The Arts, Theology, and the Primal Imagination in the African Context: A Preliminary Exploration of Their Relationship
Joshua D. Settles 
Issue: Vol.5 No.8 Issue Article 5 pp.1494-1503
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.2024585 | Published online 2nd August, 2024
© 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Christian Theology and the Arts have a long and complicated relationship, ranging from suspicion to cooperation. Over the centuries, this relationship has taken various forms, with the Arts becoming increasingly estranged from Christian Theology, especially the evangelical Protestant theology that so influenced the missionaries who evangelized Africa in the 19th century. This, combined with a deep suspicion of African primal cultures and spirituality, has led to a disconnect between the Christian faith and the various Arts that are so much a part of the fabric of African life. This article used a historical survey to examine the relationship between religion and the Arts, then dilated on the consequences of this history to understand the relationship between Christian thought and the Arts in Africa. Overall, the article provides an initial foray for the nature of this relationship and also points towards some possibilities of mutual enrichment.
Keywords: Christian Theology, Arts, Primal Spirituality, African Christianity
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Joshua D. Settles holds an M.A. in history from the University of Tennessee, and a PhD in Theology from the Akrofi-Christaller Institute of Theology, Mission, & Culture in Akropong, Ghana. He is a Senior Research Fellow at the Akrofi-Christaller Institute, Akropong-Akuapem, Ghana.
Settles, Joshua D. “The Arts, Theology, and the Primal Imagination in the African Context: A Preliminary Exploration of Their Relationship,” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 5, no.8 (2024): 1494-1503. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.2024585
© 2024 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/).
