Isaac Boaheng

The book of Amos is among the most studied books in the Bible. The high scholarly interest in Amos is due to the prophet’s emphasis on true religion. Amos’ message cannot be understood without a proper understanding of the context in which it was delivered. Amos ministered in eighth-century Israel when the nation had prospered economically and politically. The nation’s prosperity had yielded a high level of religiosity evident in the payment of tithes, offerings, religious gatherings and singing of hymns. Unfortunately, the religiosity of the people had no positive impact on their social lives. This situation prompted Amos’ prophecy of an impending divine judgment which was to decimate the nation and finally send the people into exile. The purpose of this paper is to explore the contextual issues within which Amos’ message emerged and then compare Amos’ situation with the contemporary Ghanaian socio-religious and political contexts. The paper used literary research methodology as we...

One of the key Christian doctrines is atonement. The subject of atonement is very important in Christian theology because it is the basis for God’s reconciliation of the world onto himself. The concept of atonement is found in many other religions apart from Christianity. From an Akan socio-religious perspective, atonement is required to maintain the relationship between humans and the supernatural realm. This paper explored the nexus between the Akan primal concept of atonement and the Christian doctrine of atonement using a literature-based research methodology. The paper demonstrated how an Akan primal understanding of atonement might enhance the Akan Christian understanding of the atonement of Christ. The discussions serve to facilitate the contextualization of the Christian doctrine of atonement for the Akan Christian community so as to make God’s salvific work relevant and meaningful to the Akan people. The main thesis of the paper is that an adequate understanding of the Akan...

Postcolonial theory focuses on addressing gaps that are encountered when dealing with literary works or contexts that are minor or peripheral. It explores ways in which dominated or colonized culture can adapt tools of the dominant discourse to fight against its political or cultural dominance. Postcolonial studies serve as a useful tool for translating texts from one language to another. One has to be conversant with the approaches used by postcolonial writers to be able to appreciate their texts and eventually translate them. This paper used the methodology of textual analysis to examine portions of the selected works of four postcolonial African writers; namely, Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Efua Sutherland and Ola Rotimi, to bring out key strategies by which these writers decolonized the minds of their African audience. The main decolonizing strategies discussed include adaptation, vernacularization and pidginization. Based on the findings from the analyses, the paper proposes so...

This paper is a literature-based study that offers a critical analysis of widowhood from biblical and traditional African socio-cultural perspectives. The paper anlayzed Scriptures on God’s standards for caring for widows and books, journal articles, and dissertations on widowhood in Africa and found that widowhood in most African societies is characterized by unethical rituals, mandatory remarriages, harassment, denial, solitude, impoverishment, loss of social status, and depression as well as financial, sexual and social exploitations. Having offered theological and ethical reflections on the care for widows from the African Christian perspective, the paper suggested that the church must allocate a substantial part of its income to help the needy in general, more so widows. Traditional authorities are also encouraged to eliminate/modify unethical widowhood practices. The paper contributes to the ongoing scholarly discourse on African cultural transformation and female empowerment ...

The advancement in information and communication technologies in the last few decades has led to various innovations in the world of education. The application of technology makes information more accessible and knowledge more widely distributed, giving rise to various opportunities for instruction and learning. One such example of technological innovations in the education sector is the emergence of online academic institutions across the globe. Rising interests in the theological and pedagogical issues associated with the use of online teaching and learning platforms for spiritual/ministerial formation have prompted this study. Using a literature-based research approach, this paper analyzes data collected from books, journal articles and dissertations to ascertain the appropriateness or otherwise of online theological education for spiritual/ministerial formation from an African Christian perspective. It also discusses some pedagogical issues in online education. The paper argues ...

One of the key steps in interpreting a biblical text is to identify its literary genre correctly. It is important for Bible translators to ensure that the translated text takes account of the genre of the source text and that an appropriate genre from the receptor culture is employed. The book of Ruth is generally recognized as a story. Yet, the translation of Ruth 1.1 into three Akan dialects—Asante, Akuapem, and Fante—does not introduce what follows in the book as a story and so Akan readers may not correctly interpret Ruth as a story. It is against this backdrop that this paper examines storytelling elements in the book of Ruth through a discourse analysis and then offers an alternative Akan translation of Ruth 1.1 that will lead to an improved interpretation and appropriate application of the message of the book.

