This Nonsense Must Stop![1] Pentecostal Negotiation of Evil
Joseph Quayesi-Amakye
Abstract
The paper discusses the Ghanaian Pentecostal views on the negation of evil. Ghanaian Pentecostals recognise the way evil impair human existence. The existence of evil implies human life is embroiled in unsolicited battles which sour life. But in Christ, life must become sweet and fulfilling. To ensure this Christological freedom and victory, various methods can be employed. To peripheral prophets the use of prophetic rituals of negation is critical. Leadership finds this peripheral approach that gives vent to ‘witchdemonology’, problematic and inadequate. Thus, it appears there is a dissonance in how common believers and leadership respond to the negation of evil. Using interviews/informal conversations, discussions with church leaders and common believers, participatory observation, and pertinent literature, the paper assesses the seeming dissonance in the two positions, and then proposes a pastoral response to the matter.
Key words: Negotiation of evil, freedom, victory, ‘witchdemonology’, spiritual warfare, contextualisation
Introduction
Globally, Pentecostal churches are growing so fast that P. Jenkings proposes that the Pentecostal movement must be identified as “the most successful social movement of the past century”.[2] This paper will examine Ghanaian Pentecostals’ ideas about the necessity and (in)adequacy of spiritual warfare in negotiating evil and suffering. It will approach it from the perspectives of both common believers and leadership. Hence, the question is: In what ways do Ghanaian Pentecostal leaders and peripheral church members appropriate Christ’s victory in the face of evil and human suffering? The question of evil and suffering is problematic to human existence. On how to negotiate evil in Ghanaian Pentecostalism today, we may say that there are two discernible positions. I will approach it from the perspectives of church leadership and common believers of the Church of Pentecost (cop), representative of Ghanaian Pentecostalism. cop is the largest and fastest growing Ghanaian Pentecostal church present on all the inhabitable continents. There is the position of the numerous prayer centres representative of cop’s common believers. This is akin to that of the innumerable prophetic fellowships/churches which have become commonplace national phenomenon. The peripheral prophetism[3] of the prayer centres and prophetic fellowships/churches organise prophetic/miracle and revival services that last for several days. Their main emphasis is the negation of evil and misfortune through spiritual means. Then also there is the position of the centre or leadership which sees beyond spiritual causes of evil to include anthropogenic and natural causes. First, I will describe the general Ghanaian Pentecostal understanding about victory over life’s battles. Second, I will assess the biblical position on the topic. Thirdly, I will also evaluate the (in)adequacy of such contextualisation via leadership’s critique of the periphery’s overemphasis on ‘witchdemonology’. Finally, I will propose ways for resolving the apparent theological tension that inheres in this Pentecostal victory in Christ.
A significant thing about Ghanaian Pentecostalism is that it is not an offshoot of Azusa Street Revival. Indeed, except the Assemblies of God, the movement traces its origins to the nascent revival activities of Apostle Peter Anim in 1917, and the later missionary impetus of James McKeown, a Bradford Apostolic Church missionary to assist the former’s organisation.[4] As I have noted elsewhere, the first glossolalic experience in Ghana’s Pentecostalism occurred around 1932, after prophet-evangelist Stephen Kwabena Owiredu received the Holy Spirit baptism with signs and wonders following.[5] Owiredu belonged to Anim’s organisation. If we accept the thesis that the earlier Sunsum Sore (Spiritual Churches, belonging to the African Initiated Churches) were indigenised Pentecostal-type churches,[6] then we may even argue that the Pentecostal experience first occurred in 1914, after the Liberian prophet-evangelist William Wadé Harris visited the Nzema area of the country.[7]
In many of their sermons, practices, and songs, Ghanaian Pentecostals disclose their conception and rejection of evil and suffering on one hand, and desire and crave goodness on the other. In their understanding, evil and suffering are enemies that taint God’s perfect world, and make life miserable for earth’s inhabitants. Evil has multifaceted meanings and can be fully understood through experience. To them evil is anything that contradicts, and deprives goodness, and causes misfortune, harm and destruction to human existence. On the other hand, suffering is a state or condition of extreme hardship. Suffering inflicts pain, hurts, and aches to the wellbeing of its victims. Both evil and suffering create unpleasantness, discomfort, and insecurity to individuals, families, communities, and nations. They hamper growth and progress, and impoverish a person’s life. Evil and suffering mirror existential bondages that people suffer that demand liberation by Christ.
The Ghanaian Pentecostal conception of victory and freedom in Christ is expressed in terms of subversion of evil and suffering. Thus, Ghanaian Pentecostals stress the place of spiritual warfare. To them spiritual warfare is important because humanity is involved in some kind of cosmic battle. Positively, ideas of cosmic battle imply believers can access spiritual empowerment from Christ to combat evil forces. To win in this battle, the believer must be anointed by the Holy Spirit. In this way the believer translates Christ’s overthrow of Satan (Eph. 1:20-23; Col. 2:10).[8] In one sense, there is an already won battle. In another sense, the battle persists, and thus forces believers to re-examine their faith in the face of daily encumbrances. This explains why believers must not become passive about what happens in their life, but must adopt both defensive and offensive means to neutralise the activities of enemies.
The logic of Spiritual Warfare
The logic of the Pentecostal cosmic battle goes like this: human beings occupy a crucial place in a cosmic battle between the forces of good and evil that ramifies in human suffering. Consequently, in the face of dehumanising conditions human beings are weak. They are susceptible to poverty, ill-health, the manipulations, and control of evil powers. Pentecostals believe there are enemies which always seek the downfall of others. As an interviewee put it, “Enemies of life could be human or spiritual. They may be demonic or systemic which inhibit people’s progress in life. To break away from their control requires God’s merciful interventions”.[9] In other words, the negative effects of such enemies on life are so dangerous that it takes more than human effort to deal with them. To win in these battles demands more than human power, wisdom, and intelligence. They require spiritual support. Accordingly, the battles of life are fought on the spiritual plane and the outcome manifests existentially. This is why Ghanaian Pentecostals put great premium on prayers. I cite examples of the inscriptions on many billboards of prophetic services in Accra and other places to underscore this: breakthrough prayers, ‘bulldozer’ or ‘dangerous’ prayers, Jericho Hour, PUSH, ‘back to sender’ prayers, ‘objection overruled’, among others.
