From Personal Holiness to Ecological Holiness: A Wesleyan-Theological Response to Creation’s Cry in Contemporary Ghana
Isaac Boaheng 
Issue: Vol.10 No. 14 December 2024 Special Issue Article 2 pp.13-32
DOI : https://doi.org/10.38159/erats.202410142 | Published online 18th December 2024.
© 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Ghana, like many other African countries, is blessed with abundant natural resources that make the country potentially wealthy. However, unethical practices in harnessing these resources have resulted in many environmental challenges that cost the nation a lot of resources to manage, and eventually make the country poorer. Of particular interest to this paper is the illegal mining of gold, which destroys water bodies and vegetation in many parts of Ghana. This issue has attracted public attention, and various meetings, seminars, symposia, and publications have been dedicated to it. Yet, the problem still persists, and so the search for a solution continues. To contribute to the ongoing (theological) discussions, this paper explored how a contextual application of relevant aspects of John Wesley’s theology of holiness might serve as a panacea to Ghana’s mining-related ecological problems. The author used both empirical and literature-based research approaches for the study. The primary data for the research were gathered by administering questionnaires to participants from selected communities affected by illegal mining activities and analyzed in the light of secondary data from such sources as books, journal articles, and dissertations. The main argument of the paper is that Christian holiness and spirituality should manifest not only in Christians’ relationships with God and other human beings but also in their relationship with the environment. The paper found that Ghana’s ecological problems are caused by diverse factors and so needs a holistic approach to address them. The paper contributes to the ongoing public discourse about ecological sustainability in Ghana.
Keywords: Creation, Ghana, Personal Holiness, Illegal Mining, Wesleyan Theology
Attua, Emmanuel Morgan, Stephen Twumasi Annan, and Frank Nyame. “Water Quality Analysis of Rivers Used as Drinking Sources in Artisanal Gold Mining Communities of the Akyem-Abuakwa Area: A Multivariate Statistical Approach.” Ghana Journal of Geography 6 (2014): 24–41.
Bansah, Kenneth J, Akuba B Yalley, and Nelson Dumakor-Dupey. “The Hazardous Nature of Small Scale Underground Mining in Ghana.” Journal of Sustainable Mining 15, no. 1 (2016): 8–25.
Boafo, Paul Kwabena. John Wesley’s Theology and Public Life: His Sociopolitical Thought in the Ghanaian Context. Accra: Asempa Publishers, 2014.
Boateng, Augustine. “ Effect of Small Scale Mining on the Environment in Ghana.” Helsinki: Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, 2018.
Buddemeyer-Porter, Mary. Animals, Immortal Beings: Scriptural Evidence of the Immortality of Animals. Manchester: Eden Publications, 2005.
Duncan, Albert Ebo. “The Dangerous Couple: Illegal Mining and Water Pollution—a Case Study in Fena River in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.” Journal of Chemistry 2020, no. 1 (2020): 1-9.
Dunning, H. Ray. Grace, Faith and Holiness: A Wesleyan Systematic Theology. Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 1988.
Kim, Young Taek. “ John Wesley’s Anthropology: Restoration of the Imago Dei as a Framework for Wesley’s Theology.” Unpublished Thesis: Drew University, 2006.
Kinoti, George. “Christians and the Environment.” African Bible Commentary Edited by Tokunboh Adeyemo. Nairobi: WordAlive Publishers, 2006.
Kuffour, Richard A., Benjamin M. Tiimub, Isaac Manu, and Wellington Owusu. “The Effect of Illegal Mining Activities on Vegetation: A Case Study of Bontefufuo Area in the Amansie West District of Ghana.” East African Scholars Journal of Agriculture and Life Sciences 3, no. 11 (2020): 353–59.
Lindstrom, Herald. Wesley and Sanctification. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1980.
Mannoia, Kevin W., and Don Thorsen. The Holiness Manifesto. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2008.
Mantey, J, K B Nyarko, F Owusu-Nimo, K A Awua, C K Bempah, R K Amankwah, W E Akatu, and E Appiah-Effah. “Mercury Contamination of Soil and Water Media from Different Illegal Artisanal Small-Scale Gold Mining Operations (Galamsey).” Heliyon 6, no. 6 (2020): 1-13.
Marquardt, Manfred. John Wesley’s Social Ethics: Praxis and Principles. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1992.
Marshall, Paul V. Prayer Book Parallels. Vol. 2. New York: Church Publishing, 2000.
Mpere-Gyekye, William A, and Robert W Brodie. “A Wesleyan Theology of Politics for the Ghanaian Context.” Conspectus: The Journal of the South African Theological Seminary 27, no. 1 (2019): 142–59.
Mubarik, Abu. “60% of Ghana’s Water Bodies Polluted – Water Resources Commission.” Pulse.com.gh, 2017. https://www.pulse.com.gh/news/galamsey-60-of-ghanas-water-bodies-polluted-water-resources-commission/3xs9j84.
Runyon, Theodore. The New Creation. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1998.
Russie, Alice. The Essential Works of John Wesley: Selected Sermons, Essays. And Other Writings. Uhrichsville: Barbour Publishing Inc., 2011.
Taylor, Bron. Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature. Vol. 1: A-I. Bloomsbury: A&C Black, 2008.
Tijani, Hafiz. “Ashanti Region: More than 20 People Have Died in Mining Pits in 2 Years.” Citi Newsroom, 2022. https://citinewsroom.com/2022/03/ashanti-region-more-than-20-people-have-died-in-mining-pits-in-2-years/.
United Nations. “United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (Goal 6).” (2023). https://ghana.un.org/en/sdgs/6.
Yrigoyen, Charles. John Wesley: Holiness of Heart and Life. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1996.
Isaac Boaheng holds a PhD in Theology from the University of the Free State, South Africa. He is a Senior Lecturer in Theology and Christian Ethics at the Christian Service University, Ghana, and a Research Fellow at the Department of Biblical and Religion Studies, University of the Free State, South Africa. He has over hundred peer-reviewed publications.
Boaheng, Isaac. “From Personal Holiness to Ecological Holiness: A Wesleyan-Theological Response to Creation’s Cry in Contemporary Ghana,“ E-Journal of Religious and Theological Studies, 10 no.11 (2024): 13-32. https://doi.org/10.38159/erats.202410142
© 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/).
Featured
Others
