Theological Reflections on Selected Adinkra Symbols
Theophilus Effah-Manu 
, Isaac Boaheng & Nathan Iddrisu Samwini
Issue: Vol.7 No.2 2025 Article 1 pp.32-54
DOI : https://doi.org/10.38159/motbit.2025721 | Published online 21st February, 2025
© 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
The Adinkra Symbols of the Akan of Ghana are traditional symbols that are ideographical illustrations of sayings, faith, philosophies, thoughts, and values. The Adinkra symbols aid them in socially relating with members of the community and religiously with Nyame (God). The low level of literacy in the continent among others makes the adoption and use of symbols for theological discourse very appropriate. Symbolic theology involves the use of symbols to communicate biblical truths. This study collected data through literature research using secondary sources such as books, articles, and dissertations. The study also administered a structured questionnaire to 110 Christians and 20 Clergy belonging to different denominations. The Theological reflections on the selected symbols showed a convincing correlation between the symbols and the biblical truths. The results from the fieldwork also confirmed the literature: 35% of Christians indicated that the selected symbols were good for Christian use while another 15% said it was good for African Christians. 75% of the clergy also indicated that the symbols were good for Christian use, 47% also said it was very useful and another 47% indicated it was most useful for their line of duty as clergy. The paper seeks to make a case for African Symbolic Theology as a branch of ethno-theology through ethno-hermeneutics. This is on the basis that symbols occupy a huge space in the epistemology and religious space of the people.
Keywords: Adinkra, Gye Nyame, Nyame Nnwu Na Mawu, Theology, Symbols
Adewale, Samuel A. “The African Church (Inc.), 1901-1986: A Synthesis of Religions and Culture,” 1988.
Adeyemo, Tokunboh. Africa Bible Commentary: A One-Volume Commentary Written by 70 African Scholars. Zondervan Academic, 2010.
Adom, Dickson. “Adinkra: An Epitome of Asante Philosophy and History.” Research on Humanities and Social Sciences 6, no. 14 (2016): 42–53.
Agyarko, Robert Owusu. “God of Life: Rethinking the Akan Christian concept of God in the light of the ecological crisis,” The Ecumenical Review 65, no. 1 https://doi.org/10.1111/erev.12026.
Amoateng, Kofi. “Engaging Theology and Theological Education in the Majority World: Recognizing Visual and Symbolic Theology from the Akan People’s Illustrations.” In Global Forum on Arts and Christian Faith, Vol. 6, 2018.
———. “The Creedal Symbols of My Great Grandparents: The Adinkra Symbols Reveal the Theology of the Akan People of Ghana.” Asbury Theological Seminary, 2018.
Appiah-Kubi, Francis. “Cultural Rationality and African Religious Culture: A Critical Anthropological and Theological Investigation towards Intercultural Dialogue.” Asian Horizons 13, no. 04 (2019): 629–46.
Asamoah, Emmanuel Foster. “The Bible and Akan Traditional Religious Values: A Search For Dialogue.” Journal of Mother-Tongue Biblical Hermeneutics and Theology, August 10, 2020, 78–86. https://doi.org/10.38159/motbit.2020081.
Blackaby, Henry, and Richard Blackaby. God in the Marketplace: 45 Questions Fortune 500 Executives Ask About Faith, Life, and Business . Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2008.
Boaheng, Isaac, Nicholas Abbam, and Frank Agyapong. “Eschatology And Contemporary Ghanaian Christianity.” Biblical Studies Journal 04, no. 03 (2022): 39–56. https://doi.org/10.54513/BSJ.2022.4304.
Boaheng, Isaac, and Leticia Adomako. “A Costume Christology of Ghana’s Most Beautiful Reality Show.” International Journal of Social Science Research and Review 6, no. 4 (2023): 271–83.
Boamah, Asante Daniel. “Akan Indigenous Religio-Cultural Beliefs and Environmental Preservation: The Role of Taboos.” Masters of Arts Thesis, Queen’s University, 2015.
Brown, Daniel A. “African Theology En Route: Papers from the Pan-African Conference of Third World Theologians, December 17-23, 1977, Accra, Ghana. Edited by Kofi Appiah-Kubi and Sergio Torres. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1979. X+ 214 Pages. $7.95.” Horizons 7, no. 2 (1980): 353–54.
Dake, Finis Jennings. “Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible.” Dake Publishing, 1989.
Danquah, Boakye Joseph. The Akan Doctrine of God: A Fragment of Gold Coast Ethics and Religion. London: Cass, 1968.
Danzy, Jasmine. “ Adinkra Symbols: An Ideographic Writing System.” Stony Brook University, 2009.
