THE BASEL MISSIONARIES’ CHRISTIAN EDUCATION APPROACH IN THE KROBO RELIGIO-CULTURAL CONTEXT BY TETTEY EMMANUEL OKLEMEH (REV.) (BACHELOR OF DIVINITY) A Thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Award of Master of Philosophy Degree in Religious Studies August 2010 1 DECLARATION I hereby declare that this submission is my own original work towards the award of M.Phil. degree in Religious Studies and to the best of my knowledge, it contains no material previously published by another person or material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree of the University except where due acknowledgement has been made in the text. Tettey Emmanuel Oklemeh (Rev.) …………………………. ……………… Student name Signature Date Student Number: 20068817 Student Exam Number: PG3499909 Certified by: ……………………………………… ………………………… ……………… Supervisor Signature Date Certified by: ………………………………… ………………… ……………... Head of Department Signature Date 2 DEDICATION I dedicate this work to God and to the Christian Church in Kroboland. I also dedicate it to the Rev. Dr. Kwabla Opuni Frimpong who encouraged me to do higher academic work, and to the memories of my late uncle Ishmael Oklemeh Kwao and my mother Helena Ama Kwao. 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT It is my pleasure to give thanks to my Heavenly Father for His grace that gave me endurance through this work. I also thank sincerely the Senior Members of the Department of Religious Studies, KNUST, especially the Head of Department Rev. Dr. Nathan Samwini for his fatherly advice and promptings for seriousness, Rev. Dr. Kwabena Opuni Frimpong for his constant encouragements, and the Rev. J. E. T. Kuwornu Adjaottor, my supervisor who relentlessly made sure that this work is completed on schedule. I am also highly indebted to the Rev. Isaac Sackey Kwao, who spent sleepless nights to read through the work and make valuable suggestions. I also express my sincere gratitude to the Chairman of the Dangme/Tongu Presbytery, the Rev. Nii Teiko Dagadu, the Rev. Dr. Yaw Frimpong Manso, past Moderator, and the General Assembly Council of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana for giving me the permission and making it possible for me financially to complete this course. I will not leave out the current Moderator, the Rev. Professor Emmanuel Martey and the Rev. Dr. David A. Kpobi for their encouragement to enter into this programme. I also thank all my course mates, particularly my friends Zuul and Roland for the numerous interactions that help shape the work. Finally I am so grateful to my wife Eunice, my two kids, Sam and Hannah and my old aunty, Mary for allowing me to leave home for two years bearing the consequences of my absence. May the Good Lord richly bless them all. 4 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS HMCE Handmaids of Christian Education ICE Inculturational Christian Education DICE Dialogical Inculturational Christian Education 5 PLATE 1 MAP OF GHANA SHOWING THE THREE MANYA AND YILO KROBO DISTRICTS AND THEIR BOUNDARIES (Drawn not to scale) VoltaThe Lake Afram Plains Fanteakw a Upper Manya Krobo Asesewa Asuogyaman Yilo Krobo Lower Manya Somanya Krobo East Akim Odumase Krob Mountain New Juabeng Akwapim Dangme West North KEY Manya Krobo Yilo Krobo Boundary Districts 6 Map Showing the Three Krobo Districts: Lower Manya, Upper Manya and Yilo Krobo Districts (drawn not to scale) Akaten g Akotoe Klumnyam Akotoe Seseamang Bisa Ayiesu Asesewa Korkorne Sekesua N UPPER MANYA Bana Hill KROBO DISTRICT Nsutapon W E Krobo Girls Klo Agogo Senior o Opersika High Obawale LOWER MANYA KROBO DISTRICT Otekpolu Manyakpongunor S Mt. Mary Nkurakan C ollege Kpong YILO KROBO DISTRICT Agomanya Akwapim-Togo Range (Agoja Yo) Adjikpo Road from Accra through Krobo to Akosombo District Boundary lines Somanya Odumase Upper Manya Krobo District Area Lower Manya Krobo District oArea Sra Yilo Krobo District Area PLATE 2 7 ABSTRACT This work is about the Basel Missionaries’ practice of Christian Education in the religio-cultural context in Krobo. From an eclectic study of the historical, social and religio-cultural settings of the people, and the missionaries’ work, the thesis traces the problem of ‘syncretism’ and ‘cultural conflicts’ in Krobo Christianity to a faulty Christian education practice of the missionaries, influenced by their indifference to the Krobo culture, which they declare ‘heathen’ and taught their converts to completely avoid. Contending that Christian education needs not be limited to ecclesiastical establishment and nurture alone, but also extended to affect the community in which it operates and its structures, the work questions the missionaries’ neglect of Krobo culture, and existing indigenous educational and cultural categories in their Christian education practice, which this work found to