College of Education

School of Continuing and Distance Education2016/2017

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.

Slide 2

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

Slide 3

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

Slide 4

THE ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITYTopic One

Slide 5

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 one 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

Slide 7

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

Slide 9

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. EgsJehovah 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

Slide 12

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

Slide 13

Assignment

• Discuss the view that the decline in traditional religion is the cause of social vices in the Ghanaian society.

Slide 14