Corruption is a major problem in the world but more so in Africa. Different efforts have been put in place to curb this social problem but corruption still persists. In Ghana, investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas has joined the fight against corruption and has made various revelations that have helped the government and the general populace in one way or the other. Anas’ methodology has however attracted various comments from the general public concerning how ethical this approach could be. This article aims at assessing the investigative journalism methodology used by Ghanaian undercover investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas in the light of the doctrine of free will to determine if this methodology is a breach of free will or not. Analyzing data extracted from articles, books, and others, the paper concludes that the choice of Anas’ victims to involve themselves in corrupt practices is done out of their own free will and hence they are fully responsible for their decis...

How can one discern and apply God’s will and purpose for human life as revealed in Scriptures? Different scholars have answered this question from different exegetical perspectives. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, suggested that any sound biblical exegesis must have four pillars, namely, Scripture, tradition, reason, and experience. Wesley’s multifaceted approach to biblical exegesis stresses the primacy of Scripture correlated with tradition, reason and experience. This paper explores Wesley’s interpretative framework and deduces lessons from this methodology for contemporary biblical exegetes. In the process, the study points out some flaws in contemporary interpretative practices and suggests how Christians can avoid these flaws.

Undoubtedly, Pentecostalism is the most influential religious movement of the twentieth century. Not only has this movement changed the religious landscape of the world, but it has also contributed enormously to the growth of Christianity in many societies. The contributors to the rapid growth of Pentecostal churches as compared to mainline historic churches have attracted scholarly attention for some time now. Current theological interest in this subject has prompted this study that traces the success of Pentecostalism to its adherence to foundations laid by the Wesleyan Holiness revival movement of the nineteenth century. Through a historico-theological survey, the author contends that Wesleyan teachings and practices such as the authority of the Bible, holiness, use of spiritual gifts, evangelism, social ministry, and others, are key to the survival of global Christianity now and in the years to come.

Over the years, Christian scholars have made various attempts to explain the origin of the universe based on the Genesis account of creation. Three key evangelical interpretations of Genesis 1:1-3, namely, the restitution theory, the gap theory, and the precreation chaos theory, have emerged from the debate. Of particular importance to the present study is the gap theory which attempts to reconcile the Genesis account of creation with the geological claim that the earth is billions of years old. Advocates of the gap theory argue that God initially created a perfect universe in Genesis 1:1 which became imperfect in Genesis 1:2 as a result of a cataclysm. Though appealing, the linguistic and theological basis for this popular theory has been questioned by many biblical scholars. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the validity of the gap theory through a linguistic and theological examination of Genesis 1:1-2b. At the end the study discovered that the gap theory does not rest ...

The patristic era represents the formative period of Christian theology. As such, this period witnessed remarkable theological immaturity and complexity. One theological issue that attracted much attention in this period was atonement. Patristic scholars, in an attempt to build on the apostolic tradition, expressed varied interpretations of Christ’s death on the cross. Among the different patristic interpretations, Iranaeus’ recapitulation and Origen’s ransom theories of atonement became the most outstanding. The recapitulation theory emphasizes the restoration of the human race to their divine-given status. The ransom theory, on the other hand, stresses the transactional dimension of the atonement which resulted in the defeat of Satan. This paper critically examines these two theories using data gathered from books, journal articles, and dissertations, among other sources. The paper concluded that, though the recapitulation and ransom interpretations of the atonement are ancient th...

The concept of Stewardship is at the heart of Christian life and practice. Yet, the contemporary society does not take the issue of stewardship seriously. God’s resources for human life are not properly taken care of. This paper is an attempt to draw attention to key stewardship principles embedded in Daniel 6:1-4 with the effect of contributing to the understanding and practice of stewardship from a Christian perspective. The historical-critical method of exegesis was used to study the selected text and stewardship principles were drawn from the results of the exegesis. These principles—including service and responsibility, accountability, and reward and punishment— are expected to deal with the issues of corruption, thievery, pilfering, negligence of duty, and the likes in the Ghanaian social, political and economic systems. The main thesis of the paper is that one’s faith must be expressed in the public sphere in response to issues of societal concern. Therefore, rather than priv...

