From Personal Holiness to Ecological Holiness: A Wesleyan-Theological Response to Creation’s Cry in Contemporary Ghana

Abstract

ABSTRACT Ghana, like many other African countries, is blessed with abundant natural resources that make the country potentially wealthy. However, unethical practices in harnessing these resources have resulted in many environmental challenges that cost the nation a lot of resources to manage, and eventually make the country poorer. Of particular interest to this paper is the illegal mining of gold, which destroys water bodies and vegetation in many parts of Ghana. This issue has attracted public attention, and various meetings, seminars, symposia, and publications have been dedicated to it. Yet, the problem still persists, and so the search for a solution continues. To contribute to the ongoing (theological) discussions, this paper explored how a contextual application of relevant aspects of John Wesley’s theology of holiness might serve as a panacea to Ghana’s mining-related ecological problems. The author used both empirical and literature-based research approaches for the study. The primary data for the research were gathered by administering questionnaires to participants from selected communities affected by illegal mining activities and analyzed in the light of secondary data from such sources as books, journal articles, and dissertations. The main argument of the paper is that Christian holiness and spirituality should manifest not only in Christians’ relationships with God and other human beings but also in their relationship with the environment. The paper found that diverse factors cause Ghana’s ecological problems and so needs a holistic approach to address them. The paper contributes to the ongoing public discourse about environmental sustainability in Ghana. Keywords: Creation, Ghana, Personal Holiness, Illegal Mining, Wesleyan Theology