This study establishes what the Akan and Biblical concepts of a human being are in terms of origin, constitution, gender, body form, age, status, moral behaviour, ethnic affiliation, and communality. It then compares the Akan concepts with the Biblical concepts to see what the similarities are, and, what the differences are? The findings are that in terms of origin, constitution, gender, age, status, moral behaviour, ethnic affiliation and communality, the concepts are similar even though there are some differences. For example, while in both Akan and Biblical thought, the human being consists of material and immaterial components, the Akan have five components, namely, :Jkra, honhom, sunsum, mogya and nipadua, and the Biblical has three, body, soul and spirit. In terms of body form, Akan thought is completely different from Biblical thought. The presence of such differences in thought poses a problem in evangelism as it often leads to conflict. Yet this should not be for it then affects the effectiveness of evangelism. This study therefore illustrates how Akan culture, just as it is, can be interpreted by the Bible and thus establishes that it is possible to evangelise cross culturally without creating conflict so that the Christian faith can be integrated into the culture. This is possible only if evangelists know and understand the culture in which they try to evangelise, if they know what needs their beliefs and practices meet for them. The study proposes that for effective evangelism to take place, the church must take up the study of cultures seriously and provide funds for it. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2000.

This study explores the dynamics at play in the nineteenth century interaction between European mission Christianity and the peoples and cultures of West Africa with Akan (Gold Coast) and Yoruba (Nigeria) lands serving as the model theatres of the interaction. It appreciates the fact that in a context such as West Africa, where religious consciousness permeates every aspect of life, the coming of the Gospel to its peoples impacted every aspect of the social and religious lives of the people. Chapter one sets the agenda for the study by exploring the dynamics involved in the transmission of the Gospel as it spread from Palestine to the Graeco-Roman world, medieval Europe, Enlightenment Europe and, later, Africa in the nineteenth century. It also defines the limits of the study to the period 1820-1892. Chapter two explores the religious and the cultural environments that gave shape to the modem European missionary movement. It highlights the features of the European Reformation that were factors in defining missionary methods in West Africa. It also emphasizes the subtle infiltration of Enlightenment ideals-the primacy of Reason, the way of Nature, and the idea of Progress-into missionary consciousness about Africa and its peoples. Chapter three delineates the religious and the cultural milieus of West Africans in contrast to that of European missionaries. It underscores the integral nature of religion to the totality of life among West Africans. It also contrasts the socio-political conditions of Akan land and Yoruba land in the nineteenth century while appreciating the rapid changes impinging on their peoples. Chapter four explores how the prevailing realities in Akan and Yoruba lands defined the fortunes and the prospects of the missionary message among the people. In doing this, it draws from four model encounters of mission Christianity with West African peoples and cultures. In Mankessim, the deception associated with a traditional cult was exposed. At Akyem Abuakwa, the contention between missionaries and the royalty for authority over the people led to social disruption. The resistance of the guild of Ifa priests to Christian conversion and the assuring presence of missionaries to the warrior class created ambivalence at Abeokuta. Ibadan offers us an irenic model of interaction between mission Christianity and West African religions as Ifa, the Yoruba cult of divination, sanctioned the presence of missionaries in the city. Chapter five reflects on the issues that are significant in the interaction of the Gospel with West African cultures. It appreciates the congruence between the Gospel and West African religious worldview. It assesses the impact of missionary methods on the traditional values of West Africans, appreciating the strength and the weaknesses of the school system, the value of Bible translation into mother-tongues, and the contextual relevance of the mission station method of evangelization. It also explores the meaning of Christian conversion in West Africa using the models of A.D. Nock, John V. Taylor and Andrew F. Walls. Chapter six concludes with Andrew Walls' three tests of the expansion of Christianity. The conclusion is that in spite of the failures and weaknesses of some of the methods adopted by European missionaries in evangelizing West Africa, their converts understood their message, domesticated it according to their understanding and appropriated its benefits to the life of their societies. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2002.

