Social Structure of Modern Ghana Session 5 Changes in Religiosity - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

College of Education School of Continuing and Distance Education

2016/2017

SOCI 224: Social Structure of Modern Ghana

Session 5 – Changes in Religiosity

Lecturers: Dr. Fidelia Ohemeng & Dr. Mark K. M. Obeng Department of Sociology Contact Information: fohemeng@ug.edu.gh

Session Overview

• Religion plays an important role in the lives of Ghanaians. This

section examines the changes that have occurred in traditional Ghanaian religiosity. Two main sources of change: Christianity and Islam are discussed. The implications of Christianity and Islam are also discussed.

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Session Outline

The key topics to be covered in the session are as follows:

• Topic One: origins of Christianity
• Topic Two: the impact on the Ghanaian society
• Topic Three: the origins of Islam and its impact

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Reading List

• Abotchie, C. (2014). Social Change in Ghana. Accra: Hans
• Publications. Chapter 4
• Nukunya, G. (2014). Tradition and Change in Ghana: an

Introduction to Sociology. Accra: Ghana Universities Press. Pages 141-155

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THE ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY

Topic One

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DEFINITION

• Religion is a means to ward off evil spirits (Assimeng, 1981)
• The search of security / unexplainable causes of misfortune
• The propitiation or conciliation of powers superior to man

believed to control the cause of nature and human life

• Beliefs and practices associated with the supernatural

(Nukunya, 2014:63)

• Durkheim (1959: 47) “a unified system of beliefs and

practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden –beliefs and practices which unite into

• ne single moral community called a church, all those who

adhere to them ”

Origins of Christianity

• Christianity was formally introduced into the Gold Coast

around the 19th C by missionaries

• The colonial administration supported them by offering

them protection because they also needed the educational elites to help them

• The Basel Mission was established in 1829, the Methodist

in 1835, the Bremen Mission in 1847 and the Roman Catholics in 1880

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Trends in Religious Affiliation: 1970- 2010

Religion 1970 2000 2010 Christianity 53 68.8 71.2 Islam 14 15.9 17.6 Traditional Religion 21.7 8.5 5.2 No Religion 11.3 6.1 5.2

Other Factors that has caused a change from traditional religion to Christianity

• Social aspiration- the symbol of success
• Long life
• Search for social mobility
• Social stratification
• Economic progress
• The educational institution
• The diversity of the new Christian churches

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SOME DYNAMICS

• REGIONAL DISTRIBUTION

NORTHERN REGION – MORE MOSLEM: 60% MORE CHRISTIAN IN THE OTHER 9 REGIONS UPPER EAST HIGHEST ATR: 27.9% BRONG AHAFO HIGHEST NUMBER OF NO RELIGION: 7.3%

• GENDER DISTRIBUTION

CHRISTIANITY

• FEMALE

73.4%

• MALES

68.8% ISLAM MALE 18.3% FEMALE 17.0% NO RELIGION MALE 6.7% FEMALE 3.9%

DENOMINATIONS AND SECTS

The causes of the rise of denominations and sects are:

• Different interpretation of the Christian scripture
• Differences in the mode of worship

Denominations – Orthodox or established churches (Protestants + Catholic church )

• Further split

– Assimeng (1981) - dominant theological orientation )

• Millennial: the nearness of the end of the world. Egs

Jehovah Witnesses /Seventh Day Adventists. These are dominated by the poor and avoided by the rich

• Thaumaturgical : miracle working churches (mostly

Pentecostal/ charismatics churches)

• More women than men

Population by Religious Affiliation: 2000 & 2010

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Religion 2000 (%) 2010 (%) Catholic 15.1 13.1 Protestant 18.6 18.4 Pentecostal/Charismatic 24.1 28.3 Other Christian 11.0 11.4 Islam 15.9 17.6 Traditionalist 8.5 5.2 Other 0.7 0.8 No Religion 6.1 5.3

Islam

• The use of Chiefs in conversion
• Sectarianism in Islam

– Ahmadiyya sect established in 1920 by Missionary E.R Hakeem Impact: Islam has had little Impact on the socio-economic life of Ghanaians because Islam education did not prepare them adequately for the job market – Alienation from the traditional belief system

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Assignment

• Discuss the view that the decline in traditional

religion is the cause of social vices in the Ghanaian society.

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