THE EXPRESSION OF “FAITH” IN THE AFRICAN RELIGIONS IN THE LIGHT OF CHRISTIANITY: CASE STUDY OF AKAN GROUP (original) (raw)
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On the Rationality of Traditional Akan Religion: Analyzing the Concept of God
Legon Journal of the Humanities, 2016
This paper is an attempt to show how logically acceptable (or rational) belief in Traditional Akan religion is. The attempt is necessitated by the tendency by some scholars to (mis) treat all religions in a generic sense; and the potential which Akan religion has to influence philosophical debates on the nature of God and the rationality of belief in God generally, on the practice of religion. It executes this task by expounding some rational features of the religion and culture of the Akan people of Ghana. It examines, in particular, the concept of God in Akan religion. This paper is therefore a philosophical argument on the sacred and institutional representation of what humans have come to refer to as "religious."
Trinity Postgraduate Review, 2019
The concept of an existential numinous being, known in Akan terminology as Onipa, provides the basic framework upon which Akan socio-religious and political structure is constructed. Onipa is the Akan term for the human being. The Akan rationalistic conception that "all human beings are the children of God and none is a child of the earth" establishes three basic ontological realities for understanding Akan anthropology. First, the human being has a numinous substance (ontology) and not only natural. Second, the human being does not live in isolation but has a relational ontol-ogy. And third, the human being has a functional ontology according to the ways of God. This paper gives a considerable amount of space to discuss these aspects of the human being and how they form the basis for the development of Akan theological anthropology .
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Arguments against the practice of religion and, in general, against belief in metaphysical entities, have been made in different cultures and at different times in human history. This article, however, does not offer a historical outline of such arguments. Rather, it reflects on some contemporary remarks made, especially in Western thought, against religion. It illustrates how a correct understanding of Traditional Akan Religion renders untrue claims that seek to dismiss religion on the grounds of irrationality. Utilising philosophical reflection, it shows how rational belief in a Traditional African Religion such as the Akan one is.Key WordsRationality, revelation, logical positivism, predestination, free will, Akan religion, African religion
THE NOTION OF GOD AMONG THE ANNANGS
This work, The Notion of God among the Annangs, seeks to examine the idea of God among the people of Annangs community. It strives to carry out this exercise by examining the people of Annangs community, their origin, development, social systems, religious creed, religious services and their perception of God. It does this by researching through the library and the internet. Besides this, it recourses, chiefly, to oral interviews as means of its research methodology. In the course of this research, this work finds out that among the Annangs, the notion of God is that God is the infinite, immortal, omnipotent, transcendent and the immediate protector and defender of all the people whose benevolence proceeds only towards the just and whose anger is sufficient unto the unjust. From these findings therefore, this work concludes that the Annang’s religious practices are sets of moral codes averred by the community to enhance the spiritual communion of man with God for the essence of a happy and a fulfilled life.
Christian Faith and Akan Culture in Ghana: A Review of Major Works of Sidney George Williamson
Journal of Mother-Tongue Biblical Hermeneutics and Theology (MOTBIT) , 2021
Christian growth must not only be considered in terms of the growth of numbers. The growth in the church must also be considered in the level of depth and the quality of Christian conversion within a cultural milieu. The depth of the faith has a lot to do with how the Gospel speaks directly to the minds and hearts of its hearers. Moreover, the Gospel can speak to the hearts and minds of its hearers when the indigenous world views that condition the inner lives of the people are given serious consideration. The study is a review of the major works of Sidney George Williamson on the Christian faith and Akan culture in Ghana. As an early student of the tension between the Christian faith and Akan culture and the challenges of Christian identity, Williamson draws attention to the fact that Christianity can adequately meet Akan Christian needs when it pays attention to the cultural world view of the people it seeks to serve. The study as a qualitative one uses both primary and secondary sources. Interviews and observations were conducted in some Akan communities on the integration of Christian faith and Akan cultural worldview. The study points to the fact that the construction of theology among Akan Christians must be done from the inside to the outside and not from outside to the inside, the approach that Western missionaries adopted. The spiritual needs of Akan Christians will be adequately met when they hear the Gospel in their own cultural understandings rather than theology done in the West offered to the Akan in European worldview. The study further calls attention to the preparedness of the churches in the Akan cultural environment for paradigm shifts in the Christian faith and Akan Cultural engagements in post-missionary African Christianity.
