Philosophy and Practice 1 (2021): 2.
Gifford, Paul. Ghana’s New Christianity, New Edition: Pentecostalism in a Globalising African Economy. Indiana University Press, 2004.
Google LLC. “YouTube.” https://www.youtube.com, March 3, 2025.
Manu, Eric. “Neo-Prophetic Christianity and Televisation in Kumasi: A Religious-Impact Assessment.” European Journal of Communication and Media Studies 2, no. 1 (2023): 1–11.
McKinney, Derick. Social Media in the Church. University of Arkansas, 2014.
Meta Platforms, Inc. “‘Instagram.’” https://www.instagram.com, March 3, 2025.
———. “‘WhatsApp.’” https://www.whatsapp.com, 2025.
Meta Platforms, Inc. “‘Facebook.’” https://www.facebook.com Accessed March 3, March 3, 2025.
Molteni, Francesco, Riccardo Ladini, Ferruccio Biolcati, Antonio M Chiesi, Giulia Maria Dotti Sani, Simona Guglielmi, Marco Maraffi, Andrea Pedrazzani, Paolo Segatti, and Cristiano Vezzoni. “Searching for Comfort in Religion: Insecurity and Religious Behaviour during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy.” European Societies 23, no. S1 (2021): S704–20.
“National Communications Authority. Report. ,” 2023.
Omenyo, Cephas N. “Man of God Prophesy unto Me: The Prophetic Phenomenon in African Christianity.” Studies in World Christianity 17, no. 1 (2011): 30–49.
Omenyo, Cephas N, and Abamfo O Atiemo. “Claiming Religious Space: The Case of Neo-Prophetism in Ghana.” The Ghana Bulletin of Theology 1, no. 1 (2006): 55–68.
Orogun, Daniel, and Jerry Pillay. “Between African and American Neo-Pentecostalism: An Examination of the Link, Influence, Merits and Demerits.” Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae 47, no. 3 (2021): 1–18.
Quayesi-Amakye, Joseph. “Prosperity and Prophecy in African Pentecostalism.” Journal of Pentecostal Theology 20, no. 2 (2011): 291–305.
Serman, Zehra Ece, and Julian Sims. “Source Credibility Theory: SME Hospitality Sector Blog Posting during the Covid-19 Pandemic.” Information Systems Frontiers 25, no. 6 (2023): 2317–34.
Tetteh, D. A.“Doing Theology with Social Media: Understanding the Challenges of Religious Engagement in the Age of Social Media.” Journal of African Christian Thought 23, no. 1 (2020): 26–32.
Tsekpoe, Christian. “Contemporary Prophetic and Deliverance Ministry Challenges in Africa.” Transformation 36, no. 4 (2019): 280–91.
X Corp. “X.” https://x.com, 2025.
Zhang, Zeqian, and Zhichao Cheng. “Users’ Unverified Information-Sharing Behaviour on Social Media: The Role of Reasoned and Social Reactive Pathways.” Acta Psychologica 245 (May 2024): 104215. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2024.104215.
Rev Dr. Mrs. Grace Sintim Adasi is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, and currently the Principal of Agogo Presbyterian Women’s College of Education. Dr. Adasi is a member of the Governing Council of the University for Development Studies (UDS). She is also the research coordinator for the Ghana chapter of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians (CIRCLE) and a Yale-Edinburgh Group on World Christianity and the History of Mission member. She holds a PhD in the Study of Religions and a Master’s in African Studies (MPhil), Educational Innovation and Leadership (MPhil), and Educational Leadership and Management (MA). She is an active member of several professional and scholarly associations, including the African Association for the Study of Religions (AASR), the American Academy of Religion (AAR), the African Studies Association of Africa (ASAA), the International Association for the History of Religions (IAHR), the American Society of Missiology (ASM), the International Society for the Sociology of Religion (ISSR), the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (SSSR), and the Religious Research Association (RRA). Her research areas focus on Gender and Christianity, Culture and Spirituality, Indigenous African Religions and Education, and Women’s Empowerment. She has also published several articles and is the author of the book Gender and Change: Roles and Challenges of Ordained Women Ministers in the Presbyterian Church of Ghana.
Ms. Sanatu Fusheini is an Assistant Lecturer at the Tamale College of Education, Ghana, and a doctoral candidate at the Department of Religion and Human Development at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana. She holds an MPhil in Religious Studies and a Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). She also has a Diploma in Education from the University of Education, Winneba (UEW). She is a multidisciplinary, trained researcher whose work cuts across other disciplines. Her research interests include religion and gender, Islam and gender, religion and female education, Islam and female education, Christian-Muslim relations, Christian Studies, and Islamic Studies. Her PhD study seeks to examine aspirations for higher education among Muslim women in Dagbon: gender politics and socioeconomic influences.
Rev. Frank Amuzu is an ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana and holds a Master of Theology (MTh) from Trinity Theological Seminary in Legon, Accra. He is pursuing a PhD in Religious Studies at the Department of Religion and Human Development at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. Also, he is the Minister in charge of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Peace Congregation, Sokoban, Kumasi.
Adasi, Grace Sintim, Sanatu Fusheini and Frank Amuzu. “Digital Dissemination of Neo-Prophetic Theologies in Ghana: Societal Impact and Challenges in the Age of Social Media,” E-Journal of Religious and Theological Studies, 11 no.6 (2025): 279 – 292. https://doi.org/10.38159/erats.20251164
© 2025 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Journals. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Featured
Others









