Reception of Paul’s eschatological teaching in Ghana: A contextual study of 1 Thess. 4:13-18

Abstract

Paul’s teaching on the Parousia and resurrection of the dead has been a subject of contention with the culture of some Ghanaian contexts. The belief in life after death in Ghanaian culture requires the performance of certain rituals for the dead which contradicts biblical teaching because of the belief in the resurrection of the dead. These belief systems often cause disagreement and misunderstanding among surviving families, sometimes resulting in violent clashes at the instance of the death of relatives. However, the interpretation of the word of God is given for the transformation of the individual and society. The article, therefore, employs analysis of some rhetorical elements in the text and the Contextual Bible Study model of African biblical hermeneutics to investigate how Paul’s teaching on death and resurrection in 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 is received by Christians in the Ghanaian context. It contends that as Christians believe that the dead in Christ will rise on the Parousia, then rituals and cultural practices that have negative effects on the socio-economic and Christian beliefs of surviving families should be avoided or modified.

Contribution: The article concludes that the church in Ghana should advocate strongly for a transformation of such cultural practices and institute measures to ameliorate the effects of death and funeral expenses of Ghanaian families.