Religion and Sustainable Development

While Africa has been the object of development discourse, it has rarely been the subject of the narrative. It is time that Africa tells her own story as a step towards being responsible for her own destiny. This volume offers a multi-religious and multidisciplinary collection of articles, characterized by a common aim: to explore how religious ideas affect development in all aspect of African life – culture, education, health, sport, music, politics and environment. The contributors to this volume are scholars from both public and private universities in Ghana, who come from different religious persuasions, Islam and Christianity. Their papers are not only situated in their areas of expertise but are also backed by their faith experiences.
The book is organized in three parts. The first part presents African traditional cultures and religions as “partners” to development; in the second, attention is drawn to the role religions can play in moments of crisis; the last part examines the complex relationship between religious identity and development. Exploring questions and issues that affect human life and dignity, the various contributors challenge their readers, especially politicians, economists, policymakers, social analysts as well as religious leaders to take seriously religious resources – religious ideas, religious practices, religious organizations and religious experiences – in the contemporary development debate and praxis.

George Ossom-Batsa has a Licentiate in Biblical Sciences from the Pontifical Biblical Institute, and a PhD in Biblical Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University (Rome). He is a Senior Lecturer in Biblical Studies in the Department for the Study of Religions, University of Ghana (Legon). His areas of research are Pauline Literature, Contextual Biblical Theology and African Biblical Hermeneutics.

Nicoletta Gatti holds a Licentiate in Biblical Sciences from the Pontifical Biblical Institute, and a PhD in Biblical Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University (Rome). After working in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, she is now a Senior Lecturer in Biblical Studies in the Department for the Study of Religions, University of Ghana (Legon). She researches into Prophetic Literature, Pragmatic Approach to Biblical Interpretation and Intercultural Reading of the Bible.

Rabiatu Deinyo Ammah obtained a PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Birmingham (UK). Her research focuses on Women and Gender Issues in Islam and Muslim-Christian Relations. She is a Senior Lecturer in Islamic Studies in the Department for the Study of Religions, University of Ghana (Legon) and a former member of Council of State of the Fourth Republic of Ghana.