This study uses the historical method to display the importance of Mother tongue hermeneutics and its contribution to the viability of Christianity, particularly in Ghana. Though the enterprise of translation is primitive Mother tongue hermeneutics is a new development in theological studies. Its focus is to make the Bible easy for everyone to read and understand in his or her own mother tongue. Thus, it is an enterprise that conveys Biblical concepts from the original languages (Hebrew and Greek) of the Judeo-Christian Bible into varied local languages. The historical method helps to trace the historical context of an event of mother tongue hermeneutics and its impact on society. Mother tongue hermeneutics has birthed several indigenous churches as well as many preachers of the gospel today. It makes Christianity in Africa particularly Ghana viable. Keywords: Entrepreneurship, mother-tongue hermeneutics, inculturation, libration.
{"title":"A Reflection on the Effects of Mother-Tongue Hermeneutics on Christianity: An Entrepreneurial Dimension for Propagating the Christian Faith","authors":"Livingstone Yao Torsu Rev","doi":"10.38159/MOTBIT.2021332","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.38159/MOTBIT.2021332","url":null,"abstract":"This study uses the historical method to display the importance of Mother tongue hermeneutics and its contribution to the viability of Christianity, particularly in Ghana. Though the enterprise of translation is primitive Mother tongue hermeneutics is a new development in theological studies. Its focus is to make the Bible easy for everyone to read and understand in his or her own mother tongue. Thus, it is an enterprise that conveys Biblical concepts from the original languages (Hebrew and Greek) of the Judeo-Christian Bible into varied local languages. The historical method helps to trace the historical context of an event of mother tongue hermeneutics and its impact on society. Mother tongue hermeneutics has birthed several indigenous churches as well as many preachers of the gospel today. It makes Christianity in Africa particularly Ghana viable.\u0000\u0000Keywords: Entrepreneurship, mother-tongue hermeneutics, inculturation, libration.","PeriodicalId":271981,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Mother-Tongue Biblical Hermeneutics and Theology","volume":"54 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121025340","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This paper deals with the African reading of Psalm 24:3-6: The implications for the enforcement of morality among Christians in Africa. The book of Psalms is subdivided into five books comparable to the Pentateuch. Psalm 24 falls into the first book which is used as a liturgy of entrance into the Israelite temple. In Psalm 24:3-6 a worshipper asks for entry requirements to be met which are clean hands and pure hearts, not lifting up the soul to what is false, and not swearing deceitfully. The methodology used is the African perspective of readers’ response. Pastors and Christian leaders must lead the people with integrity befitting the sacredness of the hill of the Lord. Christians are the temple of God and are expected to observe ritual purity everywhere every time in order to receive blessings from God, (Onyame). Keywords: Morality, Shrine, clean hands, pure hearts, ritual purity.
{"title":"African Reading of Psalm 24:3-6: The Implications for the Enforcement of Morality among Christians in Africa.","authors":"Joseph Gyanvi-Blay, Emmanuel Twumasi-Ankrah","doi":"10.38159/MOTBIT.2021331","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.38159/MOTBIT.2021331","url":null,"abstract":"This paper deals with the African reading of Psalm 24:3-6: The implications for the enforcement of morality among Christians in Africa. The book of Psalms is subdivided into five books comparable to the Pentateuch. Psalm 24 falls into the first book which is used as a liturgy of entrance into the Israelite temple. In Psalm 24:3-6 a worshipper asks for entry requirements to be met which are clean hands and pure hearts, not lifting up the soul to what is false, and not swearing deceitfully. The methodology used is the African perspective of readers’ response. Pastors and Christian leaders must lead the people with integrity befitting the sacredness of the hill of the Lord. Christians are the temple of God and are expected to observe ritual purity everywhere every time in order to receive blessings from God, (Onyame). \u0000 \u0000Keywords: Morality, Shrine, clean hands, pure hearts, ritual purity.","PeriodicalId":271981,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Mother-Tongue Biblical Hermeneutics and Theology","volume":"28 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125944558","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The issue of children losing much of their values has become very common in recent times. Most African societies are embedded with values and it is very sad to see that children these days are losing their values. Therefore, it is very crucial for Africans to still inculcate good values in their children. This article assesses the role and importance of Akan values in the moral upbringing of children. In writing this article the author uses the literary approach.It is recommended that the rich and time-tested Akan values like honesty, integrity, sincerity, hospitality, responsibility and respect must be retrieved and never be looked down upon. Parents must inculcate these values in the upbringing of children. Keywords: Role, Akan values, Moral, and Child upbringing.