Christian religious experience whether it occurs in the second century or in modem Africa is one and the same, and although the experiences may differ it is possible to draw correlations to suggest that such experiences bear witness to a common reality. St. Ignatius of Antioch who lived in the second century and Afua Kuma who hails from Kwahu in the Eastern Region of Ghana, are used to demonstrate this reality. My sources for Ignatius' are the seven letters he wrote, six to churches he visited and one to his friend Polycarp of Smyrna, whilst he was on his way to martyrdom in Rome. As bishop of Antioch he is concerned about the unity of the church and consequently focuses attention on false doctrines and the development of what was becoming "orthodox" tradition. A number of peculiar images referring to Christ emerge in his work, such"as apXEta (archive), 8upa (door), xapaK1"rlp (stamp) and 8t)(:nacr'trlpwv (altar). This picturesque and vivid imagery is traced to his propensity for rhetoric, which, though Asian, bears resemblance to the Greek and Roman folkloric traditions. The Apae or the courthouse praise poetry of the Akan folkloric tradition is the vehicle that Afua Kuma employs to express her faith in Jesus. A crisis in Madam Kuma's life must have led her to fathom the depths of her traditional background and upbringing and this she feeds into her understanding of Jesus. In her poetry Jesus is imaged as Adontehene, Benkumhene, :Jkatakyie, :Jkokodurufo, Okuruakwaban, and Adubasap::m and is made to perform all the functions associated with regal authority. She also shows awareness of modem political and social structures in these images. This thesis shows that it is the fruit of the Christian imagination born in the context of praise and worship, which ought to feed and nourish academic theology so as to keep it in touch with the spiritual vitality experienced in the community of faith. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2000.

This dissertation is a philosophical examination of the concept of reincarnation from an African point of view. It does so, largely, from the cultural perspective of the Akan people of Ghana. In this work, reincarnation is distinguished from such related concepts as metempsychosis and transmigration with which it is conflated by many authors on the subject. In terms of definition, therefore, the belief that a deceased person can be reborn is advanced in this dissertation as referring to only reincarnation, but not to either metempsychosis or transmigration. Many scholars would agree that reincarnation is a pristine concept, yet it is so present in the beliefs and worldviews of several cultures today (including those of Africa). A good appreciation of the concept, it can be seen, will not be possible without some reference to the past. That is why some attempt is first made at the early stages of the dissertation to show how reincarnation was understood in the religious philosophies of ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Indians, Chinese and the Incas. Secondly, some link is then established between the past and present, especially between ancient Egyptian philosophy and those of contemporary sub-Saharan Africa. In modern African thought, the doctrine of reincarnation has not been thoroughly researched into. Even so, some of the few who have written on the subject have denied its existence in African thought. The dissertation rejects this denial, and seeks to show nonetheless that reincarnation is generally an irrational concept. In spite of its irrationality, it is acknowledged that the concept, as especially presented in African thought, raises our understanding of the constitution of a person as understood in the African culture. It is also observed that the philosophical problem of personal identity is central to the discussion of reincarnation because that which constitutes a person is presumed to be known whenever a claim of return of a survived person is made. For this reason, the dissertation also pays significant attention to the concept of personal identity in connection, especially, with the African philosophical belief in the return of persons. / Philosophy & Systematic Theology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Philosophy)

This dissertation is a philosophical examination of the concept of reincarnation from an African point of view. It does so, largely, from the cultural perspective of the Akan people of Ghana. In this work, reincarnation is distinguished from such related concepts as metempsychosis and transmigration with which it is conflated by many authors on the subject. In terms of definition, therefore, the belief that a deceased person can be reborn is advanced in this dissertation as referring to only reincarnation, but not to either metempsychosis or transmigration. Many scholars would agree that reincarnation is a pristine concept, yet it is so present in the beliefs and worldviews of several cultures today (including those of Africa). A good appreciation of the concept, it can be seen, will not be possible without some reference to the past. That is why some attempt is first made at the early stages of the dissertation to show how reincarnation was understood in the religious philosophies of ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Indians, Chinese and the Incas. Secondly, some link is then established between the past and present, especially between ancient Egyptian philosophy and those of contemporary sub-Saharan Africa. In modern African thought, the doctrine of reincarnation has not been thoroughly researched into. Even so, some of the few who have written on the subject have denied its existence in African thought. The dissertation rejects this denial, and seeks to show nonetheless that reincarnation is generally an irrational concept. In spite of its irrationality, it is acknowledged that the concept, as especially presented in African thought, raises our understanding of the constitution of a person as understood in the African culture. It is also observed that the philosophical problem of personal identity is central to the discussion of reincarnation because that which constitutes a person is presumed to be known whenever a claim of return of a survived person is made. For this reason, the dissertation also pays significant attention to the concept of personal identity in connection, especially, with the African philosophical belief in the return of persons. / Philosophy and Systematic Theology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Philosophy)