Perichoresis as Prophetic Ecology: A Trinitarian theological response to environmental injustice in Africa

Nana Kwadwo Twumasi-Ankrah ORCID iD 

Issue: Vol. 12 No.8 2026 Issue Article 2 pp. 349 – 362
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/erats.20261282 Published online 28th September 2026.
© 2026 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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This article investigates how the Christian doctrine of perichoresis, the eternal mutual indwelling of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, can serve as a theological framework for confronting environmental injustice caused by illegal mining in Africa. It addresses the gap between Trinitarian theology and ecological ethics by recovering perichoresis not as a merely doctrinal construct but as a prophetic resource for ecological restoration. The study employed a constructive theological methodology grounded in doctrinal retrieval and reappropriation. It excavates the classical doctrine of perichoresis from patristic sources and from the Trinitarian theology of Jonathan Edwards and Karl Barth, reconstructing this vision in dialogue with African communal philosophies of ubuntu and ujamaa. The approach integrates theology, ethics, African thought, and ecological analysis, and includes a theological-ethical critique of illegal mining in Ghana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Nigeria. The article demonstrates that the relational ontology embedded in trinitarian life demands that creation be characterized by mutuality, interdependence, and justice rather than exploitation. The study concludes that illegal mining constitutes a theological vandalism that ruptures the relational communion constitutive of divine life, and that the African church is called to a prophetic ecological response rooted in divine communion. The article offers a novel synthesis of Edwards and Barth with African communal philosophies for ecological ethics, advancing the emerging field of African trinitarian ecotheology.

Keywords: Perichoresis, Prophetic Ecology, Trinity, Edwards, Barth, Illegal Mining, Africa.

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Nana Kwadwo Twumasi-Ankrah (MDiv) holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Studies from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana. He also holds Two Master’s Degrees—one in Divinity from Canada Christian College (Canada) and another in Ministry from Trinity Theological Seminary, Accra, Ghana. He is currently pursuing a PhD at the South African Theological Seminary (SATS), with a research focus on the Trinitarian Theologies of Calvin, Edwards, Barth, and Bavinck.

Twumasi-Ankrah, Nana Kwadwo. “Perichoresis as Prophetic Ecology: A Trinitarian Theological Response to Environmental Injustice in Africa.”  E-Journal of Religious and Theological Studies 12, no.8 (2026): 349 – 362. https://doi.org/10.38159/erats.20261282

© 2026 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/).

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