Convoluted Pentecost? An Analysis of Akan Indigenous Worldviews in Ghanaian Pentecostal-Charismatic Praxes
Main Article Content
Keywords
Akan, Pentecostal, Indigenous, Religions, Sociotheological, Culture, Sociological Posture, Continuity, Charismatic
Abstract
In this paper, I argue that the reason for the success and the failure of Pentecostalism on the African continent, particularly in Ghana, is because of its interaction with the Akan indigenous cosmology. A critical examination of this on-going phenomenon begs the question as to whether this interaction between Akan indigenous and Pentecostal worldviews could be convoluted, considering the myriads of practices that take place in churches identified with this strand of Christianity? There is also a critical examination of the sociological posture of Pentecostal-Charismatic churches arising from its praxes and the needed socio-theological response to correct them.
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References
Achebe, C., Things Fall Apart. (London : Heinemann, 1958).
Amanor, K. J. D. "Pentecostal and Charismatic Churches in Ghana and the African Culture: Confrontation or Compromise"? Journal of Pentecostal Theology 18, (2009): 123-140. https://doi.org/10.1163/174552509X442192
Anderson, Allan A.H. "Evangelism and the Growth of Pentecostalism in Africa", http://www.artsweb.bham.ac.uk/aanderson/publications/evangelism_and_the_growth_of_pen.htm. Accessed on 25.06.2018.
Anderson, 'BAZALWANE: African Pentecostals in South Africa', in A.H. Anderson, African Pentecostalism and the Ancestors: Confrontation or Compromise?, A Paper read at the Annual Conference of the Southern African Missiological Society, January 1993, p. 2.
Anderson, Allan. "Evangelism and the Growth of Pentecostalism in Africa", http://www.artsweb.bham.ac.uk/aanderson/publications/evangelism_and_the_growth_of_pen.htm. Accessed on 25.06.2018.
Asamoah-Gyadu, J. K., "The Church in the African State: The Pentecostal/Charismatic Experience in Ghana", Journal of African Christian Thought 1. 2 (1998): 51-57.
__________, J. K., "Mission to "Set the Captives Free": Healing, Deliverance, and Generational Curses in Ghanaian Pentecostalism", International Review of Mission 93, 370- 371 (2004):391. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1758-6631.2004.tb00468.x
__________, J. K., African Charismatics : Current Developments within Independent Indigenous Pentecostalism in Ghana. (Leiden : Brill, 2005).
__________, J. K., "Signs, Wonders, and Ministry: The Gospel in the Power of the Spirit," Evangelical Review of Theology 33, 1 (2009):33.
__________, J. K., "'The Evil You Have Done Can Ruin the Whole Clan': African Cosmology, Community, and Christianity in Achebe's Things Fall Apart", Studies in World Christianity 16, 1 (2010):52. https://doi.org/10.3366/E1354990110000742
Baëta, C. G., Prophetism in Ghana : A Study of Some "Spiritual" Churches. (London : S.C.M. Press, 1962).
Barrett, D.B., "Ad 2000 : 350 Million Christians in Africa," International Review of Mission 59, 233 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1758-6631.1970.tb00933.x
Bediako, K., Christianity in Africa : The Renewal of a Non-Western Religion. (Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press, 1995).
Bellah, R., Tokugawa Religion. (New York, NY: Free Press. 1957).
__________, R., Beyond Belief: Essays on Religion in a Post- Traditional World. (New York, NY: Harper and Row, 1970).
Berger, P., and Langman, T., The Social Construction of Reality. (New York, NY: Anchor Books, 1967).
________,P., Religions in Global Society. (London, UK: Routledge, 2006).
Breidenbach, P. S., "Colour Symbolism and Ideology in a Ghanaian Healing Movement," Africa 46, 2 (1976).https://doi.org/10.2307/1158757
Christaller, J., Theology and Identity : The Impact of Culture Upon Christian Thought in the Second Century and in Modern Africa. (Oxford : Regnum Books,1992).
Cox, H., Fire from Heaven: The Rise of Pentecostal Spirituality and the Reshaping of Religion in the Twenty-First Century. (London: Cassell, 1996).
Corten, A. and Marshall-Fratani, R., Between Babel and Pentecost : Transnational Pentecostalism in Africa and Latin America. (London : Hurst, 2001).