be useful for Christian education. The major finding of the research is that the popular missionary acclamation that the cultural forms are incompatible with Christianity, especially dipo can no longer be tenable. It recommends that, for effective inculturation of Christianity in Krobo, an inculturational Christian education that uses cultural affinities with Christianity as Handmaids of Christian Education (HMCE) is needed. And also, that a Christological construction for Krobo from the person of Klow1ki and the jemeli, and the story of her exchange with the ‘Great Sign’, (the Sing of the Cross) at her disappearance from Krobo cannot be ignored. The constant presence of this sign of the cross in the culture as part of the performance of dipo speaks volumes for Christianity. 8 TABLE OF CONTENT Certification ii Declaration iii Dedication iv Acknowledgement v List of Abbreviations vi Plate 1 vii Plate 2 viii Abstract vx Table of Content x CHAPTER 1: GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the Study 1 1.2 Statement of Problem 4 1.3 Definition of Terms 5 1.4 Objectives of the Study 7 1.5 Justification for the Study 7 1.6 Limitations of the Study 8 1.7 Problems Encountered 8 1.8 Methodology 8 1.9 Literature Review 10 1.10 Organisation of the Study 17 CHAPTER 2: THE KROBO IN RETROSPECT (HISTORICAL AND RELIGIO-CULTURAL SETTINGS) 2.1 Introduction 18 2.2 The Two Krobo States, Manya and Yilo Today 18 2.3 Origins of the Krobo 22 2.4 In Search for a New Home 24 2.5 L4l4v4 and the Discovery of the Mountain 27 2.6 Settlement on the Mountain 29 2.7 Life in the Mountain Home 29 2.8 Land Purchase and Extension of Boarders 31 2.9 Odonkor Azu, the Cultural Reformer 32 2.10 Eviction from the Mountain and Life Below 34 2.11 Krobo Economy 37 2.12 Some Cultural Identifications 40 2.13 Conclusion 41 CHAPTER 3: TRADITIONAL KROBO EDUCATION 3.1 Introduction 42 3.2 Some Educational Patterns in Krobo 43 3.2.1 Home Training – Childhood Education 44 9 3.2.1.1 Education in the Birth Rites 44 3.2.1.1.1 First Instructions 45 3.2.1.1.2 Bikpojemi (Outdooring) 45 3.2.1.1.3 Bl4mipoomi (Helping the child to cross the path) 46 3.2.1.1.4 Bi1womi (Naming) 46 3.2.1.1.5 Pre-weaning Education 47 3.2.2 Home Training – Youth 48 3.2.2.1 Girl-child Training 48 3.2.2.2 Boys Training 48 3.2.3 Mentoring 49 3.2.4 Education at Family and Public Gathering 50 3.2.5 Education in Marriage 51 3.2.6 Education in Puberty Rites (Circumcision and Dipo) 54 3.2.6.1 Circumcision 54 3.2.6.2 Dipo 55 3.2.7 Krobo Religion and Worldview 59 3.2.8 Ethics – A Demand for Purity 64 3.2.9 The Krobo Calendar 66 3.2.10 Training of the Traditional Priest 67 3.2.11 Death and Funerals 68 3.3 Conclusion 73 CHAPTER 4: THE BASEL MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE IN KROBO 4.1 Introduction 74 4.2 Background and Ethos of the Basel Missionaries who came to the Gold Coast and worked in Krobo 74 4.3 Motivation and Beginning of the Gold Coast Mission 75 4.4 The Basel Missionaries’ Entry into Krobo 78 4.5 The Basel Missionaries’ Activities in Krobo 80 4.5.1 The Missionaries’ Interaction with Krobo Culture: A Christian Education Practice 83 4.5.2 The Missionaries’ Reaction and the Corruption of Dipo 91 4.5.2.1 Background and Motivations of the African Missions: The Source of Missionary Attitudes 97 4.6 Conclusion 99 CHAPTER 5: EXPLORING CHRISTIAN EDUCATION WITH EMPHASIS ON THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF GHANA 5.1 Introduction 100 5.2 What is Christian Education? 100 5.2.1 Defining Education 100 5.2.2 Defining Christian 103 10 5.3 The Nature of Christian Education 104 5.3.1 Christian Communication 106 5.3.1.1 The Bible 107 5.3.1.2 History of the Church 108 5.3.1.3 The Traditions of the Church 111 5.3.1.4 Experiences from the Contemporary Witness of the Church 112 5.3.2 Christian Transformation 113 5.3.3 Christian Formation 113 5.3.4 Christian Continuous Assessment 114 5.3.5 The Missionary Extension of Christian Education 115 5.4 The Need for a Philosophy of Christian Education 116 5.4.1 Formulation of a Philosophy of Christian Education 117 5.4.1.1 Metaphysics 118 5.4.1.2 Epistemology 118 5.4.1.3 Axiology 119 5.4.2 Christian Education Praxis 119 5.5 Towards a Definition of Christian Education 120 5.6 A Brief History of Christian Education in the Presbyterian Church of Ghana 123 5.6.1 Christian Education of the Basel Missionary Period 123 5.6.2 Christian Education of the Scottish Missionary Period 126 5.6.3 Christian Education of the Post-Missionary Period of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana 129 5.7 Conclusion 133 CHAPTER 6: INCULTURATION: CONTEXTUALISING CHRISTIAN EDUCATION AMONG THE KROBO 11 6.1 Introduction 134 6.2 Some Attempts at Rooting Christianity in African Cultures 135 6.3 Towards an Inculturational Christian Education (ICE) in Krobo 140 6.3.1 Inculturation