The purpose of this study is to investigate the seeming con-tradition between the teachings of Paul and of James on justification, particularly in Romans 3:28 and James 2:24. James’ idea that people are justified by their deeds and not by faith alone (James 2:24) seems antithetical to Paul’s teaching that people are justified by faith apart from works of the law (Rom. 3:28). This paper analysizes the Greek terminologies employed by James and Paul in communicating their views, and contends that the concepts of justifica-tion, expressed by the two authors are complementary rather than contradictory.

An African Background to the Old Testament is a brief introduction to the geographical, social, economic, political and religious backgrounds of the Old Testament from an African viewpoint. It is written to help (African) Bible students to have access to the right background information required for proper interpretation of Scripture within the African setting. The seven-chapter book, after a thorough examination of the geographical, social, economic, political and religious backgrounds of the Old Testament from an African perspective contends that Old Testament scholarship in Africa must be carried out by those with adequate understanding and experience of the African socio-cultural context and must be done through proper interaction with that context. The Book is written in a non-technical way to make it accessible to everyone. Every chapter is organized thematically in sub-headings. Each chapter also ends with a recap of the main points discussed and review questions to allow the...

The issue of acceptance of euthanasia (assisted death) in the face of affirming human dignity as the preservation of the image of God in human beings is fiercely debated over the world. Different (Christian and non-Christian) ethicists hold different positions in the debate. Some of the key questions in the debate include how moral is it to legalize euthanasia in the face of the doctrine of Imago Dei? Should the quality of a person’s life overrule the sanctity of human life? This paper examines the arguments for and against the legalization of euthanasia and then considers how the doctrine of the Imago Dei should inform one’s decision to accept or reject euthanasia. With the African religio-cultural worldview as a contextual framework, the study contends that even though the preservation of physical life is not the ultimate goal of Christianity (since physical death is inevitable), human life should not be shortened deliberately for any reason. Therefore, it is morally wrong to take...

Persecution and suffering are among the most prominent challenges facing the Church in the 21st century. Day in, day out, we receive news about persecution of Christians in many parts of the world. The numerous cases of beheadings, torture, rape, kidnappings, mass killings, forced starvation, imprisonment and even crucifixions confirm H. van Dam's assert that "Christ's Church here onearth is a militant Church a Church under persistent attack and a Church at war." This study discusses how biblical eschatology should inform believers to live faithfully to Christ in this era of persecution and suffering. The thesis of the study is

Over the years there has been a growing interest in the connections between the Old Testament and other Ancient Near East literature. The Hammurabi Code, a Babylonian legal document which predates the Mosaic Code by about 300 years, is one of the ancient documents that have featured prominently in such comparative studies. The remarkable similarities between the Hammurabi Code and the Mosaic Code raises questions about the originality of the Mosaic Code. Scholars often ask whether Moses copied and/or revised the Hammurabi Code and gave it to Israel as a divinely inspired Law or whether Moses actually received his Law as an original document from God. If Moses plagiarized the Hammurabi Code, then the inspiration of the Mosaic Code and (by extension) the inspiration of the entire Hebrew Scriptures is in doubt. The relevance of this textual and source issue for Old Testament scholarship has prompted the present study which aims at investigating the relationship between the Mosaic Code ...

The main purpose of Introducing Eschatology in the African Context (consisting of two volumes) is to offer contemporary Christians a balanced biblical and theological view of Christian Eschatology from an African perspective, to empower believers to be faithful to Christ at all times (even in their trials and sufferings). It is also to call the attention of unbelievers to the divine judgment that awaits them so that they may be encouraged to respond to the call to repent and be saved. Each chapter is organised into various sub-themes with summaries and conclusions at the end. There are questions at the end of each chapter to offer the reader the opportunity to have a deeper reflection on major issues discussed. Universities, Seminaries and Bible Schools can use this book for undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Eschatology. The approach used makes the book relevant for scholars as well as non-scholars who desire to know God’s plan for the future of the universe and relate it to...