The description of the nature of God as one by scholars in the recent time has gained more laudable significance than it was in the past. Owing to this, religions which are labeled monotheistic earn more regard than those which are designated as polytheistic. Christianity, Islam and Judaism are often grouped among the former while African Traditional Religion is more often than not, without a proper examination, placed in the latter. This hasty conclusion poses a big problem for any scholar who wishes to know the true nature of African Traditional Religion which is rooted in God. The reason often given for this faux pas is that African Traditional Religion has an exceptional regard for the deities and the living-dead (the ancestors) who are the category of beings it equates with the Supreme Being. What this implies is a total denial of the Supreme Being in this religion. This research therefore aims at making a comparative study between one of the popularly acclaimed monotheistic religions (Christianity) and African Traditional Religion. It will do this by using analysis and library data collection to show the differences and similarities between these two religions. It will expose the various findings on Christianity especially its biggest group- the Catholic Church where there is a strong belief in the cult of the saints and the ministry of the angels. These two groups of beings in Christianity represent to a great extent; the deities and the ancestors in African Traditional Religion. They are venerated and even accorded some kind of worship yet Christian God has never been described as possessing a polytheistic nature. For this reason, our study maintains that since most of what attracted the concept of polytheism in African Traditional Religion are paralleled in Christianity without the latter losing its monotheistic nature, it follows then that God in African Traditional Religion can as well be designated as monotheistic. The work therefore recommends that an unbiased study be carried out on what constitutes the true nature of God in African Traditional Religion. The custodians of this religion who stand as their own theologians should be engaged in a sincere dialogue for this enterprise.
2016
The Judeo-Christian belief, based on the bible, is that "God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them" (Gen. 1: 27). This dissertation explores the Akan understanding of the human person to shed further light on creation of human beings in the image of God and to understand and demonstrate the corresponding uniqueness of the human being among God's creatures.With the help of the Akan context, we note that every human being possesses a spark of God. God, who is relational, shares relationality with human beings. Through the use of Akan anthropology, we identify creation "in the image of God" to mean that every human being is created through the agency of parents, who also share in the image of God through their birth. Our interpretation is that the okra is the soul and is consideredthe "spark of God" in the human being. The honhom, which refers v to the breath of life, is treated as the breath that God breathed into human beings to make a human a living being (Gen 2:7). We equated the breath of God with the Holy Spirit who gives life. We propose to demonstrate the possibility of human relationships through the Holy Spirit. At the moment of conception, every human being derives some elements from his/her father and mother and elements from God. These elements from the three sources (God, mother, and father) combine to make a person a human being. Though humanity derives certain elements from the three sources, it is the holistic person that reflects God's image in the sense that through the various elements humanity is able to relate and communicate with God, neighbor, and the world. The holistic human person enables us to clarify that humanity is both physical and spiritual. With the help of the Akan anthropology, we successfully show that knowledge of the human being starts with the relationship between God and human beings, which extends to other humans and the universe, thus offering a further insight into the meaning of being created in the image of God. Our conclusion is that when a Christian is asked the question, "What exactly in the human being points to the image of God?" he/she will be able to respond that there is a "spark" of God in every human being. We therefore renew Christian anthropology through the method of contextualization with the Akan culture to disclose the hidden presence of God in the human being. We demonstrate that theology functions exactly as the manner in which religion makes sense within a given culture. As the people in the culture understand their world and make meaning of it, they can also share their insight with others. Human beings have become a source of theology in addition to scripture and vi tradition. Human beings are created in God's image and are relational and unique within God's creation. vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This dissertation would not have been successful without the prayers and support of family, friends and parishioners. I am especially indebted to Father William A.
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HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies, 2013
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