DeWitt, Richard, and Jutta Schickore. “Worldviews: An Introduction to the History and Philosophy of Science.” Aestimatio: Sources and Studies in the History of Science 8 (2011): 188–91.
Dulles, Avery. The Craft of Theology: From Symbol to System. Crossroad, 1992.
Gilbert, Michelle. “Akan Religion.” In Encyclopedia of Religion, edited by Mircea Eliade, 1987. https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/akan-religion.
Kumoji, Ida Korkor. “Adinkra: Integration of African and Western Cultural Visual Vocabulary,” 2005.
Kuwornu-Adjaottor, J E T, George Appiah, and Melvin Nartey. “The Philosophy behind Some Adinkra Symbols and Their Communicative Values in Akan.” Philosophical Papers and Review 7, no. 3 (2016): 22–33.
Marfo, Charles, Kwame Opoku-Agyeman, and Joseph Nsiah. “Symbols of Communication: The Case of Àdìǹkrá and Other Symbols of Akan.” Language Society and Culture 32 (2011): 63–71.
Masondo, Sibusiso. “The Crisis Model for Managing Change in African Christianity: The Story of St John’s Apostolic Church.” Exchange 42, no. 2 (2013): 157–74. https://doi.org/10.1163/1572543X-12341262.
Mensah, Ronald Osei. “The Philosophical and Sociological Implications Behind the Adinkra Symbol ‘Nyàmé Ǹwú Nà Màwù.’” Mensah, Ronald Osei, The Philosophical and Sociological Implications Behind the Adinkra Symbol ‘Nyàmé Ǹwú Nà Màwù’(September 8, 2020), 2020.
Morgan, Stephen Nkansah, and Beatrice Okyere-Manu. “The Belief in and Veneration of Ancestors in Akan Traditional Thought: Finding Values for Human Well-Being,” 2020.
Murphy, Logan. “Exegetical Essay on Colossians 3:1-4.” Academia. Accessed July 21, 2023. https://www.academia.edu/19468502/Exegetical_Essay_on_Colossians_3_1_4.
Opoku, Kofi Asare. “Traditional Religious Beliefs and Spiritual Churches in Ghana: A Preliminary Statement.” Research Review 4, no. 2 (1968).
Ositelu, Rufus Okikiolaolu Olubiyi. African Instituted Churches: Diversities, Growth, Gifts, Spirituality and Ecumenical Understanding of African Initiated Churches. Vol. 18. LIT Verlag Münster, 2002.
Ossom‐Batsa, George, and Felicity Apaah. “Rethinking the Great Commission: Incorporation of Akan Indigenous Symbols into Christian Worship.” International Review of Mission 107, no. 1 (2018): 261–78.
Owusu, Philip. “Adinkra Symbols as ‘Multivocal’ Pedagogical/Socialization Tool.” Contemporary Journal of African Studies 6, no. 1 (2019): 46–58.
Quarcoo, Alfred Kofi. “The” Language of Adinkra Patterns. Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, 1972.
Samwini, Nathan Iddrisu. “Religious Toleration as a Key Factor for Social Stability in Plural Ghana.” IISTE, n.d.
Shaw, Mark R. The Kingdom of God in Africa: A Short History of African Christianity. Baker Books, 1996.
Walls, Jerry L. The Oxford Handbook of Eschatology. Oxford University Press, 2007.
Wilson, Neil, and Nancy Ryken Taylor. The A to Z Guide to Bible Signs and Symbols: Understanding Their Meaning and Significance. Baker Books, 2015.
Theophilus Effah Manu holds an MPhil in Religious Studies from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. He is a Lecturer at the Ghana Chapter of the WorldWide Evangelical Seminary, Canada and the KingBridge Bible College. He is a strong advocate for the adoption and use of native symbols for theological discourses and an academic, conference speaker, a theologian and a missiologist.
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.
Nathan Iddrisu Samwini holds a PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Birmingham, UK. He is a Senior Lecturer and a former Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Head of Department of the Department of Religious Studies at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. He is also a Minister of the Methodist Church, Ghana and a past Bishop of the Tamale Diocese and currently the Superintendent Minister of the Nkoranza Circuit. He is currently the General Adviser of the Programme for Christian-Muslim Relations in Africa (PROCMURA) based in Nairobi, Kenya. He has written four books in interfaith studies and religious plurality and thirteen peer-reviewed publications and over thirty non-academic publications on sociology-religious matters.
Effah-Manu, Theophilus, Isaac Boaheng & Nathan Iddrisu Samwini. “Theological Reflections on Selected Adinkra Symbols” Journal of Mother-Tongue Biblical Hermeneutics and Theology 7, no.2 (2025):32-54. https://doi.org/10.38159/motbit.2025721
© 2025 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/).
