This is a fresh account of African Catholicism among the Asante of Ghana, combining ethnographic detail, secondary sources, and personal reflection. It clarifies how Asante Catholics extend and transform their indigenous ideas and practices, thereby reshaping Christianity.

The Asante World provides fresh perspectives on the Asante, the largest Akan group in Southern Ghana, and what new scholars are thinking and writing about the "world the Asante made." By employing a thematic approach, the volume interrogates several dimensions of Asante history including state formation, Asante-Ahafo and Bassari-Dagomba relations in the context of Asante northward expansion, and the expansion to the south. It examines the role of Islam which, although extremely intense for just a short time, had important ramifications. Together the essays excavate key aspects of Asante political economy and culture, exemplified in kola nut production, the kente/adinkra cloth types and their associated symbols, proverbs, and drum language. The Asante World explores the Asante origins of Jamaican maroons, Asante secular government, contemporary politics of progress, governance through the institution of Ahemaa or Queenmothers, epidemiology and disease, and education in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Featuring innovative and insightful contributions from leading historians of the Asante world, this volume is essential reading for advanced undergraduates, postgraduates, and scholars concerned with African Studies, African diaspora history, the history of Ghana and the Gold Coast, the history of Islam in Africa, and Asante history.

This comprehensive reference volume covers every country in Sub-Saharan Africa, offering reliable demographic information and original interpretative essays by indigenous scholars and practitioners. It maps patterns of growth and decline, assesses major traditions and movements, analyses key themes and examines current trends.

By engaging in conversation with those whose experience, perspectives, and theological traditions vary from their own, the contributors to The Theology of Priesthood explore in detail the fundamental questions being asked about the ordained priesthood today. Priests, deacons, and students of theology will find these articles an engaging means to understanding Church, ministry, and priesthood more deeply. The Theology of Priesthood includes ten essays that explore facets of ordained ministry and the ministerial priesthood. Paul Philibert, OP, begins with an overview of issues involved in the contemporary discussion on priesthood within the Roman Catholic tradition. Frank Quinn, OP, addresses the significance of language as it pertains to priesthood and ministry and how language is manifested in rites of ordination. Thomas O'Meara, OP, situates the discussion on priesthood within the context of an expansion of ministry in the Church since Vatican II and the implications of this expansion for ministry in the future. Stephen DeLeers articulates a theology of priesthood grounded in Vatican II and post-Vatican II documents which focuses on the primacy of preaching. Thomas Rausch, SJ, then takes up the issue of diversity within ministerial priesthood as he reflects on priesthood within the context of apostolic religious life. Jack Risley, OP, returns to the question of the relationship between ordained ministry and lay ministry. The final three articles reflect on ordained ministry from distinctive perspectives. Benedict Ashley, OP, takes the Letter to the Hebrews as his starting point. Paul Wesche looks at priesthood through the lens of an Eastern Orthodox priest. Donald Goergen, OP, asks what insights African theology, specifically African Christology, might offer a contemporary Catholic theology of priesthood. Paul Philibert, OP, provides a concluding reflection. Donald J. Goergen, OP, is a preacher, teacher, lecturer, author, and theologian who taught systematic theology for many years. He was also previously the provincial for the Dominican friars of the Central Province. He is the editor of A Theology of Jesus series, and Being a Priest Today published by Liturgical Press.

This is the first comprehensive reader that brings African experiences to bear on the ongoing global discussions of women, gender, and society. Bringing together the essential writing on this topic from the last 25 years, these essays discuss gender in Africa from a multi-disciplinary perspective.

This history-rich volume details the sociopolitical, economic, and artistic aspects of African kingdoms from the earliest times to the second half of the 19th century. Africa has a long and fascinating history and is a place of growing importance in the world history curriculum. This detailed encyclopedia covers the history of African kingdoms from antiquity through the mid-19th century, tracing the dynasties' ties to modern globalization and influences on world culture before, during, and after the demise of the slave trade. Along with an exploration of African heritage, this reference is rich with firsthand accounts of Africa through the oral traditions of its people and the written journals of European explorers, missionaries, and travelers who visited Africa from the 15th century and onward. Alphabetically arranged entries cover a particular kingdom and feature information on the economic, cultural, religious, political, social, and environmental history of the regime. The content references popular culture, movies, and art that present contemporary reenactments of kingdoms, emphasizing the importance of history in shaping modern ideas. Other features include primary source documents, a selected bibliography of print and electronic resources, and dozens of sidebars containing key facts and interesting trivia.

After considering how the political and Church culture fostered the 'inculturation' of Catholic religious institutions, this ethnographic work documents the unfolding African expression of the Sisterhood among a group of women religious in the former-Zaire.

Today, Christianity has become the most popular and fast-growing religion in Ghana. Paradoxically, the Christian Church, in whatever form it has taken, has, for a complexity of reasons, basically remained a weak church with a weak foundation. This book discusses, from a theologico-cultural anthropological perspective, some of the ecclesial and social processes and factors that, the author believes, are responsible for the creation of this paradox in the case of the Ghanaian Catholic Church and demonstrates how they influence the search for a Catholic spiritual tradition in it.

Anthropologists have expressed wariness about the concept of evil even in discussions of morality and ethics, in part because the concept carries its own cultural baggage and theological implications in Euro-American societies. Addressing the problem of evil as a distinctly human phenomenon and a category of ethnographic analysis, this volume shows the usefulness of engaging evil as a descriptor of empirical reality where concepts such as violence, criminality, and hatred fall short of capturing the darkest side of human existence.