A Christological Reflection on Papa Yaw Johnson’s “Fa wo ntoma bɛbɔ me deɛ ano”
Isaac Boaheng 
Issue: Vol.4 No.3 October 2022 Article 2 pp. 57-70
DOI : https://doi.org/10.38159/motbit.2022432 | Published online 24th October, 2022.
© 2022 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Africans express most of their religious beliefs in oral and symbolic forms. Music is one of the major sources of African theology and traditional wisdom. As the church in Africa strives to decolonize the Christian faith, African theologians must explore various means by which oral and symbolic theologies can contribute to the overall theology of the church. The present paper contributes to this theological exploration by examining key socioreligious ideas embedded in Papa Yaw Johnson’s “Fa wo ntoma bɛbɔ me deɛ ano”, a popular Ghanaian dirge. This paper used a literary analysis research approach to analyze the selected dirge. It began with the general concept of death and continued to consider dirges in the context of Ghanaian funerals. After offering a socio-linguistic analysis of the dirge, the paper offered a Christological reflection based on two key thematic areas: Nkwamafoɔ Christology and Nyansaboakwa Christology. The main thesis of the paper is that Jesus, through his life, ministry, death and resurrection, has reversed Adam’s actions that placed humanity under the power of sin and death. Therefore, with Christ at the centre of life, one should not fear (physical) death.
Keywords: Africa, Christianity, Dirge, Eschatology, Ghana
Agroh, Prosper Kofi. “Trend of ‘Avihɛwo’ Performance among Women Dirge Songwriters in Tafi Traditional Area, Ghana.” Journal of African Arts & Culture 4, no. 4 (2020): 26–42.
Arthur, Isaac Ishmael. Grief and Bereavement Counselling in the African Setting. Sunyani: Cobby Advertising Agency, 2020.
Ashipu, K.B.C. “A Socio-Stylistic Analysis of Some Selected Bette Dirges.” Lwati: A Journal of Contemporary Research 7, no. 2 (August 10, 2010). https://doi.org/10.4314/lwati.v7i2.57538.
Atoh, Fred Ochieng. “A Discourse Analysis of Luo Traditional Dirges.” PhD Thesis: University of Nairobi, 2017.
Awolalu, Omosade J., and Adelumo P. Dopamu. West African Traditional Religion. . Ibadan: Onibonoje Press, 1979.
Boadi, Lawrence A. “Remarks on J.H. Nketia’s Funeral Dirges of the Akan People.” Legon Journal of the Humanities 24 (2013): 3–17.
Boaheng, Isaac, and Ebenezer Asibu-Dadzie. Essays in the Old Testament & African Life and Thought. Accra: Noyam Publishers, 2020. https://doi.org/10.38159/npub.eb20701.
Fulton, Gere B., and Eileen K. Metress. Perspectives On Death and Dying. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers, Inc., 1995.
Ilemona, Rabi, and Bolatito Lanre- Abass. “African Cultural Concept of Death and the Idea of Advanced Care Directives.” Indian Journal of Palliative Care 22, no. 4 (2016): 369–72.
Kuma, Afua. Jesus of the Deep Forest: Prayers and Praises Translated by Jon Kirby. Accra: Asempa Publishers, 2011.
Laryea, Philip T. “St. Ignatius of Antioch and Afua Kuma of Kwahu: A Study in Some Images of Jesus in Second Century Christianity and Modern African Christianity.” Master of Theology dissertation: University of Kwazulu Natal, 2000.
Makgahlela, Mpsanyana. “The Psychology of Bereavement and Mourning Rituals in a Northern Sotho Community.” PhD Thesis: University of Limpopo, 2016.
Mokhutso, Jacob. “African Traditional Bereavement Rituals Amongst Methodist Church Members in Mamelodi, Pretoria.” University of the Free State, 2019.
Nzuanke, Samson, and Zana Akpagu. “Onomastics and Translation.” Sociolinguistic Studies 13, no. 2–4 (February 21, 2020). https://doi.org/10.1558/sols.37821.
Radzilani, Makondelele Sarah. “A Discourse Analysis of Bereavement Rituals in a Tshivenda Speaking Community : African Christian and Traditional African Perceptions.” PhD Thesis: University of Pretoria, 2010.
Sanka, Confidence Gbolo. “The Sisaala Dirge: A Critical Analysis.” PhD Thesis: Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, 2010.
Tenney, Merrill C. John. Vol. 9 of The Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Edited by F. E. Gaebelein. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1981.
Tobalase, Adegbite O. Dirge as Literary and Cultural Expression: A Study of the Awori People of Lagos State, Nigeria. Adeleke University, Ede Osun State, Nigeria, 2017.
Isaac Boaheng holds a PhD in Theology from the University of the Free State, South Africa, a Master of Theology degree from the South African Theological Seminary, South Africa, a Master of Divinity degree from the Trinity Theological Seminary, Ghana and a Bachelor of Science degree in Geomatic Engineering from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana.
He is a lecturer in Theology and Christian Ethics at the Christian Service University College, Ghana, and a Research Fellow at the Department of Biblical and Religion Studies, University of the Free State, South Africa. Boaheng has over seventy publications in Systematic Theology, Ethics, Biblical Studies, Translation Studies, African Christianity, Linguistics, Pentecostalism and Christian Mission, among others. He is an Ordained Minister of the Methodist Church Ghana serving the Nkwabeng circuit of the Sunyani Diocese.
Boaheng I. “A Christological Reflection on Papa Yaw Johnson’s “Fa wo ntoma bɛbɔ me deɛ ano”,” Journal of Mother-Tongue Biblical Hermeneutics and Theology 4, no.3(2022): 57-70. https://doi.org/10.38159/motbit.2022432
© 2022 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Publishers. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