The crucial place of spiritual warfare in Ghanaian Pentecostalism may be understood against the general African view about life. In the African context, the battles of life involve how one negotiates with alien enemies of physical and impersonal forces. Impersonal forces take the form of systemic oppressions and suppressions, but may also assume a spiritual form through the activities of witchcraft, occult and magic.[10] Like many Black Africans, Ghanaians believe that some human beings possess malevolent spirits that enable them to carry out evil towards less powerful people. Witchcraft thus is not a learned art or science like magic or occult. Its possessors are believed to transform themselves into animate and inanimate objects, by which they attack their victims, often in the night. Being devious, witches are strongly feared and hated, when exposed by some stronger spiritual means, such as Christian prophetic revelation, or traditional magic. In such a world, even one’s parent, spouse, child, friend, and family relation are potential devils. As I have amply argued elsewhere, when Ghanaians speak of the devil (‘abonsam’), they invariably imply the witch or wizard, the sorcerer, the evil person who interferes in one’s progress.[11]
Among Ghanaians, even educational backwardness and other misfortunes are underlined by spiritual causality that requires spiritual warfare. Of course, such interpretations are often too lean, for they fail to address students’ responsibility in their educational performance. Moreover, spiritual warfare in Ghana involves land ownership, marriage contraction, overseas journeys, business success, agricultural productivity, church growth and so forth. In Ghana many wars are fought over the possession and ownership of land (territories). This is because in many cases land location or ownership invariably affects and determines whether people become poor or wealthy. This is why the resort to spiritual fortification and manipulation is so prominent in many ethnic and civil wars in Africa. There are also stories about how people suffer agricultural and even ecclesiastical setbacks because of the activities of evil persons. Indeed, there are stories about how witches and wizards transform themselves into wild animals or diseases to destroy farms.
In the face of all these battles, Ghanaian Pentecostals sing and admonish that Jesus is the best alternative for dealing with all life battles. Below, Rose Boadu’s (a COP member) song, sung during prayer services, underscores Christ’s victory over life’s vicissitudes:
Troubles of the world are numerous
The Lord has overcome them
Those who wait upon the Lord
Will receive His strength
Refrain
Rejoice, daughter of Zion
The blood of Jesus has overcome
All sorrows will be ended
There will be joy for you
First, she recognises the ubiquity of trouble in the world. Second, she appreciates how Jesus’ blood neutralises life’s troubles. It is true life in this world is beset with evil. Yet there is a divine assurance of overcoming peace for Christians for which reason they are to rejoice. However, this peace is contingent on constancy in waiting and a determined and stable reliance on the Lord. The peace of the Lord is unaffected by present circumstances. It guides and comforts trusting Christians. Herein is the key to overcoming the evils of the world. This is why Jesus Christ must be embraced as humanity’s only victory. He is the One who makes the believer overcome the battles in this world. Knowledge of him produces confidence and boldness in the face of challenging circumstances. With this knowledge, the believer can publicly declare and celebrate the divine security in Christ.
Victory over enemies connotes military expedition. From their history, Ghanaians are familiar with military expedition. Their pre-colonial history is filled with inter-tribal wars. In the ancient Akan[12] society, for example, defeat in battle meant enslavement and servitude to the conqueror. Vanquished states were reduced to vassalage to their conquerors. They paid human, as well as material tributes, such as gold dust, to their conquerors.[13] Each Akan state has a king and sub-chiefs. The various towns and villages are organised into military divisions, and divisional chiefs have sub-chiefs under their authority.
The retention of the divisions today in Akan traditional politics points to the militarism of their pre-colonial past. During festivals and royal funerals, royal dirges underscoring the military prowess of clan and national leaders are sung. Again, the Asafo (warrior companies) are reminders of ancient statal or tribal militarism. Today, Ghanaians do not live in constant fear of the unknown attacker. Notwithstanding, they are still engaged in battles: socially, economically, politically and relationally. Battles are fought at the job front, in marriages, for child bearing and parenting, for business ventures, and foreign travels, for which reason one always needs a spiritual support to win.
In peripheral prophetism, victory and freedom in Christ may be achieved through various rituals of liberation believed to be powerful to stop satanic nonsense. These include the sale of special anointing oils, blessed water, blessed herbal substances, deliverance (exorcism), prophetic declarations, and rituals. Coupled with these is the use of the blood and name of Jesus as metaphoric tools of destruction of evil. Basically, peripheral prophetic spiritual warfare occurs in the context of militaristic songs, prayers, and prophetic practices/ritualism. For instance, Bishop Bonegas engages his clients in what he calls “emergency hour deliverance” services to exorcise supposed demons. His assistants, as mediums, vocalise and manifest the intents of the diabolic spirits in clients. His executive administrator, Rev. Samuel Owusu Ansah Owens posits that “emergency hour deliverance” indicates a situation which requires instant response or solution in lieu of which a much more dreadful thing could happen to the victim of demonic manipulation.[14]
It is important one ‘stops the nonsense’ of wicked forces so as to enjoy spiritual protection, promotion, success, and security against enemies. Prophetic rituals/practices thrive on the understanding that Christological release into significance assumes spiritual characteristics. This Christological release may be oral and involve imprecatory prayer to defeat enemies.[15] Imprecatory prayers, known locally as ‘back to sender’ prayers, have become very popular not only in Pentecostal prophetism, but also feature prominently in the practices of both Islamic and traditional mysticisms. This development makes one wonder its biblical basis to justify its usage in Christian prayers.
Overcoming the Battles of Life in the Bible
In this section we will examine how the foregoing Ghanaian Pentecostal hermeneutic relates to biblical ideas about negotiating evil and suffering. We ask ourselves: How do we relate those ideas to negating evil and suffering in the Bible? To Ghanaian Pentecostals, the omniscience of Christ/God neutralises troubles and compromising challenges. Consequently, they appropriate biblical concepts to underline their dependence on the Lord in the battles of life. As cop’s E.K. Asamoah’s song below stresses, believers must look up to God for deliverance.
My strength is truly the Lord
He is my rest
My refuge, my strong tower
Is my Jesus Christ, God’s Son
In him I have my life
Ghanaian Pentecostals do not pretend about their vulnerability to the troubles of life. Neither do they claim to be in charge of them. However, they acknowledge without reservation the Lord as their source of strength, quietude and tranquillity. Interestingly, as Ghanaians, they do not have cities of refuge or strong tower in their world, and yet they refer to the Lord as their refuge and strong tower. In the Old Testament world, a tower or fortress provided refuge and security during enemies’ attacks. Thus, in 2 Samuel 22:3, David talks about “The God who is my Rock, in Him will I trust. He is my Shield, and the Horn of my salvation, my High Tower, and my Refuge, my Saviour. You save me from violence”, and in 2 Samuel 22:51 the Lord is “the Tower of salvation for His king, and He shows mercy to His anointed, to David and to his seed, forevermore” (Modern King James Version). From the song above we can see how Ghanaian Pentecostals conceptualise this metaphorically.
