A casual glance at the Middle Ages reveals a period of varying religious encounters and attitudes that provide fundamental models that continue to shape and drive Christian-Muslim relations today. The Middle Ages mark the period in the history of the world where Christianity and Islam first encountered each other. The exclusivist crusaders of Western Europe arrived in Palestine and the Middle East in a multi-religious context, which permitted Jews, Christians, and Muslims to co-exist peacefully. The paper, finally, argues that the religious encounters and attitudes of the Middle Ages offer a socio-religious platform with enormous lessons for Christian-Muslim relations of the religiously pluralistic and increasingly secularized sub-Saharan Africa in the twenty-first century world.
{"title":"Religious Attitudes in the Middle Ages","authors":"C. E. Sarbah","doi":"10.4314/gjrt.v13i1.4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4314/gjrt.v13i1.4","url":null,"abstract":"A casual glance at the Middle Ages reveals a period of varying religious encounters and attitudes that provide fundamental models that continue to shape and drive Christian-Muslim relations today. The Middle Ages mark the period in the history of the world where Christianity and Islam first encountered each other. The exclusivist crusaders of Western Europe arrived in Palestine and the Middle East in a multi-religious context, which permitted Jews, Christians, and Muslims to co-exist peacefully. The paper, finally, argues that the religious encounters and attitudes of the Middle Ages offer a socio-religious platform with enormous lessons for Christian-Muslim relations of the religiously pluralistic and increasingly secularized sub-Saharan Africa in the twenty-first century world. ","PeriodicalId":435136,"journal":{"name":"Ghana Journal of Religion and Theology","volume":"19 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130072436","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 various juristic schools of thought in Islam that exist today is an attestant to the skills enjoyed by the ancient Muslim jurists in managing religious differences. The gradual fading-out of such skills among Muslim scholars is responsible for the mutual hostility that has greeted virtually all juristic discourses in the contemporary world. Against this backdrop, this study assesses the interaction among contemporary Muslim scholars over controversial juristic matters. The study adopts the analytical method of research. It discovers that there is ample example of positive display of ethics of disagreement by some contemporary scholars. It also submits that the lack of such ethics is apparent mostly in the modern Salafi school of thought. The study recommends periodic organization of workshops for Muslim preachers and scholars on the ethics of juristic disagreement.
{"title":"Assessment of Managing Juristic Differences among Muslim Scholars in the Contemporary World","authors":"Sulaiman Sheu Adua, Nafiu Ahmed Arikewuyo","doi":"10.4314/gjrt.v13i1.5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4314/gjrt.v13i1.5","url":null,"abstract":"The various juristic schools of thought in Islam that exist today is an attestant to the skills enjoyed by the ancient Muslim jurists in managing religious differences. The gradual fading-out of such skills among Muslim scholars is responsible for the mutual hostility that has greeted virtually all juristic discourses in the contemporary world. Against this backdrop, this study assesses the interaction among contemporary Muslim scholars over controversial juristic matters. The study adopts the analytical method of research. It discovers that there is ample example of positive display of ethics of disagreement by some contemporary scholars. It also submits that the lack of such ethics is apparent mostly in the modern Salafi school of thought. The study recommends periodic organization of workshops for Muslim preachers and scholars on the ethics of juristic disagreement.","PeriodicalId":435136,"journal":{"name":"Ghana Journal of Religion and Theology","volume":"49 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127545751","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 examines the encounter between Christian theology and Ghanaian religious culture through the lens of syncretism and inculturation. We argue that the perception that the Gospel is intrinsic to Euro-western culture is erroneous and accounts for the inability of the Christian church to transmit the Gospel to African cultures without transmitting Euro-western culture. This has been a major challenge to inculturation in Africa, not least Ghana. Further, we contend that a pejorative understanding of the concept of syncretism is accountable for Christian theology’s rejection of Euro-western Christianity as syncretic. Through archival material and our own experiences of the Ghanaian situation, we demonstrate that Christianity has always been syncretic and its survival as a worldwide religion is precisely because of its irenic character. We conclude that the irenic character of syncretism and inculturation provide sustainable pathways for spreading the gospel message in the church and society.