The doctrine of Trinity is key to human understanding of the character and nature of God. A proper understanding of this doctrine has the potential of deepening one’s rela-tionship with God and with other human beings. This doctrine embodies the biblical sto-ry and also informs Christian soteriology. In spite of its relevance, the doctrine of Trini-ty remains one of the most complex and misunderstood doctrines in Christianity. The challenge is how to reconcile the affirmation that “there are three distinctly fully divine Persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit)” with the fact that “there is only one true God.” The paper briefly examines this doctrine from the perspective of biblical and historical theology and explores how its teaching should inform relationships within the African society. This is a literature-based study that uses data from books, theses, journal arti-cles, Bible commentaries, among others as its sources. The methodology used comprises qualitative analysis of biblic...

This study examines how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected Akan traditional rites related to dying, death and mourning. The study used a qualitative research approach (based on both primary and secondary sources) to examine Akan dying, death and mourning rites and selected critical issues arising due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Primary data were obtained from semi-structured interviews and participant observa¬tion whiles secondary data were obtained from books, journal articles and others. The study found that though COVID-19 health protocols have changed many Akan traditional rites related to dying, death and mourning, the Akan people still maintain their traditional beliefs about dying, death and mourning. Therefore, there is a high probability that changes that have taken place will be discarded as soon as the pandemic is over.

Missionary Christianity was introduced into Africa by Western and American missionaries whose theological framework shaped Christianity in Africa. Since theology is contextually informed, missionary theological formulations failed to meet Africa’s needs in many respects. In response, the African church began a quest for an African-brewed theology that is culturally sensitive and contextually relevant. For some time now this quest has engaged many African scholars; yet, no scholarly consensus has been reached regarding the nature and methodology for African Christian theology. This article contributes to the ongoing discourse by examining the emergence and development of African Christian theology and afterward, outlining some essential features that must characterize African Christian theology to make it accessible to and acceptable by the African Christian community. It is a literature research based on critical examination of related publications on African Christian theology. The...

This article is a theological analysis of the hymn, “Teaching Everyone to live like Christ,” written in support of the 2020/2021 theme of Methodist Church Ghana (MCG). The hymn emerged from the author’s pastoral and theological analysis of the MCG’s theme, “Discipleship: Teaching everyone to live like Christ” (Col. 1:28-29). The hymn touches on two key functions of the universal Church, namely, mission and nurturing of believers. The author brings out the message embedded in the hymn through an expository study of the lyrics together with secondary sources such as books, articles, and others. The paper contends that the survival of the Christian Church now and in the years to come depends on effective disciple-making, which places high emphasis on the teaching ministry. Keywords: Hymn, Christ, Teaching, Church, Perfect, Mature.

This article focuses on Paul’s teachings on how the believer’s life in the Spirit contrasts the believer’s previous life of sin, with particular reference to Romans 8:1-8. It first employed the exegetical method—comprising contextual analysis, literary analysis, detailed analysis of lexicology (the meaning of words), morphology (the form of words), grammatical function of words (parts of speech), syntax (the relationships of words) and figures of speech—to explore the text. The next step was a systematic theological formulation of pneumatological-ecclesiology based on the results from the exegetical study of the text. The main argument is that the Spirit applies Christ’s salvific work to the believer in a way that does not only put the believer right forensically but also puts him/her right behaviorally. Thus, the believer walking in the Spirit is both justified by the cross and by good deeds performed through the enabling presence of the Spirit. The article contributes to the acade...

This paper explores the theological message embedded in the hymns: “The incarnate God appeared” and “Come Holy Spirit, come now”. Theological findings from these hymns are used to formulate an African Christian theology of mission based on thematic areas such as the trinitarian dimension of mission, the centrality of the cross in mission, mission as the core mandate of the Church and mission as incarnational agapaō. By this, the paper makes the message of the selected hymns accessible to the global Christian community, promotes the development of hymnody in the African church and at the same time provides a paradigm for Christian mission in the 21st century African society. This is a literature research that uses data from books, theses, journal articles, among others. The findings indicate that hymns constitute a great tool for the missionary enterprise of the church, therefore Christian hymns should be developed and promoted. It is recommended that, for Christian mission in Africa...