In both biblical and Ghanaian Pentecostal religious understandings there is what Charles H. Kraft calls “the excluded middle’’.[16] Here invisible spirits are actively involved in the human sphere.[17] The Pentecostal insistence on dislodgement of satanic strangulations is not wholly far from the Jesus tradition and the New Testament church’s experiences. In fact, both the Jews and Gentiles of Jesus’ time strongly attributed incidence of all illness, deformity, insanity, demonism and death to satanic activities and powers. Indeed, Jesus gained a reputation as an exorcist and healer.[18] According to the New Testament evangelists, Jesus was a man attested with mighty works, wonders and signs, which God did through him to release all who were oppressed by the devil (cf. Acts 10:38). Jesus’ reputation as a powerful exorcist is attested by the fact that his name was highly prized as one to call on, to cast out demons, and perform deeds of power, undoubtedly because he himself had been successful in casting out demons. Such was his fame as a healer that even Josephus described Jesus as ‘a doer of extraordinary deeds’.[19]
Indeed, Opoku Onyinah, the current chairman of the cop, maintains that through Jesus Christ believers are positioned to cope with satanic manipulations and controls.[20] This is evident in the mighty works that the apostolic church did in pursuance of the Great Commission (Matt. 28:20). To Ghanaian Pentecostals, the apostolic authority that Jesus granted to his disciples serves as a paradigm for successive Christian ministry. Hence, the narrative of Luke 9:1-6 (cf. Matt. 10:1; Mk 6:7) is relevant to the church’s mission today: “When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases”.
The Pentecostal Christological subversion of evil and suffering is conceived in terms of the power of the Holy Spirit. This idea is a shared belief in Ghanaian Pentecostalism and the New Testament.[21] This is placed in the context of the vicissitudes of life and the pervasiveness of demonic activities vis-à-vis Christ’s victory over Satan. Ghanaian Pentecostals recognise that demonic attacks put believers in a state of constant spiritual battle.[22]
Nevertheless, they believe that the presence of the miraculous validates the immutability of God in the face of seemingly demonic opposition. Consequently, demon casting is one of the most dramatic proofs of God’s sovereignty. It is about ‘power encounter’ when Christ encounters and defeats satanic forces through his people in the power of the Holy Spirit. The Christian authority to encounter the demonic forces is grounded in Jesus’ own triumph on Calvary, and his granting of authority to believers to bind and restrain Satan and his demons.
The negation of evil and suffering in the Pentecostal periphery is often interpreted in the context of spiritual engagement with dark forces, victory over whom ensures freedom in this life. The cop centre, however, seems to propose the inadequacy or/and misunderstanding of spiritual warfare and the role of evil forces in life’s vicissitudes. I will evaluate the apparent dissonance in cop’s Christology below on spiritual warfare with respect to Onyinah.
Deliverance/exorcism in peripheral prophetism thrives strongly on the belief that human beings are vulnerable to evil forces, particularly, witchcraft.[23] As we saw above, victory is accordingly achieved by invoking the blood of Jesus, and ‘shooting’ spiritual arrows or bullets of deliverance. Hence, deliverance is considered a ‘state of emergency’ for realising freedom in Christ.
On the contrary, the centre insists that believers are involved in a ‘spiritual struggle’. This is not necessarily the same as engagement in spiritual warfare.[24] To clarify the issue, in Onyinah’s view when Paul speaks about the war against principalities and powers, he is talking about spiritual ‘struggle’ but not spiritual ‘warfare’.[25] The difference here lies in the fact that there is already a Victor —Jesus Christ. Hence, like in all dualistic thinking the cosmic struggle has its counterpart on earth, where the believer participates in implementing Christ’s victory on the devil and his cohorts.
According to Onyinah, the New Testament depicts the evil powers in rebellion against Christ, attack the church and effectively work in unredeemed humans.[26] Hence, Peter and James call on Christians to resist the devil (1Pet. 5:9; Jas. 4:7). Similarly, Paul speaks of a spiritual wrestle that believers are engaged in (Eph. 6:10-20). Paul uses the imagery of wearing the whole armour of God to withstand ‘the devil’s schemes’.
It appears Paul is speaking of “power struggles and not a warfare”,[27] “a fundamentally transcendental conflict between God and satanic powers, in which man (human being) is both passively and actively involved”.[28] This agrees with Apostle Michael Kwabena Ntumy’s (cop’s immediate past chairman) conclusions that human beings can become the focus of satanic attacks so as to frustrate them in the realisation of their role in God’s kingdom:
Looking back, I now understand that Satan, knowing what God intended to use me for, in the future, tried tooth and nail to eliminate me. The plans of God for an individual’s life cannot be thwarted. Though weeping may occur in the night, joy will definitely be coming in the morning (Ps. 30:5). Furthermore, it seems to me that before or after every major spiritual milestone in a person’s life, the darkness is intensified.[29]
Thus, Ntumy offers a positive way of dealing with the incidence of evil and suffering: we are not the actual targets of satanic attacks, God is. And yet the devil is ignorant of God’s big idea about us. In Wesley L. Duewel’s view the spiritual warfare is primarily prayer warfare.[30] Like Onyinah, he believes that this involves rejoicing in Christ’s victory over Satan and his demons, rejoicing in Christ’s sovereign authority and almighty power, pleading the blood of Jesus against Satan, taking the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, matching forward, praising God and commanding Satan in Jesus’ name.[31]
In Jesus’ ministry, exorcism was carried out “not so much as cures of some merely physical ailment or mental illness, but as the wrestling of particular individuals and personalities from the grip or the dominating influence of Satan”.[32] Thus, in both Jesus’ ministry and in peripheral prophetism exorcism is about setting victims free from demonic power. The problem with the periphery’s understanding is how demons may be held responsible for every mishap, including moral problems, in people’s lives. This is where Onyinah’s position calls for critical appraisal.