Csordas, T. J., Religion and the World System: The Pentecostal Ethic and the Spirit of Monopoly Capital. Dialectical Anthropology, Vol. 17, No. 1 (1992): 3-24. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00244452
Ekem, J. D. K., Priesthood in Context: As study of Akan Traditional Priesthood in dialogical relation to the priest-christology of the epistle to the Hebrew and its implicatins for a relevant functional priesthood in selected churches among the Akan of Ghana. (Hamburg: Verlag an der Lottbek, 1994).
Field, M. J., "Some New Shrines of the Gold Coast and Their Significance", Africa: Journal of the International African Institute 13, 2 (1940):138-149. https://doi.org/10.2307/1156954
Gyekye, K., African Cultural Values: An Introduction. (Accra: Sakofa Publishing Company, 1998).
Gifford, P., African Christianity: Its Public Role. (Hurst; Indiana Univ Pr, 1998).
Juergensmeyer, M., "The Sociotheological Turn", Journal of the American Academy of Religion 81, 4 (2013): 939-948.https://doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/lft049
Kalu, O.U., "Yabbing the Pentecostals: Paul Gifford's Image of Ghana's New Christianity", Trinity Journal of Church and Theology 15, 1 (2005):3-15.
________, O. U., African Pentecostalism : An Introduction. (New York : Oxford University Press, 2008., 2008), ix.
Larbi, E. K., Pentecostalism: The Eddies of Ghanaian Christianity. (Accra: CPCS. 2001).
_________, E. K., "The Nature of Continuity and Discontinuity of Ghanaian Pentecostal Concept of Salvation in African Cosmology", Asian Journal of Pentecostal Studies 5, 1 (2002):88.
Magesa, L., African Religion : The Moral Traditions of Abundant Life / Laurenti Magesa. (Maryknoll : Orbis Books, 1997).
Mbiti, J. S., African Religions & Philosophy. (London : Heinemann, 1969).
Miller, Donald. "The New Face of Global Christianity: The Emergence of the Progressive Pentecostalism" An interview published by the Pew Research Centre, April 2006. See http://www.pewforum.org/2006/04/12/the-new-face-of-global-christianitythe-emergence-of-progressive-pentecostalism. Accessed on 25.10.2015.
Newbigin, L., The Household of God : Lectures on the Nature of the Church. (London : SCM Press, 1964).
Okorọcha, C. C., The Meaning of Religious Conversion in Africa : The Case of the Igbo of Nigeria. (Aldershot : Avebury, 1987).
Omenyo, C., Pentecost Outside Pentecostalism: A Study of the Development of Charismatic Renewal of the Mainline Churches in Ghana. (Boekencentrum: Uitgeverij Boekencentrum Zoetermeer, 2002).
_______, C. and Abamfo, A., "Claiming Religious Space: The case of Neo-Prophetism in Ghana", Ghana Bulletin of Theology 1, 1 (2006):55-68.
Omenyo, C., "Man of God Prophesy Unto Me: The Prophetic Phenomenon in African Christianity," Studies in World Christianity 17, 1 (2011):30. https://doi.org/10.3366/swc.2011.0004
Onyinah, O., "Deliverance as a Way of Confronting Witchcraft in Modern Africa: Ghana as a Case History," Asian Journal of Pentecostal Studies 5, 1 (2002):109-110.
Parrinder, E. G., West African Religion : Illustrated from the Beliefs and Practices of the Yoruba, Ewe, Akan and Kindred Peoples. (London: Epworth Press, 1949., 1949).
Pobee, J. S. and Mends, E. H., "Social Change and African Traditional Religion," SA: Sociological Analysis 38, no. 1 (1977):1-17.https://doi.org/10.2307/3709832
Sawyerr, H. and Parratt, J., The Practice of Presence : Shorter Writings of Harry Sawyerr / Edited by John Parratt; Foreword by Andrew Walls (Grand Rapids: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1996).
Tedlock, B., "Divination as a Way of Knowing: Embodiment, Visualisation, Narrative, and Interpretation," Folklore 112, 2 (2001):189.https://doi.org/10.1080/00155870120082236
Turaki Y., Christianity and African Gods: A Method in Theology, Wetenskaplike Bydraes Van Die Pu Vir Cho. Reeks F2, Brosjure Van Die Instituut Vir Reformatoriese Studies (Potchefstroom, South Africa: PU vir CHO, 1999), 281.