{"title":"The Role of Akan Values on Moral Upbringing of Children in Contemporary Society","authors":"Peter Addai-Mensah Fr.Dr.","doi":"10.38159/motbit.2020101","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.38159/motbit.2020101","url":null,"abstract":"The issue of children losing much of their values has become very common in recent times. Most African societies are embedded with values and it is very sad to see that children these days are losing their values. Therefore, it is very crucial for Africans to still inculcate good values in their children. This article assesses the role and importance of Akan values in the moral upbringing of children. In writing this article the author uses the literary approach.It is recommended that the rich and time-tested Akan values like honesty, integrity, sincerity, hospitality, responsibility and respect must be retrieved and never be looked down upon. Parents must inculcate these values in the upbringing of children.\u0000\u0000Keywords: Role, Akan values, Moral, and Child upbringing.","PeriodicalId":271981,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Mother-Tongue Biblical Hermeneutics and Theology","volume":"41 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-10-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133253211","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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.
{"title":"The Wesleyan Quadrilateral and Contemporary Biblical Exegesis","authors":"I. Boaheng","doi":"10.38159/motbit.2020091","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.38159/motbit.2020091","url":null,"abstract":"How can one discern and apply God’s will and purpose for human life as revealed in\u0000Scriptures? Different scholars have answered this question from different exegetical\u0000perspectives. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, suggested that any sound biblical\u0000exegesis 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.","PeriodicalId":271981,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Mother-Tongue Biblical Hermeneutics and Theology","volume":"29 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115904914","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In their quest to bring Christianity to Africa in general, and Ghana in particular, the missionaries downplayed and discarded the African traditional religious values. This separated Ghanaians, including Akans from their traditional religious values for the biblical values of the Judeo-Christian scriptures; making them Christians who are cut off from their traditional religious values. After engaging in a dialogue with the biblical values and Akan traditional religious values on a common platform, it was identified that there are basic concepts of commonalities that exist between them, which include common belief in God, family systems, sacrifices, naming ceremonies, prayers, belief in ancestors, etc. and areas of differences which must be refined using the Bible which is seen as the hermeneutics of culture and tradition. This helps to curtail the hypocrisy of many Christians and churches who practise these traditional religious values and provide them with a searchlight to rediscover and modify the elements in their traditional and religious values. In addition, it helps to dispel illusion, remove suspicion and minimise conflict, and to enable the Akans, Ghanaians, or Africans while maintaining their traditional religious values adhere to the teachings of the Bible.
{"title":"The Bible and Akan Traditional Religious Values: A Search For Dialogue","authors":"Emmanuel Foster Asamoah","doi":"10.38159/motbit.2020081","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.38159/motbit.2020081","url":null,"abstract":"In their quest to bring Christianity to Africa in general, and Ghana in particular, the missionaries downplayed and discarded the African traditional religious values. This separated Ghanaians, including Akans from their traditional religious values for the biblical values of the Judeo-Christian scriptures; making them Christians who are cut off from their traditional religious values. After engaging in a dialogue with the biblical values and Akan traditional religious values on a common platform, it was identified that there are basic concepts of commonalities that exist between them, which include common belief in God, family systems, sacrifices, naming ceremonies, prayers, belief in ancestors, etc. and areas of differences which must be refined using the Bible which is seen as the hermeneutics of culture and tradition. This helps to curtail the hypocrisy of many Christians and churches who practise these traditional religious values and provide them with a searchlight to rediscover and modify the elements in their traditional and religious values. In addition, it helps to dispel illusion, remove suspicion and minimise conflict, and to enable the Akans, Ghanaians, or Africans while maintaining their traditional religious values adhere to the teachings of the Bible.","PeriodicalId":271981,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Mother-Tongue Biblical Hermeneutics and Theology","volume":"39 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-08-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133592839","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Bible Translation has been a means the Church uses to bring the Gospel into the language of the recipients to help improve the quality of