Onyinah does not deny the existence of the devil, evil spirits or witchcraft. This is aptly seen in how he insightfully refutes the sociological interpretations of earlier writers on witchcraft.[33] Also, he concedes that, although Johannine literatures do not focus on the activities of Satan and demons, Akan Pentecostals may see the possibility of a Christian being possessed by demons as Judas Iscariot was.[34] In the section below, I examine the adequacy or otherwise of the periphery’s contextualising efforts on the negation of evil and suffering. Because Onyinah is the main cop author on the subject of spiritual warfare and ‘witchdemonology’, I will describe the position that he takes on exorcism, and examine his views more extensively, and indicate the points on which I agree and those for which I propose another approach. By ‘witchdemonology’ he is referring to the synthesis of the practices and beliefs of African witchcraft and Western Christian concepts of demonology and exorcism.
Inadequate Contextualisation in ‘Witchdemonology’?
Critically, there appears some dissonance in the approaches of the centre and the periphery to the negation of evil and suffering. This dissonance ought to be resolved. Hence, the question is: What are some possible ways of resolving the apparent dissonance inherent in cop’s Christology on freedom and victory? In this section I will examine the dual-faceted apparent dissonance and propose a pastoral approach to it.
False contextualisation? ‘Witchdemonology’ and the Bible
Peripheral prophets and common believers believe in the negation of evil and suffering through rituals of transformation. These rituals are believed to hold potency of neutralising and destroying the powers and activities of ‘causal others’[35] in believers’ lives. This means that victory in Christ becomes accessible via the believer’s engagement in some kind of ritual. In other words, it is by such prophetic rituals that freedom and victory are achieved in the believer’s life. Consequently, in the periphery, issues of spiritual warfare and ‘witchdemonology’ are very critical to the wellbeing of the believer.
Meanwhile cop’s leadership sees problems with the intrusion of ritualistic practices into the church’s life. With Onyinah as its spokesperson, the leadership claims that exorcism in ‘witchdemonology’ is inadequate. While recognising the Bible’s accommodation of satanic activities and control in its teachings, Onyinah has a problem with the Akan conceptualisation of witchcraft. He posits that the ‘witches’ who have been recognised by Akan Pentecostals are not presented as such in the Gospels but “rather are depicted as unfortunate sufferers who are dominated by unclean spirits which torment them”.[36]
Furthermore, he argues that the seemingly difference between witchcraft and demon possession among Ghanaian Pentecostals is just a nuance in the sense that “although in theory there appears to be a difference yet in practice both are the same”,[37] so that almost all witches are thought to be demon possessed. In his view, this shows the penetration of Western demonology into Ghanaian Pentecostal scholarship on witchcraft.[38] By Western demonology, Onyinah means the way Pentecostal preachers from the West, particularly the United States of America, interpret demonic activities among human beings. These Pentecostals teach that there are demons which repress, suppress and oppress human beings. Although the demoniacs in the Scripture are distinct from the Akan understanding of witchcraft, some ‘enlightened’ Ghanaian Pentecostals interpret witchcraft as demon possession.
Similarly, Onyinah claims that the view of deliverance as a battle against life-threatening forces “expresses the people’s obsession with protection or security and their need for physical healing together with spiritual salvation”.[39] Indeed, he thinks there is a conceptualisation of particular fears, expressed around particular cultural meanings in ‘witchdemonology’. At the same time, he is quick to acknowledge the ambivalence of exorcism/deliverance in spiritual warfare:
Salvation is real. If God says he has saved a person from the kingdom of darkness, it is true because God does not lie. However, what about Christians who come from occult backgrounds, or believers who struggle with ongoing sin, chronic illnesses, or persistent financial problems?[40]
With this statement, Onyinah touches on a very important argument trumpeted by the periphery. The argument states that, despite the fact that one has been saved, it may be necessary to go through deliverance because of some occult or ancestral background. Furthermore, Onyinah contends that the spiritual battle we are engaged in involves our minds. That is, human beings (their minds) constitute the battleground of this warfare. The devil’s strongholds are built in people’s minds, making them ignorant of God and about what he has done and thus preventing them from accepting it. Consequently, according to Paul, the powers have already been defeated through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ:
Through the death of Christ, Satan’s main weapon has been broken. In fact, once a person receives Jesus into his life, the divine exchange takes place. God no longer counts the person’s sins against him/her...Once we understand that we have been made right with God through the death of Christ, Satan’s power is genuinely weakened...Believers share in Christ’s victory through faith in him.[41]
What this means is that the new birth experience grants the believer victory over Satan and his power. That is, victory in Christ is the natural outcome of regeneration, and so the believer does not need to go through any other rituals to appropriate it. Thus, we can appreciate it when Onyinah insists that any teaching on spiritual warfare ought to be integrated into Christian discipleship. Such discipleship must aim at exposing believers to the basic Christian doctrines: the significance of water baptism, assurance of salvation and the purpose of Holy Spirit baptism. Teaching the doctrine of water baptism will enable believers to appreciate their identification with Christ’s death, burial and resurrection.[42] Similarly, baptism by the Spirit empowers and strengthens believers for Christian service and life. The stress here should be on believers walking in the Spirit rather than living in the flesh, to provide a foothold for the devil to attack them. This means actively living godly and righteous lives by means of the Holy Spirit.[43]
Conversely, walking in the Spirit implies mortifying the old life with its fleshly deeds and the prevailing assumption of the world. For Onyinah then, such mortification even includes witchcraft:
Many of the Akan I interviewed said that they received their witchcraft from birth. This can be understood as witchcraft being part of their sinful nature, which will not be eradicated when they become Christians. Thus once they become Christians, they need to count themselves dead, and must not give in to the deeds of the flesh.[44]
Thus, Onyinah interprets witchcraft as an assumed phenomenon and ties it to the work of the carnal mind that can be mortified after conversion. Perhaps Onyinah is being a ‘good’ disciple of his church’s founder, James McKeown, whose ambiguity on demonology, interpreted the sinful nature, the old Adam, as the abode of the evil spirit. Consequently, McKeown admonished those who cast out evil spirits to destroy the habitation of the sinful nature. He reasoned, “If the old man is dead and buried, and the new man is alive in you, your faith will turn him away. Even if a person is a witch, upon being taught, and receiving this faith, the evil spirit must go away”.[45] Hence, McKeown believed that most so-called witchcraft cases were the works of the flesh. It is important to say that McKeown’s ambiguity is a semantic problem. Coming from Britain, his understanding of witchcraft is that of magic or sorcery, a learned art or science that can be discontinued at will. This is not the Ghanaian understanding. Therefore, it takes a more spiritual power to break its hold.