Ter Haar, G., "Standing Up for Jesus: A Survey of New Developments in Christianity in Ghana", Exchange 23, 3 (1994): 221-40.https://doi.org/10.1163/157254394X00046
Amanor, K. J. D. "Pentecostal and Charismatic Churches in Ghana and the African Culture: Confrontation or Compromise"? Journal of Pentecostal Theology 18, (2009): 123-140. https://doi.org/10.1163/174552509X442192
Anderson, Allan A.H. "Evangelism and the Growth of Pentecostalism in Africa", http://www.artsweb.bham.ac.uk/aanderson/publications/evangelism_and_the_growth_of_pen.htm. Accessed on 25.06.2018.
Anderson, 'BAZALWANE: African Pentecostals in South Africa', in A.H. Anderson, African Pentecostalism and the Ancestors: Confrontation or Compromise?, A Paper read at the Annual Conference of the Southern African Missiological Society, January 1993, p. 2.
Anderson, Allan. "Evangelism and the Growth of Pentecostalism in Africa", http://www.artsweb.bham.ac.uk/aanderson/publications/evangelism_and_the_growth_of_pen.htm. Accessed on 25.06.2018.
Asamoah-Gyadu, J. K., "The Church in the African State: The Pentecostal/Charismatic Experience in Ghana", Journal of African Christian Thought 1. 2 (1998): 51-57.
__________, J. K., "Mission to "Set the Captives Free": Healing, Deliverance, and Generational Curses in Ghanaian Pentecostalism", International Review of Mission 93, 370- 371 (2004):391. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1758-6631.2004.tb00468.x
__________, J. K., African Charismatics : Current Developments within Independent Indigenous Pentecostalism in Ghana. (Leiden : Brill, 2005).
__________, J. K., "Signs, Wonders, and Ministry: The Gospel in the Power of the Spirit," Evangelical Review of Theology 33, 1 (2009):33.
__________, J. K., "'The Evil You Have Done Can Ruin the Whole Clan': African Cosmology, Community, and Christianity in Achebe's Things Fall Apart", Studies in World Christianity 16, 1 (2010):52. https://doi.org/10.3366/E1354990110000742
Baëta, C. G., Prophetism in Ghana : A Study of Some "Spiritual" Churches. (London : S.C.M. Press, 1962).
Barrett, D.B., "Ad 2000 : 350 Million Christians in Africa," International Review of Mission 59, 233 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1758-6631.1970.tb00933.x
Bediako, K., Christianity in Africa : The Renewal of a Non-Western Religion. (Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press, 1995).
Bellah, R., Tokugawa Religion. (New York, NY: Free Press. 1957).
__________, R., Beyond Belief: Essays on Religion in a Post- Traditional World. (New York, NY: Harper and Row, 1970).
Berger, P., and Langman, T., The Social Construction of Reality. (New York, NY: Anchor Books, 1967).
________,P., Religions in Global Society. (London, UK: Routledge, 2006).
Breidenbach, P. S., "Colour Symbolism and Ideology in a Ghanaian Healing Movement," Africa 46, 2 (1976).https://doi.org/10.2307/1158757
Christaller, J., Theology and Identity : The Impact of Culture Upon Christian Thought in the Second Century and in Modern Africa. (Oxford : Regnum Books,1992).
Cox, H., Fire from Heaven: The Rise of Pentecostal Spirituality and the Reshaping of Religion in the Twenty-First Century. (London: Cassell, 1996).
Corten, A. and Marshall-Fratani, R., Between Babel and Pentecost : Transnational Pentecostalism in Africa and Latin America. (London : Hurst, 2001).
Csordas, T. J., Religion and the World System: The Pentecostal Ethic and the Spirit of Monopoly Capital. Dialectical Anthropology, Vol. 17, No. 1 (1992): 3-24. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00244452
Ekem, J. D. K., Priesthood in Context: As study of Akan Traditional Priesthood in dialogical relation to the priest-christology of the epistle to the Hebrew and its implicatins for a relevant functional priesthood in selected churches among the Akan of Ghana. (Hamburg: Verlag an der Lottbek, 1994).
Field, M. J., "Some New Shrines of the Gold Coast and Their Significance", Africa: Journal of the International African Institute 13, 2 (1940):138-149. https://doi.org/10.2307/1156954
Gyekye, K., African Cultural Values: An Introduction. (Accra: Sakofa Publishing Company, 1998).
