KWAME BEDIAKO: CONSIDERATIONS ON THE MOTIVATING FORCE BEHIND HIS THEOLOGY AND IDENTITY

Abstract

Running randomly into a forest in Africa without knowing what is there could be ill-advised, to say the least. It is always better to have a guide, someone who knows the trails and the terrain. Perhaps Bediako could be our guide in African Christian theology. Kwame Bediako was born on July 7, 1945 and was a Ghanaian with Presbyterian roots who held two doctorates, one in French literature from the University of Bordeaux and another from Aberdeen where he studied under the formidable Andrew Walls. In the early 1970s, he married Gillian Mary, a fellow student from England. While he spoke English and Ga, the language of Accra, Ghana, his mother tongue was Twi.He contributed to Themelios and the Africa Bible Commentary and was the author of a few books, including Theology and Identity and Christianity in Africa: The Renewal of a Non-Western Religion.  He was the founder and director of Akrofi-Christaller Institute of Theology, Mission and Culture (www.acighana.org) in Akropong, Ghana. He died on June 10, 2008.