Indeed, Onyinah argues that the biblical emphasis on the sovereignty of God is almost absent in ‘witchdemonology’.[46] Proponents of ‘witchdemonology’ recognise God as creator of the universe but present a view that makes the devil appear mightier than God. Such a warped view becomes manifest in how clients consistently ask prophets for deliverance. According to Onyinah, this misunderstanding is the major flaw in ‘witchdemonology,’ which makes it seem people are always at the mercy of unrestrained evil powers. Accordingly, exorcism in Ghanaian Pentecostal prophetic circles involves a real struggle or battle. The result is that some demons often appear to gain control, as some demoniacs leave the session without being successfully delivered.[47] But Onyinah contends that demons do not occupy centre stage in the Bible as advanced in ‘witchdemonology.’
Such rationalisation about witchcraft and spiritual warfare poses a real problem for many cop believers. This is because, being inherited or ‘received’ from ‘benevolent’ spirits, witchcraft cannot be voluntarily wished away. Hence, they reason that any proposition that Christian discipleship destroys witchcraft possession reduces it to a mental problem and wishful thinking.
Actually, Onyinah does not dismiss every practice in prayer centres. In fact, his categorisation of some restrained allowable rituals in prayer centres like exorcism, when adhered to, can help sanitise the operations of the centres and help fit them into the mainstream Ghanaian Christian psyche. The rituals include preparing the atmosphere through singing, drumming, clapping, and long prayer, conceptualised prayers that use the phrases ‘the fire of God,’ ‘the axe of God,’ allowing the demons to speak or clients to project themselves outwardly by speaking during exorcism.[48] Accordingly, ritualistic singing during exorcism can be accommodated because it is a means for practitioners to enter into the Spirit. The second ritual, conceptualised prayer, even though it shows the exorcist’s or client’s sense of inadequacy, does not conflict with Akan ethical standards nor is it harmful.[49] The third, that is, allowing the demons to speak, too may be tolerated because it can be a way of expressing the real problem, is much needed for counselling or exorcising. He warns, however, that it should be done privately because of its potential for causing further problems.[50]
Onyinah also creates space for exorcism when he insists it should not be left to the periphery of the cop. He is right to maintain that the focus in exorcism must always be on Christ: “the methods should be simple to show trust in the power of Jesus, whose death has given the believer the authority to exercise this ministry”.[51] He also does well to insist it should not be the only way of solving problems among Christians and that it should be the responsibility of the entire prophetic community, the church, and not left in the hands of some ‘specialised group.’[52] Moreover, it should also be done only when it becomes absolutely clear after counseling that the problem is demonic.[53] Notwithstanding, the fact that he insists that complex situations must be referred to the leadership of the church, it entails that the leadership must be conversant with the topic and not play the ostrich.
It appears that the cop leadership’s interpretation of victory in Christ is more consonant with the Bible than that of common believers. Nonetheless, neither the leadership nor the common believers deny that Christian ministry occurs within the reality of the demonic in the world. Ntumy refers several times to the devil as ‘the enemy of my soul,’ ‘the enemy of our souls’,[54] who often sought to take his life and those of his family members through spiritual intimidations, sexual temptations, ill health, accidents, and diverse attacks. To him, the enemy is not restricted by space or social affinity: “Enemies are not only found away from home; in fact, a man’s worst enemies could come from very close family circles”[55] and may also be faceless assailants.
Yet, amidst the apparent ‘power’ of the devil and his demons, the cop insists on the uniqueness of the Christian God with respect to all other gods. Consequently, casting out demons is one of the most dramatic proofs of God’s sovereignty. It is a power encounter where the believer subverts satanic forces via Jesus’ own triumph at Calvary (Matt. 12:28‐29). The implementation of such subversion in Christ is achieved principally through fasting and prayer and submission to the Holy Spirit. The latter opens one up to receiving spiritual alerts about impending disasters.[56] Fasting humbles the believer before God and positions the believer to receive divine power or enablement in the face of chronic calamities, disease, sickness, and trouble. They also make it possible to realise divine promises or a prophetic word in a believer’s life.
As we saw in Onyinah, the understanding of power encounter means different things to the centre and the periphery. Thus, the cop leadership strongly avers that prophetic rituals like warfare prayers of rebounding are unbiblical but traditional ritualistic practices that must be discontinued by the faithful. The difficulty with the leadership’s prohibition is that it appears to be more in line with pacifistic ethics.[57]
Apparently, the cop leadership transposes Jesus’ ‘pacifistic’ teaching to what common believers consider to be spiritual battles. I feel such ‘spiritual’ pacifism is weak in the sense that
Christ’s teaching would not imply neglecting self‐defence in the case of an enemy attack. Nor would it deny taking offensive action against one’s potential enemies. Thus, we can appreciate why, in peripheral prophetism, believers ought not to be nonchalant in the face of enemy attacks. Such ‘responsible warfare’ derives from Christ’s own victory over Satan, which is inherently and potentially the believers’ through their putting on the whole armour of God. Appropriating Christ’s victory becomes essential because, as Onyinah also acknowledges, although believers possess by right all the benefits that Christ’s victory brings them they are not permitting “Christ to exhibit his life in [them]”.[58] The Christian thus has the responsibility to fearlessly apply Christ’s victory to his/her life; this is not God’s responsibility.
Any ‘responsible’ appropriation of victory in Christ must, I think, adopt a pastoral approach that is useful to mature Ghanaian Pentecostal Christians. Ghanaian Pentecostals must be helped in fearlessly appropriating Christ’s victory. The key word is fearlessly—this is important, for prophetic services often turn out feeble Christians. Many times prophetic ritualism is couched in fear‐inducing language.[59] The result is that there are some visitors to prophetic services who cannot survive troubles without undergoing some kind of prophetic ritualism or receiving a prophetic word. Such people need help in coming to appreciate their new life and position in Christ. What this implies is that the church leadership must endeavour to ‘demystify’ demonic activities in believers’ minds, to impress upon them that by virtue of their life in Christ they share in his finished victory over Satan and his powers. Therefore, they do not need to fear any longer.
Such demystification may be achieved through systematic Bible teaching and study. This means the church leadership should embark on the consistent and painstaking education of believers on the benefits Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension have brought them. Such education should aim at exposing them to what the Bible says about the devil and his strategies. The New Testament shows that the devil works craftily through Christians’ ignorance of their position in Christ. Of course, this does not suggest we cast off prophetic rituals/ deliverance as wholly wrong. Provided they emanate from the Spirit’s direction and leading, they may be incorporated to help believers cope with evil. The problem is how they are carried out.
