An Exploration of the Prophet and Prophecy in Contemporary Ghanaian Christianity in Light of Old Testament Theology

Abstract

Prophets and prophecy are not strange phenomena in most religions and communities around the world. Ghana’s experience with the prophetic phenomena has been ambivalent and paradoxical. There have been times and places where the prophetic movement and ministry have been widely embraced. Whereas in some others, the phenomena have been criticized and called into question by many people in Ghana. The abuses perpetrated by some so-called prophets, and executions of prophetic excesses have been the main factors leading to such public outcries. It was in this vein that an attempt was made to examine the prophetic phenomena in Ghanaian Christianity, using the Old Testament as a framework. As a qualitative study, the Old Testament text and other scholarly works that reflect on the phenomena of prophets and prophecy in Ancient Israel and Ghana were reviewed. In addition, a researcher’s observation on the ministrations of the so-called prophets in Ghana was done in order to gather relevant information that could facilitate the intended Old Testament-Ghanaian prophetic parallels. The paper contends that though the phenomena in the Old Testament context are somewhat nuanced, which makes theologizing quite challenging, the authors of the Old Testament corpus have provided adequate information on the prophetic phenomena that can evolve a framework for Ghanaian prophets and prophetic ministrations. This paper is relevant for scholarships in relation to Old Testament studies, prophetism, neo-prophetic, Christianity in Ghana, contextual theology, and Christian religious excesses.