life of the indigenes. Nonetheless, it must be noted that all over the world most Bible translation materials have experienced numerous revision exercises. An example of this is the Asante-Twi versions of the Bible which has witnessed two revision works; one on the whole Bible in 2012 since its publication in 1964, and a revised New Testament version published in 2013. Even with the recent revised ones, there still exist translation problems, for some words are strange or foreign to the Asante-Twi speaking people; clear example is Revelation 1:8 which is the focus for this study. Using Mother-tongue Biblical Hermeneutics methodology, this thesis delves into the meaning of the Alfa ne Omega no in the Asante-Twi context and its usage in Revelation 1:8; vis-à-vis an exegesis of the Greek word to alfa kai to omega to find its equivalence in the Asante-Twi. It was found from the study that Ahyεaseε ne Awieeε no is the best rendition of to alfa kai to omega . This work has thus added an Akan translation and interpretation of Revelation 1:8 to the knowledge of the field of mother-tongue hermeneutics; and it is being recommended that in the future revision of the Asante-Twi Bible, the Bible Society of Ghana should consider using Ahyεaseε ne Awieeε no to translate to alfa kai to omega (to alpha kai to omega) in Revelation 1:8.
圣经翻译一直是教会使用的一种手段，将福音翻译成接受者的语言，以帮助提高土著居民的生活质量。然而，必须指出的是，在世界各地，大多数圣经翻译材料都经历了无数次的修订。这方面的一个例子是《圣经》的阿散提-特维版本经历了两次修订;自1964年《圣经》出版以来，2012年出版了一本全本《圣经》，2013年出版了《新约》修订版。即使是最近修订的版本，仍然存在翻译问题，因为有些词对讲阿散特威语的人来说是陌生的或陌生的;《启示录》1:8就是一个明显的例子，这也是本研究的重点。本文运用母语圣经解释学的方法，探讨了在亚散提-特文语境中“阿尔法新欧米伽”的意义及其在启示录1:8中的用法;vis-à-vis对希腊单词alfa kai to omega的注释，以便在阿散蒂文中找到对应的词。研究发现，ahyε ε ε ne Awieeε no是to - alfa kai to - omega的最佳演绎。因此，这项工作增加了对启示录1:8的阿坎语翻译和解释，以了解母语解释学领域;建议迦纳圣经公会在将来修订亚细特语圣经时，考虑使用Ahyεaseε ne Awieeε no来翻译启示录1:8中的alfa kai to omega (to alpha kai to omega)。
{"title":"A Comparative Study of to Alfa Kai to Omega in the Greek New Testament (Revelation 1:8) and Asante-Twi Bible","authors":"Emmanuel Foster Asamoah","doi":"10.38159/motbit.2020049","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.38159/motbit.2020049","url":null,"abstract":"Bible Translation has been a means the Church uses to bring the Gospel into the language of the recipients to help improve the quality of life of the indigenes. Nonetheless, it must be noted that all over the world most Bible translation materials have experienced numerous revision exercises. An example of this is the Asante-Twi versions of the Bible which has witnessed two revision works; one on the whole Bible in 2012 since its publication in 1964, and a revised New Testament version published in 2013. Even with the recent revised ones, there still exist translation problems, for some words are strange or foreign to the Asante-Twi speaking people; clear example is Revelation 1:8 which is the focus for this study. Using Mother-tongue Biblical Hermeneutics methodology, this thesis delves into the meaning of the Alfa ne Omega no in the Asante-Twi context and its usage in Revelation 1:8; vis-à-vis an exegesis of the Greek word to alfa kai to omega to find its equivalence in the Asante-Twi. It was found from the study that Ahyεaseε ne Awieeε no is the best rendition of to alfa kai to omega . This work has thus added an Akan translation and interpretation of Revelation 1:8 to the knowledge of the field of mother-tongue hermeneutics; and it is being recommended that in the future revision of the Asante-Twi Bible, the Bible Society of Ghana should consider using Ahyεaseε ne Awieeε no to translate to alfa kai to omega (to alpha kai to omega) in Revelation 1:8.","PeriodicalId":271981,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Mother-Tongue Biblical Hermeneutics and Theology","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-05-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131317824","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
There are a number of academic studies that suggest that conservational values embedded in religio-cultural thoughts could be used in collaboration with science in finding lasting solutions to the environmental problems. However, despite these abundant studies and advocacy, environmentalists have ignored these in environmental management strategies. It is against this background that this paper examines the relevance of Akan indigenous ecological knowledge to environmental management strategies in Ghana. Three qualitative techniques were employed in this study: key-informant personal interviews, participant observation and focus-group discussion. The paper argues that there are a number of resources and concepts in Akan indigenous knowledge systems that help to conserve the natural environment. It is believed that the sacredness of these conservational resources can contribute to the pursuit of effective ways of curbing the crisis, which is the ultimate objective of policy-makers. In the process, the paper engages through critical analysis the argument for and against integrating Indigenous Ecological Knowledge (IEK), in the quest for finding a lasting solution to the environmental crisis in Ghana. The paper argues that IEK contains vast knowledge and moral values that can inform contemporary conservational strategies. The paper notes that IEK ensures the survival of not only the natural environment but the people as well. The paper therefore challenges Ghanaian environmentalists, ethicists, researchers and policy-makers on the need for a critical engagement with IEK.
