Abstract
Christian growth must not only be considered in terms of the growth of numbers. The growth in the church must also be considered in the level of depth and the quality of Christian conversion within a cultural milieu. The depth of the faith has a lot to do with how the Gospel speaks directly to the minds and hearts of its hearers. Moreover, the Gospel can speak to the hearts and minds of its hearers when the indigenous world views that condition the inner lives of the people are given serious consideration. The study is a review of the major works of Sidney George Williamson on the Christian faith and Akan culture in Ghana. As an early student of the tension between the Christian faith and Akan culture and the challenges of Christian identity, Williamson draws attention to the fact that Christianity can adequately meet Akan Christian needs when it pays attention to the cultural worldview of the people it seeks to serve. The study as a qualitative one uses both primary and secondary sources. Interviews and observations were conducted in some Akan communities on the integration of Christian faith and Akan cultural worldview. The study points to the fact that the construction of theology among Akan Christians must be done from the inside to the outside and not from outside to the inside, the approach that Western missionaries adopted. The spiritual needs of Akan Christians will be adequately met when they hear the Gospel in their own cultural understandings rather than theology done in the West offered to the Akan in European worldview. The study further calls attention to the preparedness of the churches in the Akan cultural environment for paradigm shifts in the Christian faith and Akan Cultural engagements in post-missionary African Christianity. Keywords: Akan Culture, Christian Faith, Local Theologies, Sidney George Williamson
Highlights
Christian growth must be considered in the growth of numbers
The Gospel can speak to the hearts and minds of its hearers when the indigenous world views that condition the inner lives of the people are given serious consideration
Williamson is recognized as one of the key contributors to theological education and Christian leadership formation both in the seminary and public academy in Ghana. His major concern in theological education was that Christian leaders would be well-grounded in the Bible and the indigenous knowledge systems within the cultural milieu which they pursue Christian interpretation and formation.’63 Christian leaders who are well grounded in the Bible, he insists must allow the indigenous knowledge systems to inform their Christian understanding and interpretations
Summary
Christian growth must be considered in the growth of numbers. The growth in the church must be considered in the level of depth and the quality of Christian conversion. Williamson has noted that, ‘it is customary for the missionaries and African ministers to account for this by adducing a deficient spiritual life brought about by a growth in numbers but not in depth.’. The depth of the faith has a lot to do with how the gospel speaks directly to the minds and hearts of its hearers. The Gospel can speak to the hearts and minds of its hearers when the indigenous world views that condition the inner lives of the people are given serious consideration. Noel Smith has urged for, ‘a fresh consideration of the social and religious factors embodied in the indigenous Akan world-view and which condition the inner life of the people, so that the message of the Gospel may speak directly to their minds and hearts.’
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