Gifford, P., African Christianity: Its Public Role. (Hurst; Indiana Univ Pr, 1998).
Juergensmeyer, M., "The Sociotheological Turn", Journal of the American Academy of Religion 81, 4 (2013): 939-948.https://doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/lft049
Kalu, O.U., "Yabbing the Pentecostals: Paul Gifford's Image of Ghana's New Christianity", Trinity Journal of Church and Theology 15, 1 (2005):3-15.
________, O. U., African Pentecostalism : An Introduction. (New York : Oxford University Press, 2008., 2008), ix.
Larbi, E. K., Pentecostalism: The Eddies of Ghanaian Christianity. (Accra: CPCS. 2001).
_________, E. K., "The Nature of Continuity and Discontinuity of Ghanaian Pentecostal Concept of Salvation in African Cosmology", Asian Journal of Pentecostal Studies 5, 1 (2002):88.
Magesa, L., African Religion : The Moral Traditions of Abundant Life / Laurenti Magesa. (Maryknoll : Orbis Books, 1997).
Mbiti, J. S., African Religions & Philosophy. (London : Heinemann, 1969).
Miller, Donald. "The New Face of Global Christianity: The Emergence of the Progressive Pentecostalism" An interview published by the Pew Research Centre, April 2006. See http://www.pewforum.org/2006/04/12/the-new-face-of-global-christianitythe-emergence-of-progressive-pentecostalism. Accessed on 25.10.2015.
Newbigin, L., The Household of God : Lectures on the Nature of the Church. (London : SCM Press, 1964).
Okorọcha, C. C., The Meaning of Religious Conversion in Africa : The Case of the Igbo of Nigeria. (Aldershot : Avebury, 1987).
Omenyo, C., Pentecost Outside Pentecostalism: A Study of the Development of Charismatic Renewal of the Mainline Churches in Ghana. (Boekencentrum: Uitgeverij Boekencentrum Zoetermeer, 2002).
_______, C. and Abamfo, A., "Claiming Religious Space: The case of Neo-Prophetism in Ghana", Ghana Bulletin of Theology 1, 1 (2006):55-68.
Omenyo, C., "Man of God Prophesy Unto Me: The Prophetic Phenomenon in African Christianity," Studies in World Christianity 17, 1 (2011):30. https://doi.org/10.3366/swc.2011.0004
Onyinah, O., "Deliverance as a Way of Confronting Witchcraft in Modern Africa: Ghana as a Case History," Asian Journal of Pentecostal Studies 5, 1 (2002):109-110.
Parrinder, E. G., West African Religion : Illustrated from the Beliefs and Practices of the Yoruba, Ewe, Akan and Kindred Peoples. (London: Epworth Press, 1949., 1949).
Pobee, J. S. and Mends, E. H., "Social Change and African Traditional Religion," SA: Sociological Analysis 38, no. 1 (1977):1-17.https://doi.org/10.2307/3709832
Sawyerr, H. and Parratt, J., The Practice of Presence : Shorter Writings of Harry Sawyerr / Edited by John Parratt; Foreword by Andrew Walls (Grand Rapids: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1996).
Tedlock, B., "Divination as a Way of Knowing: Embodiment, Visualisation, Narrative, and Interpretation," Folklore 112, 2 (2001):189.https://doi.org/10.1080/00155870120082236
Turaki Y., Christianity and African Gods: A Method in Theology, Wetenskaplike Bydraes Van Die Pu Vir Cho. Reeks F2, Brosjure Van Die Instituut Vir Reformatoriese Studies (Potchefstroom, South Africa: PU vir CHO, 1999), 281.
Ter Haar, G., "Standing Up for Jesus: A Survey of New Developments in Christianity in Ghana", Exchange 23, 3 (1994): 221-40.https://doi.org/10.1163/157254394X00046
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Sep 30, 2024
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Convoluted Pentecost? An Analysis of Akan Indigenous Worldviews in Ghanaian Pentecostal-Charismatic Praxes. (2024). Utambuzi: Journal for the Study of the Religions of Africa and Its Diaspora, 4(1), 82-98. https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/ujsrad/article/view/3402
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How to Cite
Convoluted Pentecost? An Analysis of Akan Indigenous Worldviews in Ghanaian Pentecostal-Charismatic Praxes. (2024). Utambuzi: Journal for the Study of the Religions of Africa and Its Diaspora, 4(1), 82-98. https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/ujsrad/article/view/3402