{"title":"Indigenous Ecological Knowledge and the Environment: The Akan Perspective","authors":"Joseph Kofi Antwi Rev.","doi":"10.38159/motbit.2020048","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.38159/motbit.2020048","url":null,"abstract":"There are a number of academic studies that suggest that conservational values embedded in religio-cultural thoughts could be used in collaboration with science in finding lasting solutions to the environmental problems. However, despite these abundant studies and advocacy, environmentalists have ignored these in environmental management strategies. It is against this background that this paper examines the relevance of Akan indigenous ecological knowledge to environmental management strategies in Ghana. Three qualitative techniques were employed in this study: key-informant personal interviews, participant observation and focus-group discussion. The paper argues that there are a number of resources and concepts in Akan indigenous knowledge systems that help to conserve the natural environment. It is believed that the sacredness of these conservational resources can contribute to the pursuit of effective ways of curbing the crisis, which is the ultimate objective of policy-makers. In the process, the paper engages through critical analysis the argument for and against integrating Indigenous Ecological Knowledge (IEK), in the quest for finding a lasting solution to the environmental crisis in Ghana. The paper argues that IEK contains vast knowledge and moral values that can inform contemporary conservational strategies. The paper notes that IEK ensures the survival of not only the natural environment but the people as well. The paper therefore challenges Ghanaian environmentalists, ethicists, researchers and policy-makers on the need for a critical engagement with IEK.","PeriodicalId":271981,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Mother-Tongue Biblical Hermeneutics and Theology","volume":"114 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-05-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134493229","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
One of several issues of contention that have created a gulf between Christianity and the traditional Asante chieftaincy institution is the chief’s relationship with the black stool. The general perception of Christians is that the black stool is an object of worship, it is demonic and should be avoided by Christian chiefs. This paper theologically analyzes the issues of contention in the Christian chief’s relationship with the black stool and presents a Christian response to guide them. This is an empirical qualitative study, and it uses a phenomenological approach to understand the phenomena related to the issues of contention in the Christianity-chieftaincy encounter. The method of obtaining information included interviews of fifty (50) Christian Asante chiefs, a representative group obtained by the purposeful sampling method. Information was also obtained through personal observation of some of the traditional religious rituals they perform. The issues of contention were then examined in the light of scripture in order to help bridge the seeming gulf between Asante chieftaincy and Christianity. This research has established the fact that the black stool is not a demonic object. In fact, the issues of contention in the Christianity and chieftaincy encounter, relating to the black stool, have arisen not only from a lack of understanding and proper appreciation of the traditional rituals, but also from lack of proper understanding and poor interpretation of scriptural texts used in relating the gospel to the chieftaincy institution.
