The Akan Indigenous Concepts of Religion and Nyame (the Supreme Deity) and the Promotion of Inter-religious Relations in Ghana
Cosmas Ebo Sarbah 
& Manson Anane Adjei
Issue: Vol.10 No.2 February 2024 Issue Article 2 pp. 23-33
DOI : https://doi.org/10.38159/erats.20241022 | Published online 23rd February, 2024.
© 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
This paper in revealing that the adoption of foreign religions has not eradicated the lingering influence of indigenous spiritual and religious values, explores the coexistence of Christianity, Islam, and indigenous Akan religious values among the Akan people. The study, employing a mixed-methodological approach, including interviews with three respondents and ten focus group discussions in Ghana’s Central Region, delved into the Akan conception of religion as a prevailing system. It highlighted the Supreme Deity’s role as the Great Ancestor, emphasizing how these concepts foster apathy towards religious differences and cultivate a trans-religious attitude among the Akan people. The findings suggest that Akan’s general indifference to religious disparities not only contributes to a tolerant society but also potentially serves as a model for interreligious harmony. This resilience is evident in the face of efforts by some Christians and Muslims to discourage trans-religious practices among the Akan. This showcases the enduring nature of Akan inclusivity in matters of religion.
Keywords: Akan, Indigenous Religions, Christianity, Islam, Interreligious Encounters, Dialogue
Aboagye-Mensah, R. K. Mission and Democracy in Africa: The Role of the Church. Accra: Asempa Publishers, 1994.
Akyeampong, E. “Christianity, Modernity and the Weight of Tradition in the Life of ‘Asantehene’ Agyeman Prempeh I, c. 1888-1931.” Africa: Journal of the International African Institute 69, no.2 (1999): 279–311.
Anyanwu, F. C. “African Religious Experience.” In African Philosophy: An Introduction to the Main Philosophical Trends in Contemporary Africa, edited by E. A. Ruch and K.C Anyanwu, 161–69. Rome: Catholic Book Agency, 1981.
Appiah, Anthony K. In My Father’s House: Africa in the Philosophy of Cultures. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.
Arthur, G. F. Cloth as Metaphor: Re-Reading the Adinkra Cloth Symbols of the Akan of Ghana. Legon : CEFIKS, Inc., 2001.
Asamoah-Gyadu, J Kwabena. Contemporary Pentecostal Christianity: Interpretations from an African Context. Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2013.
Assimeng, Max. Religion and Social Change in West Africa. Accra: Ghana Universities Press, 1989.
Augé, Marc. A Sense for the Other: The Timeliness and Relevance of Anthropology. Stanford University Press, 1998.
Baudin, P. Fetichism and Fetich Worshippers, M. McMahon (Trans.) . New York: Benziger Brothers, 1885.
Bediako, Kwame. Christianity in Africa: The Renewal of a Non-Western Religion. Edinburgh University Press, 1997.
———. Theology and Identity: The Impact of Culture Upon Christian Thought in the Second Century and Modern Africa. Oxford: Regnum Books, 1992.
Berinyuu, Abraham A. “The Encounter of Western Christianity and Civilization, and Islam on Ghanaian Culture: Implications for the Ministry of Pastoral Care and Counselling.” Africa Theological Journal 17 (1988): 140–49.
Callender, Timothy. Religion: The Basis of African Culture. Yoruba, 1977.
Castro, Emilio. When We Pray Together. Geneva: WCC Publications, 1989.
Danquah, J. B. The Akan Doctrine of God: A Fragment of Gold Coast Ethics and Religion. London: Frank Cass & Co. Ltd, 1968.
Ellis, A. B. The Tshi-Speaking People of the Gold Coast of West Africa. London: Chapman and Hall Ltd, 1887.
Fisher, Robert B. West African Religious Traditions: Focus on the Akan of Ghana . New York: Orbis Books, 1998.
