The Bible and Akan Traditional Religious Values: A Search For Dialogue

Emmanuel Foster AsamoahORCID iD 

Issue: Vol.2  No.2 August 2020 Article 1 pp. 78-86
DOI : https://doi.org/10.38159/motbit.2020081    |   Published online 10th August 2020.
© 2020 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Views: 2,281
1586 Downloads

DOWNLOAD PDF
In their quest to bring Christianity to Africa in general, and Ghana in particular, the missionaries downplayed and discarded the African traditional religious values. This separated Ghanaians, including Akans from their traditional religious values for the biblical values of the Judeo-Christian scriptures; making them Christians who are cut off from their traditional religious values. After engaging in a dialogue with the biblical values and Akan traditional religious values on a common platform, it was identified that there are basic concepts of commonalities that exist between them, which include common belief in God, family systems, sacrifices, naming ceremonies, prayers, belief in ancestors, etc. and areas of differences which must be refined using the Bible which is seen as the hermeneutics of culture and tradition. This helps to curtail the hypocrisy of many Christians and churches who practise these traditional religious values and provide them with a searchlight to rediscover and modify the elements in their traditional and religious values. In addition, it helps to dispel illusion, remove suspicion and minimize conflict, and to enable the Akans, Ghanaians, or Africans while maintaining their traditional religious values adhere to the teachings of the Bible.

Keywords: Bible, biblical values, Akan traditional religious values, and dialogue.

Acton, H. B. “Tradition and some other forms of Order,” Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, NS, 53 (1953): 1-28.

Adamo, David T. “Christianity and the African traditional religion(s): The postcolonial round of engagement,” Verbum et Ecclesia 32(1) (2011): 1-10. https://doi.org/10.4102/ve.v32i1.285

Agyekum, Kofi, “The Sociolinguistic of Akan Personal Names,” Nordic Journal of African Studies, 15(2) (2006): 206–235.

Bediako, Kwame, “Scripture as the hermeneutic of culture and tradition,” Journal of African Christian Thought, 4(1) (2001): 2-11.

Bonsu, Nana Osei, “African Traditional Religion: An Examination of Terminologies Used for Describing the Indigenous Faith of African People, Using an Afrocentric Paradigm,” Africology: The Journal of Pan African Studies, 9(9) (Nov. 2016): 108-121.

Danquah, Joseph Boakye, The Akan Doctrine of God: A Fragment of Gold Coast Ethics and Religion. Edited by Kwasi A. Dickson, 2nd edition. London: Frank Cass, 1968.

Debrunner, Hans W. A History of Christianity in Ghana. Accra: Waterville Publishing House, 1967.

Dickson, Roger E. Dickson Biblical Research Library. South Africa: Africa International Missions, 2013.

Doja, Albert, “Rituals of Naming and Exposure: Meaning and Signification in a Name,” Journal of the International Council of Onomastic Sciences, 41 (2006): 237-70

Ekem, John D. K. Priesthood in Context: A Study of Priesthood in Some Christian and Primal Communities of Ghana and its Relevance for Mother-Tongue Biblical Interpretation. Accra, GH: SonLife Press, 2009.

Fleishacker, Samuel, The Ethics of Culture. Ithaca: Cornel University Press, 1994.

Ghana Statistical Service, 2010 Population and Housing Census: Summary Report of Final Results. Accra: Sakoa Press Ltd, 2012.

Gyekye, Kwame. African Cultural Values: An Introduction. Accra: Sankofa Publishing Company, 1996

Idowu, E. Bolaji, Oludumare: God in Yoruba Belief. London: Longman, 1962.

Koduah, Alfred, Christianity in Ghana Today. Accra: Alfred Koduah, 2004.

Konadu, Kwasi, Adinto: Akan Naming and Outdooring Ceremony. Accessed online on August 1, 2020, from  http://www.afropedea.org/adinto-akan-naming-and-outdooring-ceremony

Korsah, Leo Andoh and Jonathan E. T. Kuwornu-Adjaottor, “The Akan experience of god through the eyes of the Fante from Oguaa,” Arts and Humanities Open Access Journal, 3(6) (2019): 280-283 https://doi.org/10.15406/ahoaj.2019.03.00142

Kuada, John &Yao Chachah, Ghana: Understanding the People and Their Culture. Accra: Woeli Publishing Services, 1999.

Kuwornu-Adjaottor, Jonathan E. T. “Bible Studies and Biblical Studies: An Interface,” The Bible, Cultural Identity, and Missions, Edited by Daniel Berchie et. al., (UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2016), 386-406.

Laussane Movement, Christian Witness to People of African Traditional Religions (LOP 18). Accessed online on July 30, 2020, from https://www.lausanne.org/content/lop/lop-18.

Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners, Dialogue CD-ROM 2nd Edition. Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 2007.

Mbiti, John S. Bible and Theology in African Christianity. Nairobi: Oxford University, 1986

Novak, David, What’s in a Jewish Name? Jewish traditions for selecting a child’s name, accessed online on July 31, 2020 from https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/naming-children/.

Onyinah, Opoku, “Pentecostal Exorcism: Witchcraft and Demonology in Ghana,” Journal of Pentecostal Theology Supplement Series (Dorset: Deo Publishing, 2012), 256-7.

Opoku, Kofi Asare, “A Brief History of Independent Church Movements in Ghana since 1862” in The Rise of Independent Churches in Ghana. Accra: Asempa Publishers, 1990.

Parker, J. I. and D. Williams, The Bible Application Handbook. Guildford, Surrey: Eagle, 1999

Robbins, Dale A. What do they Mean by Traditional Values? Accessed online on July 30, 2020 from https://www. victorious.org/pub/traditional-values-603

Sarpong, Peter K. Can Christianity dialogue with African traditional religion? (2006). Accessed on December 12, 2017, from https://groups.google.com/forum/m/#!topic/usaafricadialogue/kuJ0ce–B2g.

Sarpong, Peter K. Dear Nana: Letters to My Ancestor. Takoradi: Franciscan Publications, 1998.

Sarpong, Rex Osei and Chris Mensah-Ankrah, Adoption Practices Fuelling Child Trafficking In Ghana (February 13, 2018). Accessed online on August 1, 2020, from http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3123813

Emmanuel Foster Asamoah BTh, MPhil, Research Associate, Department of Religious Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi. He is an ordained minister of The Church of Pentecost, pastoring at Antoakrom, Ashanti Region, Ghana. His areas of interest are Biblical Studies, Bible Translations, Mother-tongue Biblical Hermeneutics, and Biblical Apocalyptic Literature. Email: hisdivinegrace7@gmail.com

Asamoah, E. F., “The Bible and Akan Traditional Religious Values: A Search for Dialogue.” Journal of Mother-Tongue Biblical Hermeneutics and Theology 2, no.2 (2020): 78-86. https://doi.org/10.38159/motbit.2020081

Article Citations
This Article has been cited by:

Agyapong, K. A., “Pastoral And Theological Responses To The Effects Of Witchcraft Beliefs In Ghana” E-Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences 1, no.6 (2020): 174-184 https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.2020096

Asamoah E.F., & Kuwornu-Adjaottor, J.E.T., “A Critical Study of the Designation of Chapter as Ti by Asante – Twi Bible Readers” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 1, no.6 (2020): 220-227. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.2020103

© 2020 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/).

Articles in this Issue

About Journal