No biblical text has had greater impact on Christianity than the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). Within this Sermon is Matthew 5:17-20 which forms both the thesis paragraph of the Sermon and the key to appreciating Matthew's teaching on the relationship between Jesus' teaching and the Old Testament (OT). This passage concludes with Jesus' profound demand from his disciples to exhibit "higher righteousness" than the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees before they can enter the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:20). Within the context of Jesus' audience, the scribes and Pharisees were considered the standard of righteousness in the society during Jesus' time. For this reason, one wonders what the quality and character of this "higher righteousness" might be. Attempts to address this issue have provoked lots of debate among scholars. This paper, through a critical examination of some key words in the passage, seeks an understanding of this "higher righteousness." The paper found that by "higher righteousness, Jesus demands a kind of righteousness that is not merely external, but a true inner righteousness based on faith in the word of God.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the seeming con-tradition between the teachings of Paul and of James on justification, particularly in Romans 3:28 and James 2:24. James’ idea that people  are justified  by  their  deeds and not by faith alone  (James 2:24) seems antithetical to Paul’s teaching that people are justified by faith apart from works of the law (Rom. 3:28).  This paper analysizes the Greek terminologies employed by James and Paul in communicating their views, and contends that the concepts of justifica-tion, expressed by the two authors are  complementary  rather than contradictory.

The Great Commission (Matt. 28:16-20 and its parallels) mandates the Christian Church to proclaim the gospel in different nations and to all manner of peoples with the purpose of revealing God's salvific plan for humans wherever they might find themselves. Certainly, this missionary role of the Church involves an encounter between the gospel and different cultures. Encountering people of a new culture and introducing the Christian faith comes with challenges. Yet, at the same time, there are a number of strategies by which missionaries can work effectively and make use of various prospects in their field. This paper, through a critical analysis of data extracted from textbooks, thesis/dissertations, and scholarly articles, discusses the challenges, strategies and prospects related to cross-cultural missionary enterprise in Ghana. The main thesis of the research is that the gospel can and should permeate the ethos of a group, its essential attitudes, its institutions and all its structures without necessarily becoming an obstacle to the promotion of the Ghanaian cultural heritage. Hence, to make the Christian faith meaningful and relevant to every culture, missionaries must try as much as possible to contextualize their message. INTRODUCTION Defining culture does not seem to be an easy task. From the Latin words colere, meaning to cultivate or instruct, and cultus, meaning cultivation or training, the term culture has been defined variously by different scholars, few of which are outlined below. From the perspective of anthropologists, culture is "the totality of human learned, accumulated experience which is socially transmitted within a given societal group" or "the shared and integrated patterns of behavior exhibited by a particular group." 2 In this sense, culture could be described as an organism composed of an integrated system of "ideas, values, plans of actions, ways of implementing, and feelings that keep a particular society moving in specific directions and acting in particular ways." 3 No part of the components of human culture stands in isolation; they all work together and influence one another in order to contribute to the general health of the culture. 4 John S. Mbiti has defined culture as "the human pattern of life in response to man's environment, … expressed in physical forms, such as agriculture, arts, technology; in inter-human relations, such as institutions, laws, customs, and in forms of reflection on the total reality of life, such as language, philosophy, religion, spiritual values and world view." 5 From Mbiti's view it can be deduced that culture is informed by the social, religious, economic, ideational and political environments in which people find themselves. It has to do with accumulated knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, religious patterns, notions of time, feelings, concepts of the universe, and material objects and possessions acquired by a particular group of people and passed on across generations. Culture is therefore accumulative,

Many scholars have contested the compatibility of divine sovereignty and human responsibility since the birth of the Christian Church. The obvious question in the debate is how we can be fully accountable for our decisions (as fallen creatures) while God remains fully sovereign over our lives. Current theological interest in the divine sovereignty-human responsibility tension among African scholars justifies this attempt to explore this controversy by assessing the views of some African scholars on the topic in the light of biblical teachings. The limited scope of this study will not allow a thorough analysis of issues related to the subjects of divine sovereignty, human responsibility and God’s salvific plan. However, the study covers major issues that need to be understood for a proper appreciation of how God’s sovereignty and human free will collaborate in the salvation of humanity. The study begins by outlining the biblical foundations for the debate and then it continues with views expressed by some African scholars (from oral interview and written sources) on divine sovereignty-human responsibility tension as to how we can make meaning out of this issue within the African context. The main thesis of the study is that soteriological discourses should start with God and not humankind because salvation is God’s gift and not from human works.