Debatable Contextualisation: Witchcraft is a Socio‐Economic and Psychological Affair
Onyinah sees the analysis of dreams by the North American psychologist, Robert L. Van de Castle, as a plausible explanation for witchcraft. He endorses Castle’s argument that “[dreams] might be visits from an external god, the wanderings of the dreamer’s soul, a shift in dimensional planes enabling the dreamer to peep into the future, from some temporary disturbance of the brain or digestive systems.”[60]
He sees Castle’s argument as helpful in appreciating the nature of witchcraft. Hence, he argues that many self‐confessed witches and those accused of witchcraft base their evidence on dreams.[61] “In fact many people who are accused of witchcraft often admit to being witches on the assumption that they probably committed the alleged crime in their dreams. Thus, here, dreams become spiritual channels in understanding physical happenings.”[62]Accordingly, Onyinah points out that accusations of witchcraft are sometimes very subjective and dangerous: “dreams can be the wanderings of the dreamer’s soul and the interpretation may well confirm clients’ suspicions”.[63] In other words, the accusation of witchcraft sometimes thrives on clients’ dreams or suspicions and the prophet’s interpretation. Consequently, he asserts that “people are psychologically led to confess antisocial behaviours and nocturnal issues which baffle them as witchcraft activities”.[64] In that case they may end up being stigmatised.
To buttress his point Onyinah cites a case of a woman he calls Abena who was made aware she possessed witchcraft at a prayer camp because she found herself eating meat in her dreams for 19 years. Abena could not complete her elementary education, and this had made her bitter. She expressed this in the way she thought of her mother’s job and envied her sister’s marriage. And she also claimed she wanted to destroy the camp’s leader and the people around him. Onyinah argues:
From an Akan perspective therefore, Abena is an example of a witch, for she claims that, out of jealousy, she could concentrate on something, like the sister’s marriage issue, and cause her to reject the proposal. What anthropologists, sociologists or psychologists may call bitterness or envy, because of her childhood experience, the Akan perceive as witchcraft. [65]
Onyinah thus sees Abena’s case not as spiritual but as anthropological, sociological, and psychological. But Onyinah is careful to acknowledge Abena’s need of exorcism because of her claim to be able to project her mind outside to get the desired result, an ability she thought came from a supernatural power. Therefore, Onyinah insists that this is a clear case that the psychodynamics of her life was acted upon in a pattern provided by Akan culture that had been adopted by the camps—a need that meditation[66] alone had not been able to provide.
Accordingly, she needed to face her bitterness as real and overcome it, something that the exorcism did for her. Though she claims she was healed, she fasts daily from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm. This shows some of the limitations of the deliverance ministry. It is a case that will readily elicit misunderstanding for Onyinah by adherents of ‘witchdemonology.’ This is because, through interpretation and analysis, Onyinah seems to reduce what is ‘normally’ accepted as witchcraft to something else: a matter of psychology.
Similarly, Onyinah contends that so‐called symptoms of witchcraft by ‘experts’ could actually be a psychological reaction or physical deformity that victims are suffering from. Therefore, exorcism could aggravate the situation, however: “for proponents of [the deliverance] ministry, the more the problem worsens the more the demons are considered strong”.[67] Consequently, he views the sexual case of an interviewee, Akosua, from a psychological perspective as an ‘obsessional neurosis.’[68] Akosua claimed to have dreams and to fall into trances day and night, awake and asleep, walking and sitting, even while in church, in which she was having sex with some beings.[69] Onyinah understands her problem in the context of her inability to reconcile her Christian faith with her rape and subsequent denial of that rape by a former boyfriend.
Furthermore, Onyinah interprets a case in which ‘the witch spirit’ of the mother‐in‐law of a person called Afia ‘possesses and speaks’ through her as a misfortune theory.[70] What this means is that Afia’s witchcraft possession was her way of releasing the pent‐up resentment at her mother‐in law’s intrusion into the private space of her marriage. As such, Afia’s husband’s repatriation and breakdown of the old car he purchased must be blamed on his mother, who becomes the causal witch behind the family’s misfortune.’
Afia’s utmost desire is the enjoyment of freedom and privacy with her husband, which she believes is lacking as long as they continue to live under the watchful eye of her mother‐in law in the same house. Consequently, the couple played the blame game that blamed her mother‐in‐law for their misfortune that Onyinah thinks can be explained away as a normal, natural matter but has been given a supernatural slant. “Clearly, Afia’s ‘possession’ is a defensive reaction against the external controls imposed by the mother‐in‐law”.[71]
From the above illustrations, it is obvious Onyinah believes that there are socio‐economic and psychological dimensions to witchcraft accusations in many cases. Social and economic circumstances have ramifications for people’s psychological makeup. In fact, the socio‐economic status of people often defines whether they may be classified as witches or not. Those who are well‐to‐do may not be labelled witches despite displaying so‐called ‘witchcraft symptoms,’ whereas people dehumanised by poverty and chronic diseases may be accused of witchcraft possession. During my field work, a cop pastor asked my opinion of a committed Christian, apparently a cop member, who manifested a demonic presence and attack during prayer services. This is why I feel proper Christian discipleship is crucial. The church, including the cop, must not pretend there is no witchcraft. Indeed, it is difficult to explain cases of palpable manifestations of witchcraft in the experiences of many people in Ghana.[72] I concur with Onyinah’s insistence that issues such as personality changes that lead to people being accused of witchcraft may actually require a psychological explanation of mental malfunctioning or disorders. Yet, as Onyinah himself concedes, “If one indeed receives deliverance from one’s problem after exorcism, then the case may be considered ‘demonic’”.[73]
Again, reports of witchcraft activities are not limited to Ghana but are at least widespread in the whole continent of Africa. In fact, Fiona Bowie has demonstrated that belief in witchcraft still prevails even in the West in ‘muted’ form and that it is still an unresolved anthropological ‘problem.’[74] Surely not all cases can be psychologically, socio‐economically, or culturally conditioned or explained. While Onyinah is right to indict proponents of ‘witchdemonology’ for reinforcing “the ‘primitive animistic’ belief system that keeps communities in servile fearfulness and hampers progress”[75], there are several cases that (post)modernity has no explanation for.
What the church ought to do is recognise the existence and influence of witchcraft ideas on people. It should take the time to study the beliefs, fears, and worldviews of local communities and ethnic groups in order to better appreciate the underlying causes and origins of their fear in witchcraft. It is when it is armed with such information and knowledge that the church can best approach their fears from psychological and sociological perspectives and offer acceptable solutions.[76]
The fact is that, although believers have power over witchcraft and demons as a result of their being in Christ, there are many who still have the lingering traditional cosmological ideas about the power of the demonic on their minds. This is why the church leadership must educate its members about the victory Christ has won for them over the demonic from a more anthropological approach. By so doing, believers will be helped to fully enjoy their freedom in Christ without any fear of witches. It would be important, perhaps, for the believing community to be helped in articulating their beliefs, apprehensions, and views on the demonic. Hence, pastors must establish long term interactive discussions with members of their congregations.
