ABSTRACT The Christian faith has several important doctrines. One of such doctrines is the doctrine of the Trinity. According to Trinitarian theologians, the doctrine is built on three biblical trusts: There is God, God exists in three persons and each of those persons is fully God. However, several criticisms have been raised concerning the theological appreciation of the doctrine of the Trinity. Major among these include Modalism (persons are the ways God expresses Himself), Arianism (the S...
ABSTRACT The study concerns a reading of Galatians 5 and practices and its appropriation for Christians in the A`l4 Traditional Area. The chosen text deals with a situation of intra-religious debate between two religious beliefs and practices -Judaism and the Christian faith. The text is appropriated to the context of A`l4 Christians who usually clash with the traditional rulers during the ban on drumming and general noise making. The Tri-Polar Exegetical Model as developed by Draper (2001) w...
ABSTRACT Prophetic services are a common feature amongst Contemporary Baptist Churches. Ritual contexts are formed to illicit spiritual responses to the anxieties and fears of participants, who are predominantly influenced by the African concept of causality. These services are marked by Charismatic experiences and their outcomes are attributed to the active presence of the Holy Spirt. Furthermore, ‘spiritual’ media (body spray; oil; soap; etc.) are used by prophets to meet the needs an...
ABSTRACT Several works have explored the relationship between religion and food. Such works posit that the two are undeniably close (Meyer-Rochow, 2009; Norman, 2003). Inferring from Eastern Buddhist and Christian monastic traditions, one observes the significant roles these religious centres played in maintaining the traditional foods of a people. The preservation of such foods was possible because they were often associated with religious rituals and ceremonies. In much the same way, we c...
ABSTRACT This thesis examined the influence of the Indigenous Assin Religion (IAR) on the inheritance and succession practices of the Assin. The purpose was to establish the link between the IAR and the inheritance and succession practices and find out whether the presence or absence of the influence of the IAR has affected these practices. The research was conducted in four selected towns. Using an interpretative paradigm mainly semi-structured interview guide and focus group discussions, t...
ABSTRACT This study is premised on the assumption that the body of Christ is today plagued by numerous internal conflicts resulting in breakaways or divisions because the appropriate conflict resolution and management mechanisms are not used to manage and resolve them when they do occur. Using a methodology based on a combination of the purposive and stratified random sampling techniques coupled with both qualitative and quantitative analysis of data collected, a case study was done on the ...
ABSTRACT This work sought to use Contextual Bible Reading, where the text (1 Cor. 14: 34- 40) was read with ordinary readers (women’s groups) to find out what meaning they derive from the text. In preparation for the Contextual Bible Reading, a textual analysis of 1 Cor. 14:34-40 was done. The research went on to establish the implications of the text on the churches with regard to their doctrinal standpoint including the decisions of church councils or General Assemblies of the churches co...
ABSTRACT Sabbatical legislation in the book of Leviticus is a set of land laws capable of promoting agricultural productivity and the welfare of the people. Previous studies on Sabbatical legislation in Leviticus have focused on land acquisition and distribution, neglecting various mistranslations that led to their misinterpretations. This anomaly changed the understanding of the concept of rest, which originally applied more to the human agentive utilisation and welfare agenda in ancient Isr...
Abstract This paper focuses on Muslim/Christian understanding of the position of the Sharī‘ah in modern Nigeria. It also examines Muslim women’s commitments to Islam and how they cope with the surroundings without submitting to a uniform, integral and singular Islamist theory on the application of Sharī‘ah. The paper makes a distinction between Fiqh and the Sharī‘ah. Furthermore, while most writings tend to view the application of the Sharī‘ah in Nigeria, whether in relations to...
ABSTRACT Over the last two decades, healing practices of the neo-prophetic Groups in Ghana have attracted attention. However, reasons why people resort to the neo-prophetic healers despite the technological improvement in medicine, is largely under-researched. The study was based on qualitative methods of which 30 respondents were interviewed within three selected churches, namely: Ebenezer Miracle Worship Centre in Kumasi, headed by Rev. Prophet Ebenezer Adarkwa Yiadom; House of Power Minis...
GENERAL BACKGROUND TO HUMAN TRAFFICKING Human trafficking, technically known as Trafficking in Persons (TIP), was first defined in international law through the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children also known as the Palermo Protocol or the Trafficking Protocol-which supplements the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (2000) 1 . This provides the most widely endorsed definition of trafficking and the ess...
ABSTRACT The relationship that the author of the book of Ruth shows to exists between his characters, Ruth and Naomi has been read or interpreted by scholars in various ways. Some say it is a lesbian or bisexual relationship, others a type of patriachal structure that ties a woman to her mother-in-law even after the death of her husband (Nelson, 1967 & Fuchs, 1983) and still for Dube it is an unfair relationship where mutual love is lacking (Dube, 2001). This thesis, on the other hand under...
ABSTRACT In contemporary Ghanaian society, some Christian prophets claimed to know the exact hour of the Parousia. They have often indicated specific days which, however, never come to pass or fulfilled. The effect is casting doubt in the mind of many believers about the end time. The interesting aspect is that all of them based their contention on the NT writings where eschatological concepts appear, not only in the entire book of Revelation, but in many other texts. Among them, the eschatol...
The research was motivated by the need to review traditional beliefs of the Tiv currently undermined by the significant impact of technological change. The Tiv now put more emphasis on technology and its benefits, resulting in an erosion of traditional values within family and clan structures. The work is based on primary sources, including oral interviews with Tiv in positions of leadership, retired elders and chiefs, as well as average citizens. Secondary sources include materials fro...
ABSTRACT Gender has become a central issue in world discourse. It is more so in Islam because there is a general perception that the theology of Islam is built on gender injustice. The Dagomba people of Ghana converted to Islam in droves after the conversion of their King, Naa Zangina in about 1700. Since then, Islam has become the state religion of the Dagomba people and all their customs and traditions have become underpinned by Islam, including the negotiation of gender. There is a palpabl...