{"title":"Syncretism and Inculturation.","authors":"J. Gariba, Bernard Kwame Assenyoh","doi":"10.4314/gjrt.v13i1.2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4314/gjrt.v13i1.2","url":null,"abstract":"This paper examines the encounter between Christian theology and Ghanaian religious culture through the lens of syncretism and inculturation. We argue that the perception that the Gospel is intrinsic to Euro-western culture is erroneous and accounts for the inability of the Christian church to transmit the Gospel to African cultures without transmitting Euro-western culture. This has been a major challenge to inculturation in Africa, not least Ghana. Further, we contend that a pejorative understanding of the concept of syncretism is accountable for Christian theology’s rejection of Euro-western Christianity as syncretic. Through archival material and our own experiences of the Ghanaian situation, we demonstrate that Christianity has always been syncretic and its survival as a worldwide religion is precisely because of its irenic character. We conclude that the irenic character of syncretism and inculturation provide sustainable pathways for spreading the gospel message in the church and society.","PeriodicalId":435136,"journal":{"name":"Ghana Journal of Religion and Theology","volume":"14 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116902884","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}
Anglican Communion appears increasingly vulnerable to changing schools of thought and traditions. Schools of thought and traditions introduce cultures that suit their philosophies. Now cultures that keep changing have elements that go against biblical teachings. This has caused disagreement among provinces that consider themselves orthodox and the ones that see themselves as liberals. This article explores the question of how the limits of an acceptable tradition are to be determined and who determines them. It aims at contributing to the academic debate introduced by Samuel, Sugden, and Eddy in an article entitled: “Kigali trumpet’s uncertain sound.” They recommend a council that should convene and work on the solution to the impending separation in the Communion. The literature in this article shows that cultures that come from different schools of thought and traditions have strong influences on different provinces in the Communion. This will make it difficult for a council to narrow the gap of disagreement among provinces. The starting point should be an academic debate that will define what the unifying culture of the Communion shall be in today’s Church.
{"title":"Tradition And Its Acceptability","authors":"Zechariah Manyok Biar","doi":"10.4314/gjrt.v13i1.6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4314/gjrt.v13i1.6","url":null,"abstract":"Anglican Communion appears increasingly vulnerable to changing schools of thought and traditions. Schools of thought and traditions introduce cultures that suit their philosophies. Now cultures that keep changing have elements that go against biblical teachings. This has caused disagreement among provinces that consider themselves orthodox and the ones that see themselves as liberals. This article explores the question of how the limits of an acceptable tradition are to be determined and who determines them. It aims at contributing to the academic debate introduced by Samuel, Sugden, and Eddy in an article entitled: “Kigali trumpet’s uncertain sound.” They recommend a council that should convene and work on the solution to the impending separation in the Communion. The literature in this article shows that cultures that come from different schools of thought and traditions have strong influences on different provinces in the Communion. This will make it difficult for a council to narrow the gap of disagreement among provinces. The starting point should be an academic debate that will define what the unifying culture of the Communion shall be in today’s Church.","PeriodicalId":435136,"journal":{"name":"Ghana Journal of Religion and Theology","volume":"35 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129750079","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 Ghana, as in many other countries in Africa, the natural phenomenon of menstruation is considered taboo. People cannot speak freely about it but resort to the use of euphemisms, which made it difficult if not impossible to sensitize the public on the health effects of using unsanitary products like rags and used cloths as pads. This attitude is not only contemporary but can also be found in the Bible. It is against this backdrop that the article investigates the perceived ‘uncleanness’ of menstruation through a literary analysis of Lev. 15:19-24. To engage the text and Ghanaian reality, the paper employs the Communicative approach to African Biblical Hermeneutics from a feminist perspective. Major findings are that both Jewish and Ghanaian cultures regard menstruation as a time that restricts women’s movement in cult, society, and the home. The article advocates for a change of perspective knowing that what God has created cannot render the physical sacred space impure. The focus of the church should be on the ‘new’ sacred space, which is the human body (1 Cor. 6:19). Therefore, caring for the body implies personal hygiene but entails creating an inclusive environment, free from any form of discrimination perpetuated by cultural traditions that are not only anachronistic but harmful and against the Gospel’s message.
{"title":"‘Uncleanliness’ of Menstruation: An African Feminist Reading of Lev. 15:19-24","authors":"Emem Opoku-Agyemang","doi":"10.4314/gjrt.v13i1.7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4314/gjrt.v13i1.7","url":null,"abstract":"In Ghana, as in many other countries in Africa, the natural phenomenon of menstruation is considered taboo. People cannot speak freely about it but resort to the use of euphemisms, which made it difficult if not impossible to sensitize the public on the health effects of using unsanitary products like rags and used cloths as pads. This attitude is not only contemporary but can also be found in the Bible. It is against this backdrop that the article investigates the perceived ‘uncleanness’ of menstruation through a literary analysis of Lev. 15:19-24. To engage the text and Ghanaian reality, the paper employs the Communicative approach to African Biblical Hermeneutics from a feminist perspective. Major findings are that both Jewish and Ghanaian cultures regard menstruation as a time that restricts women’s movement in cult, society, and the home. The article advocates for a change of perspective knowing that what God has created cannot render the physical sacred space impure. The focus of the church should be on the ‘new’ sacred space, which is the human body (1 Cor. 6:19). Therefore, caring for the body implies personal hygiene but entails creating an inclusive environment, free from any form of discrimination perpetuated by cultural traditions that are not only anachronistic but harmful and against the Gospel’s message.","PeriodicalId":435136,"journal":{"name":"Ghana Journal of Religion and Theology","volume":"15 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129868746","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 founding texts of the biblical religion were gradually developed at the crossroads of various cultures, including Jewish, Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Persian, Hellenistic, Roman, etc. In this investigation, it is necessary to understand, starting from myths and sapiential literature, how the binomial ‘interculturality – theological innovation’ structures biblical theological discourse. The heuristic postulate states that Monotheism and Christology are the two keys to a biblical rereading of cultural traditions.