{"title":"A Theological Analysis of Issues Arising from the Christian Asante Chief’s Relationship with the Black Stool (Akonwa Tuntum)","authors":"Samuel Ofori Dr","doi":"10.38159/motbit.2020047","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.38159/motbit.2020047","url":null,"abstract":"One of several issues of contention that have created a gulf between Christianity and the traditional Asante chieftaincy institution is the chief’s relationship with the black stool. The general perception of Christians is that the black stool is an object of worship, it is demonic and should be avoided by Christian chiefs. This paper theologically analyzes the issues of contention in the Christian chief’s relationship with the black stool and presents a Christian response to guide them. This is an empirical qualitative study, and it uses a phenomenological approach to understand the phenomena related to the issues of contention in the Christianity-chieftaincy encounter. The method of obtaining information included interviews of fifty (50) Christian Asante chiefs, a representative group obtained by the purposeful sampling method. Information was also obtained through personal observation of some of the traditional religious rituals they perform. The issues of contention were then examined in the light of scripture in order to help bridge the seeming gulf between Asante chieftaincy and Christianity. This research has established the fact that the black stool is not a demonic object. In fact, the issues of contention in the Christianity and chieftaincy encounter, relating to the black stool, have arisen not only from a lack of understanding and proper appreciation of the traditional rituals, but also from lack of proper understanding and poor interpretation of scriptural texts used in relating the gospel to the chieftaincy institution.","PeriodicalId":271981,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Mother-Tongue Biblical Hermeneutics and Theology","volume":"29 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132491610","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-05-14DOI: 10.38159/motbit.20200410
S. Ofori
One of several issues of contention that have created a gulf between Christianity and the traditional Asante chieftaincy institution is the chief’s relationship with the black stool. The general perception of Christians is that the black stool is an object of worship, it is demonic and should be avoided by Christian chiefs. This paper theologically analyzes the issues of contention in the Christian chief’s relationship with the black stool and presents a Christian response to guide them. This is an empirical qualitative study, and it uses a phenomenological approach to understand the phenomena related to the issues of contention in the Christianity-chieftaincy encounter. The method of obtaining information included interviews of fifty (50) Christian Asante chiefs, a representative group obtained by the purposeful sampling method. Information was also obtained through personal observation of some of the traditional religious rituals they perform. The issues of contention were then examined in the light of scripture in order to help bridge the seeming gulf between Asante chieftaincy and Christianity. This research has established the fact that the black stool is not a demonic object. In fact, the issues of contention in the Christianity and chieftaincy encounter, relating to the black stool, have arisen not only from a lack of understanding and proper appreciation of the traditional rituals but also from lack of proper understanding and poor interpretation of scriptural texts used in relating the gospel to the chieftaincy institution. Keywords: Tradition, ritual, Christianity, Black stool (Akonwa Tuntum), worship.
{"title":"A Theological Analysis of Issues Arising from the Christian Asante Chief’s Relationship with the Black Stool (Akonwa Tuntum)","authors":"S. Ofori","doi":"10.38159/motbit.20200410","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.38159/motbit.20200410","url":null,"abstract":"One of several issues of contention that have created a gulf between Christianity and the traditional Asante chieftaincy institution is the chief’s relationship with the black stool. The general perception of Christians is that the black stool is an object of worship, it is demonic and should be avoided by Christian chiefs. This paper theologically analyzes the issues of contention in the Christian chief’s relationship with the black stool and presents a Christian response to guide them. This is an empirical qualitative study, and it uses a phenomenological approach to understand the phenomena related to the issues of contention in the Christianity-chieftaincy encounter. The method of obtaining information included interviews of fifty (50) Christian Asante chiefs, a representative group obtained by the purposeful sampling method. Information was also obtained through personal observation of some of the traditional religious rituals they perform. The issues of contention were then examined in the light of scripture in order to help bridge the seeming gulf between Asante chieftaincy and Christianity. This research has established the fact that the black stool is not a demonic object. In fact, the issues of contention in the Christianity and chieftaincy encounter, relating to the black stool, have arisen not only from a lack of understanding and proper appreciation of the traditional rituals but also from lack of proper understanding and poor interpretation of scriptural texts used in relating the gospel to the chieftaincy institution.\u0000\u0000Keywords: Tradition, ritual, Christianity, Black stool (Akonwa Tuntum), worship.","PeriodicalId":271981,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Mother-Tongue Biblical Hermeneutics and Theology","volume":"29 22 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125792452","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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