Religion and Values in Contemporary Africa: Christian Interpretations of Vice/Virtue Discourses in Ghana

Asamoah‐Gyadu, J. Kwabena; Dzokoto, Vivian; Tutu, Annabella Osei; Kenin, Abraham; Stahl, Amanda

doi:10.1177/23969393211000266

International Bulletin of Mission Research

2021

DOI: 10.1177/23969393211000266

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Religion and Values in Contemporary Africa: Christian Interpretations of Vice/Virtue Discourses in Ghana

J. Kwabena Asamoah‐Gyadu¹,

Vivian Dzokoto

Annabella Osei Tutu

et al.

Abstract: Despite the popularity of religion in African settings such as Ghana, reports of moral decline abound. This article reviews traditional, mission, and Christian theological perspectives of morality in Ghana. Using interviews, surveys, and content analysis of vehicle slogans, it examines what Ghanaians today consider to be values in terms of virtues and vices. It explores implications for Christian mission involvement in shaping morality in education and the public sphere.

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Transformed Individuals, Transforming the World: A Challenge to the Christian Church in Ghana

Antwi

2023

EHASS

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It has been argued that due to the fallen moral standards even in the Church, moral decadence and its associated ills have risen to alarming heights in Ghana. The 2021 Population and Housing Census shows that over 71% are Christians, yet corruption, greed, arrogance, pride, and extravagant lifestyles, for example, have become a challenge to the moral fibre of the country. The question is “Why is Christianity growing in Ghana, yet clouded with an increase in moral decadence? Opinion leaders, including some church leaders, do not only agree that corruption should be nipped in the bud, but they encourage that a conscious effort is made to change attitudes. Through a literary review of relevant scholarly materials, this paper argued that individual transformation is a prerequisite to transforming the world. With an ethical theory of deontology providing the theoretical lens, this paper posited that the Church is responsible for intensifying her Christian education, nurturing, or character formation activities to enable members to become faithful disciples and active responsible citizens who would transform their world. This article contributes to the exploration of Christian education and Moral or Character Formation in Ghana. Keywords: Christian Education, Theory of Deontology, Character Formation, Kakistocracy.

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Transformed Individuals, Transforming the World: A Challenge to the Christian Church in Ghana

Antwi

2023

EHASS

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‘Prosperity theology’: Poverty and implications for socio-economic development in Africa

Williams

2022

HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies

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Poverty is a complex subject in traditional African cultures. It is the lack of provision to satisfy the basic human needs of the population. The prosperity gospel as part of Pentecostal Christianity, with origins in the United States of America, presents itself as a new model for poverty eradication. Pentecostal Christianity and the proliferation of Pentecostal churches in Africa, many of whom are adherents of prosperity theology over a period of more than three decades, have not translated to a more prosperous continent, and sub-Saharan Africa is still notably one of the poorest regions of the world. Poverty is a concept with many dimensions that attempts to ascertain the varying degrees of deprivation experienced by populations, individually or collectively. However, certain subjective and sometimes arbitrary interpretations of biblical texts on prosperity as the basis for prosperity theology have encouraged capitalist impulses that often supplant the pursuit of spiritual advantages, leading instead to an increase in crimes including robbery, financial fraud, kidnapping, ritual killings and many other social vices. This article examines the different perspectives of the prosperity gospel, the biblical sources and interpretations used as well as its interpretation of poverty. It shows how prosperity theology, with its own interpretation of poverty, erodes the valuable indigenous resources available to fight poverty within African religious communities, which emphasise community, positive family attachments, social support networks, moral values and accountability, and it examines the implications this has for socio-economic development in Africa.Contribution: This article challenges the theology of prosperity that characterises Pentecostal Christianity and is pervasive in Africa. It contributes to the discourse on how the challenges of poverty require the more community-centred approaches that traditional African values offer as against the self-centredness and greed promoted by the prosperity theology.

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Religion and Values in Contemporary Africa: Christian Interpretations of Vice/Virtue Discourses in Ghana

Cited by 2 publications

References 3 publications

Transformed Individuals, Transforming the World: A Challenge to the Christian Church in Ghana

Transformed Individuals, Transforming the World: A Challenge to the Christian Church in Ghana

‘Prosperity theology’: Poverty and implications for socio-economic development in Africa

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