{"title":"Interculturalite et Innovation Theologique dans la Bible","authors":"François Batuafe Ngole","doi":"10.4314/gjrt.v13i1.3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4314/gjrt.v13i1.3","url":null,"abstract":"The founding texts of the biblical religion were gradually developed at the crossroads of various cultures, including Jewish, Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Persian, Hellenistic, Roman, etc. In this investigation, it is necessary to understand, starting from myths and sapiential literature, how the binomial ‘interculturality – theological innovation’ structures biblical theological discourse. The heuristic postulate states that Monotheism and Christology are the two keys to a biblical rereading of cultural traditions.","PeriodicalId":435136,"journal":{"name":"Ghana Journal of Religion and Theology","volume":"31 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115904833","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}
A cognitive shift has occurred in recent centuries, a shift from understanding and experiencing reality in terms of spiritual forces to a rationality of functional instrumentality. In the West, this shift has largely peripheralised consciousness of spiritual forces. In Africa, by contrast, this is much less the case. Yet this shift seems an essential element of modernity. If Africa is to take its rightful place in the modern world and play its part in addressing the huge problems of modernity, Africa too will have to embrace this shift.
{"title":"Christianity in the West and Africa: A Brief Comparison","authors":"P. Gifford","doi":"10.4314/gjrt.v12i1-2.9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4314/gjrt.v12i1-2.9","url":null,"abstract":"A cognitive shift has occurred in recent centuries, a shift from understanding and experiencing reality in terms of spiritual forces to a rationality of functional instrumentality. In the West, this shift has largely peripheralised consciousness of spiritual forces. In Africa, by contrast, this is much less the case. Yet this shift seems an essential element of modernity. If Africa is to take its rightful place in the modern world and play its part in addressing the huge problems of modernity, Africa too will have to embrace this shift.","PeriodicalId":435136,"journal":{"name":"Ghana Journal of Religion and Theology","volume":"20 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114888119","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}
{"title":"Creation in the Near Ancient East: The Babylonian Poem 'Enuma Elish’","authors":"L. Mazzinghi","doi":"10.4314/gjrt.v12i1-2.3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4314/gjrt.v12i1-2.3","url":null,"abstract":"Overview of the Babylonian Poem 'Enuma Elish’","PeriodicalId":435136,"journal":{"name":"Ghana Journal of Religion and Theology","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130512733","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 the encyclical letter Laudato Sì, Pope Francis proposed an integral ecology, able to listen to the cry of the poor and the cry of the earth. This intuition is present in the ancient prophetic books of Israel where “the earth mourns” (Isa. 24:4) for the social injustice, for human inability to build a fraternal relationship. The article explores how the ecological reading of prophetic texts can become educational tools to guide Christian communities living in the Ghanaian context towards an ‘ecological conversion.’
{"title":"Social Injustice and the Mourning of the Earth: Ecological Reading of Prophetic Texts","authors":"Nicoletta Gatti","doi":"10.4314/gjrt.v12i1-2.4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4314/gjrt.v12i1-2.4","url":null,"abstract":"In the encyclical letter Laudato Sì, Pope Francis proposed an integral ecology, able to listen to the cry of the poor and the cry of the earth. This intuition is present in the ancient prophetic books of Israel where “the earth mourns” (Isa. 24:4) for the social injustice, for human inability to build a fraternal relationship. The article explores how the ecological reading of prophetic texts can become educational tools to guide Christian communities living in the Ghanaian context towards an ‘ecological conversion.’","PeriodicalId":435136,"journal":{"name":"Ghana Journal of Religion and Theology","volume":"13 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121057437","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 this essay, Marshall B. Rosenberg’s concept of ‘Non-Violent Communication’ is applied to Jesus’ questioning before Pontius Pilate in the Gospel of John. It is a masterpiece of violent communication. The following analysis intends to reveal strategies of communication and their consequences. It will become clear that violent language is a sign of human weakness, while non-violent communication points to human strength. Biblical texts are a mirror for one's behaviour since ancient dramas function as a mirror for the audience (mimesis). An interactive reading of the Bible can lead to an awareness and reflection of one own’s communication.
{"title":"A Study of Pontius Pilate (John 18:28-19:16a): Power Strategies and the Abuse of Power","authors":"Beate Kowalski","doi":"10.4314/gjrt.v12i1-2.5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4314/gjrt.v12i1-2.5","url":null,"abstract":"In this essay, Marshall B. Rosenberg’s concept of ‘Non-Violent Communication’ is applied to Jesus’ questioning before Pontius Pilate in the Gospel of John. It is a masterpiece of violent communication. The following analysis intends to reveal strategies of communication and their consequences. It will become clear that violent language is a sign of human weakness, while non-violent communication points to human strength. Biblical texts are a mirror for one's behaviour since ancient dramas function as a mirror for the audience (mimesis). An interactive reading of the Bible can lead to an awareness and reflection of one own’s communication.","PeriodicalId":435136,"journal":{"name":"Ghana Journal of Religion and Theology","volume":"228 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-12-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115947447","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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