From desert fathers to Ghanaian pilgrims: Sacred space and ecology at Abeisua mountain

Verbum et Ecclesia

 
 
Field Value
 
Title From desert fathers to Ghanaian pilgrims: Sacred space and ecology at Abeisua mountain
 
Creator Boamah, Kwaku
 
Subject Church History and Missions; Early Church; African Christian Expression sacred space; environmental stewardship; asceticism; monastic; monasticism; Abeisua (Atwea) mountain.
Description The heaps of waste generated at prayer sites in Ghana lead to questions about whether patrons of these sites go to feast or worship. It is paradoxical when compared to the habits of early Christian monks and nuns who paid considerable attention to their surroundings which attracted many visitors to the monasteries for various benefits. Today, Ghanaian Christians who visit sacred sites do not care for the environment and as a result, desecrate the surroundings. This article evaluates the environmental interests and impacts of patrons of sacred prayer sites in Ghana especially at Abeisua (Atwea) mountain and the early Christian monasteries. This historical and comparative study reveals that whereas the early Christians saw themselves as stewards of the environment, and thus properly conserved it, most Ghanaian Christians today only admire the flora around the sacred sites but do not feel responsible for their upkeep, thereby engaging in indiscriminate littering.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article argues for considerable education on environmental stewardship and collaboration between the managers and stakeholders of the sacred sites while exploring the establishment of structures as a tool for ecological sustainability.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2025-05-30
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Historical
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/ve.v46i1.3432
 
Source Verbum et Ecclesia; Vol 46, No 1 (2025); 10 pages 2074-7705 1609-9982
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://verbumetecclesia.org.za/index.php/ve/article/view/3432/8810 https://verbumetecclesia.org.za/index.php/ve/article/view/3432/8811 https://verbumetecclesia.org.za/index.php/ve/article/view/3432/8812 https://verbumetecclesia.org.za/index.php/ve/article/view/3432/8813
 
Coverage — — —
Rights Copyright (c) 2025 Kwaku Boamah https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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