In private sessions, pastors must unashamedly share their own experiences and thoughts on the subject with members. Similarly, they can organise forums for dialogical engagement with church members. In such forums the views shared must be frank, respected, and not taken as cowardice or lack of faith. Such long‐term and careful pastoral accompaniment could also be considered a form of ‘exorcism.’ This would not be a sudden, rapid, violent, or communal one but perhaps an even more effective one. This is because all would be able to talk about their beliefs and thoughts about the demonic.
Finally, I propose that Ghanaian Pentecostals return to their foundational practices of individual/corporate prayer and Bible studies/teachings. The leadership must avoid an excessive suspicion of prophetic practices. Rather, they should appreciate the ‘mystery’ and ‘transcendence’ of the Spirit’s workings to avoid downplaying the prophetic (1 Thes. 5:20). Pastors must take up their roles as spiritual shepherds of the church so that unwarranted prophetic excesses can at least be minimised. Indeed, Onyinah[77] and Alfred Koduah [78] (cop’s immediate past general secretary) propose cop should start training pastoral counsellors who take into account the Akan cosmology and ethics, the Christian faith, and biblical demonology. Such pastoral counselling should be able to speak prophetically to clients by delineating between physical, purely spiritual, and physical/spiritual issues. Successful training in this prophetic counselling will benefit not only the cop but the whole body of Christ in Ghana. This is important since this missing link in the clergy is what the prayer centres fill and has made them popular.[79]
Conclusion
The discussions and analyses in this paper have sought to answer the question: In what ways do Ghanaian Pentecostal leaders and peripheral church members appropriate Christ’s victory in the face of evil and human suffering? We have seen how Ghanaian Pentecostals conceive life as full of battles that require Christological deflation through the application of appropriate weapons. In peripheral prophetism the freedom and victory that Christ brings is realised through prophetic rituals and exorcism/deliverance. Leadership insists on the right knowledge of God and faith in the finished work of Christ. It rejects common believers’ promotion of ‘witchdemonology’. We also saw how the name and blood of Jesus are used as liberative instruments for ensuring victory in Christ. Nonetheless, there are inherent difficulties that lead to questioning the adequacy of such Christological liberation, more so when there appears some dissonance between the centre and periphery. In the face of such dissonance, it is important Ghanaian Pentecostals become acquainted with the proper appropriation of Christ’s victory in the battles of life, which is necessary for enjoying good life.
Joseph Quayesi-Amakye received his Ph.D. at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, MA Theology, VU, Amsterdam. He published two books entitled Christology and Evil in Ghana: Towards a Pentecostal Public Theology and Prophetism in Ghana Today: A Study on Trends in Ghanaian Pentecostal Prophetism and several articles including: ‘Social Responsibility in the Christianised Akan Ethnic Culture of Ghana’, Studies in Interreligious Dialogue 23/2 (2013), p. 176-189; ‘Prosperity and Prophecy in African Pentecostalism’, Journal of Pentecostal Theology 22/1 (2013), p. 131-151; ‘God in Ghanaian Pentecostal Songs’, Journal of Pentecostal Theology, Brill. 22 (2013), p. 131–151; ‘Contemporary Ghanaian Prophetism and Christian Mission in the Diaspora’ Babel is Everywhere! Migrant Readings from Africa, Europe and Asia: Studies in the Intercultural History of Christianity 157 (2013), p. 237-50; ‘Spirituality and Social Transformation: The Samson Syndrome and National Progress --Judges 16:21ff’ Africa Journal of Evangelical Theology, 30.2 (2011), p. 165-75; ‘Religion and Reconstruction in an African Society: A Deconstructive Reading of the Bible in Ghana’, Doon Theological Journal, India, 8/1 (2011), p. 75-87.
[1] This part of the title appeared on several posters of prophetic churches in Accra in 2012 and 2013. It captures the basic logic underlining prophetic negotiation of evil among Ghanaian prophetic services today.
[2] P. Jenkins, The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002), 8.
[3] I use the term Peripheral Prophetism as a generic term for prophetism organised outside mainstream Ghanaian Christianity. The activities of the practitioners of this contemporary prophetism tend to “fall outside” the general and official Christian conception of the phenomenon. This is even so when we consider Pentecostals do not even appear to reach a consensus on the validity or otherwise of the phenomenon. Hence, the phenomenon seems to lie on the periphery of officialdom.
[4] R. W. Wyllie, “Pioneers of Ghanaian Pentecostalism: Peter Anim and James McKeown”, Journal of Religion in Africa 6.2 (1974), 109.
[5] “Ghana's New Prophetism: Antecedents and Some Characteristic Features” in Journal of Australasian Pentecostal Studies, XV. (January 2013) http://webjournals.ac.edu.au/journals/aps/issue-15/4-ghanas-new-prophetism-antecedents-and-some-chara/ (accessed 31-12-2012)
[6] See for example, E. K. Larbi, Pentecostalism: Eddies of Ghanaian Christianity (Accra: CPCS, 2001), 57-69; Johnson Asamoah-Gyadu, “Renewal within African Christianity: A Study of Some Current Historical and Theological Developments within Independent Indigenous Pentecostalism in Ghana,” PhD thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham, UK (2000), 14-22.
[7] David A. Shank, Prophet Harris: ‘The Black Elijah’ of West Africa, Jocelyn Murray (abridged) (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1994), 140.
[8] Cf. John Mansford Prior, “The Challenge of the Pentecostal in Asia Part One: Pentecostal Movements in Asia,” Exchange, 36 (2007), 26.
[9] Augustina Adu. Personal interview with the author. (Bethel Assembly, COP, Agona Abodom: 15th March 2008).
[10] Abraham Akrong, “African Traditional Religion and Development: Clash of Two Worlds of Discourse and Values,” Trinity Journal of Church and Theology, 13/3 (2003), 40.
[11] “Ideas of the Divine and the Human in Ghanaian Pentecostal Songs,” Unpublished MA thesis submitted to The Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam (2008), 52-54.
[12] The Akan is the largest ethnic group in Ghana, covering six of the ten regions.
[13]W. E. F. Ward, History of Ghana (George Allen and Unwin, 1958); also A History of Ghana (George Allen and Unwin, 1967); F. K. Buah, History of Ghana (Macmillan Education Ltd., 1980).