Forson, Matthias K. Split –Level Christianity in Africa: A Study of the Persistence of Traditional Religious Beliefs and Practices among the Akan Methodists of Ghana. Michigan: Bell & Howell Company, 1993.
Gyekye, Kwame. An Essay on African Philosophical Thought: The Akan Conceptual Scheme. Temple University Press, 1995.
Idowu, B. E. African Traditional Religion: A Definition. . London: SCM Press, 1973.
Mbiti, John. Introduction to African Religion . London: Heinemann Educational Books Ltd, 1975.
Mbiti, John S. Olodumare: God in Yoruba Belief (Memorial Ed.). . New York: Wazobia, 1994.
———. Concepts of God in Africa. . London: SPCK, 1970.
Mbiti, John S. African Religions & Philosophy. Heinemann, 1990.
Menkiti, Ifeanyi A. “Person and Community in African Traditional Thought .” In African Philosophy, edited by Richard A. Wright, 3rd ed. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1984.
Merton, Robert K. Social Theory and Social Structure, Revised and Enlarged. Glencoe: The Free Press, 1957.
Obiego, Cosmas O. African Image of the Ultimate Reality: An Analysis of Igbo Ideas of Life and Death in Relation to Chukwu-God. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 1984.
Opoku, Asare K.“African Traditional Religions: An Enduring Heritage .” In Religious Plurality in Africa, edited by Jacob K. Olupona and Sulayman S. Nyang. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 1993.
Opuni-Frimpong, Kwabena. Indigenous Knowledge and Christian Missions: Perspective of Akan Leadership Formation on Christian Leadership Development. Accra: SonLife Press, 2012.
Owusu-Ansah, David, and Emmanuel Akyeampong. “Religious Pluralism and Interfaith Coexistence: Ecumenicalism in the Context of Traditional Modes of Tolerance.” Legon Journal of the Humanities 30, no. 2 (December 31, 2019): 1–18. https://doi.org/10.4314/ljh.v30i2.1.
Parrinder, Geoffrey E. West African Religion: A Study of the Beliefs and Practices of Akan, Ewe, Yoruba, Ibo, and Kindred Peoples. London: The Epworth Press, 1961.
Rattray, R. S. Ashanti. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1923.
Sarbah, Cosmas Ebo. “Christian-Muslim Dialogue in Ghana: Competition or Co-Operation?” E-Journal of Religious and Theological Studies, 2017, 47.
Sarpong, Peter. Ghana in Retrospect: Some Aspects of Ghanaian Culture. Tema: Ghana Publishing Corporation, 1974.
———. “Christianity Meets African Traditional Cultures.” In Mission Trend No. 5: Faith Meets Faith, edited by Gerald H. Anderson and Thomas F. Stransky, 242–51. New York: Paulist Press, 1981.
———. Ecumenical Relations in Ghana. Gaba Publications, Pastoral Institute of Eastern Africa, 1974.
Sarpong, Peter A. People Differ: An Approach to Inculturation in Evangelisation. Accra: Sub-Saharan Press, 2002.
Stewart, Charles. “Syncretism and Its Synonyms: Reflections on Cultural Mixture.” Diacritics 29, no. 3 (1999): 40–62.
Cosmas Ebo Sarbah is a Senior Lecturer of Comparative Religion and Interreligious Dialogue at the Department for the Study of Religions, University of Ghana. He is the Director of Interreligious Dialogue for the Catholic Archdiocese of Cape Coast (Ghana). His research interest includes Comparative Religion, Interreligious Dialogue, Ecumenism in Christianity and Islam in sub-Saharan Africa.
Manson Anane Adjei is an MPhil student at the Department for the Study of Religions, University of Ghana, Legon.
Sarbah, Cosmas Ebo & Adjei, Manson Anane. “The Akan Indigenous Concepts of Religion and Nyame (the Supreme Deity) and the Promotion of Inter-religious Relations in Ghana,” E-Journal of Religious and Theological Studies, 10 no.2 (2024): 23-33. https://doi.org/10.38159/erats.20241011
© 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/).