[14] Rev. Samuel Owusu Ansah Owen. Personal interview with the author. (Great Fire Pentecostal Ministry International, Darkuman-Accra: 27th May, 2014).
[15] Christiana Gyawu. Personal interview with the author. (Bethel Prayer Ministry International Prayer Camp, Asamankese: 20 October, 2009).
[16] R. Holvast, “Spiritual Mapping: The Turbulent Career of a Contested American Missionary Paradigm, 1989-2005,” PhD thesis submitted to Universiteit Utrecht (2008), 24.
[17] Prophet Akwasi Opoku. Personal interview with the author. (Kasoa: 20 September, 2011).
[18] James D. G. Dunn, Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making 1 (Grand Rapids, Mich.; Cambridge, U.K, 2003), 673-82.
[19] William Whiston (Trans.), Josephus: The Complete Works (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Pub., 1998).
[20] Opoku Onyinah, “Akan Witchcraft and the Concept of Exorcism in the Church of Pentecost,” Ph.D thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham (2002), 301-365.
[21] Onyinah, “Akan Witchcraft”, 328-39.
[22] Wesley L. Duewel, Touch the World through Prayer (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Francis Asbury Press, 1986); Iyke Nathan Uzorma, Occult Grand Master Now in Christ (Benin City, Nigeria: Osasu Publications, 1993).
[23] See J.S. Gyimah, “Demonstration of Power in the Church of Pentecost: Past and Present”, Tell the Next Generation: Lecture Notes on the Annual Themes of The Church of Pentecost Vol. Two (Accra: National Literature Committee, The Church of Pentecost, 2008), 100-110.
[24] See Onyinah, Spiritual Warfare, 58.
[25] Cf. Onyinah, “Akan Witchcraft”, 360
[26] Opoku Onyinah, “Akan Witchcraft and the Concept of Exorcism in the Church of Pentecost,” Ph.D thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham (2002); Spiritual Warfare: A Fresh Insight into the Nature of the Warfare, Identification of Strongholds, and Exposition on the Weapons (Accra: Advocate Publishing Ltd., 2008).
[27] Robert A. Guelich, “Spiritual Warfare: Jesus, Paul and Peretti,” PNEUMA, 13/1 (1991), 60.
[28] Clinton E. Arnold, The Colossian Syncretism: The Interface between Christianity and Folk Belief (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books, 1996), 118.
[29] Michael Kwabena Ntumy, Coming with Fire: Autobiography of Apostle Dr. M. K. Ntumy (Accra: Advocate Publishing Ltd., 2005), 129.
[30] Duewel, Touch the World through Prayer.
[31] Onyinah, Spiritual
[32] James D. G. Dunn and Graham H. Twelftree, “Demon-Possession and Exorcism in the New Testament,” Churchman 94/3 (1980), 219.
[33] Opoku Onyinah, Pentecostal Exorcism: Witchcraft and Demonology in Ghana (Blandford Forum, Dorset: Deo Publishing, 2012), 76-80.
[34] Onyinah, Pentecostal, 242.
[35] I use the term ‘causal other’ to refer to the evil force or being believed to create troubles for others.
[36] Onyinah, “Witchcraft,” 351.
[37] Onyinah, “Witchcraft,” 237.
[38] Onyinah, Spiritual, 236.
[39] Onyinah, “Witchcraft,” 293.
[40] Onyinah, Spiritual, 19.
[41] Onyinah, “Witchcraft,” 59.
[42] Onyinah, “Witchcraft,” 381.
[43] Onyinah, “Witchcraft,” 383.
[44] Onyinah, “Witchcraft,” 382-3.
[45] E. Kafui Asem (ed.), A History of the Church of Pentecost, 1 (Accra: Pentecost Press Ltd., 2005), 58.
[46] Onyinah, “Witchcraft,” 348-53.
[47] Onyinah, “Witchcraft,” 353-55.
[48] Onyinah, “Witchcraft,” 378-80.
[49] Onyinah, “Witchcraft,” 379.
[50] Onyinah, “Witchcraft,” 379.
[51] Onyinah, “Witchcraft,” 380.
[52] Onyinah, “Witchcraft,” 376.
[53] Onyinah, “Witchcraft,” 377; Spiritual, 229-32.
[54] Ntumy, Coming, 75.
[55] Michael Kwabena Ntumy, Struck Down but Not Killed: A Personal Account of God’s deliverance from unknown assailants (Accra: Advocate Publishing Ltd., 2006), 93.
[56] Ntumy, Struck.
[57] Cf. Scott B. Rae, Moral Choices: An Introduction to Ethics (2nd ed.) (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Publishing House, 2000); John Howard Yoder, The Politics of Jesus (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Pub. Co.; Carlisle, UK: The Paternoster Press, 1994).
[58] Onyinah, Spiritual, 64.
[59] See Matthews A. Ojo, “African Christian Spirituality, Socio-political Experience and Mission,” Ogbomoso Journal of Theology, Nigeria, 16/3 (2011), 59-94.
[60] Onyinah, “Witchcraft”, 71.
[61] Onyinah, “Witchcraft”, 374-81.
[62] Onyinah, “Witchcraft”, 72.
[63] Onyinah, “Witchcraft”, 307-8.
[64] Onyinah, “Witchcraft”, 309.
[65] Onyinah, “Witchcraft”, 277.
[66] Onyinah, “Witchcraft”, 277.
[67] Onyinah, “Witchcraft”, 245.
[68] Onyinah, “Witchcraft”, 282.
[69] Onyinah, “Witchcraft”, 282.
[70] Onyinah, Pentecostal, 208.
[71] Onyinah, “Witchcraft”, 285; Pentecostal, 209.
[72] Interview with Pastor Nelson Agbove, 28 September, 2009.
[73] Onyinah, “Witchcraft”, 310.
[74] Fiona Bowie, The Anthropology of Religion: An Introduction (Malden et al.: Blackwell, 2000), 217-58.
[75] Onyinah, “Witchcraft”, 314.
[76] Interview with Pastor Maxwell Asiedu Adubofour, 18 July, 2011.
[77] Onyinah, “Witchcraft”.
[78] Alfred Koduah, “An Evaluation of the Significant Religious Practices of the Church of Pentecost in Ghana and Its Relationship to Wider Ghanaian Society,” Unpublished MTh. Dissertation submitted to the Regents Theological College, UK (2002).
[79] Onyinah, Spiritual; Pentecostal.