The Doctrine of the Trinity among Presbyterians in Akuapem

Abstract

The Christian faith has several important doctrines. One of such doctrines is the doctrine of the Trinity. According to Trinitarian theologians, the doctrine is built on three biblical trusts: There is God, God exists in three persons and each of those persons is fully God. However, several criticisms have been raised concerning the theological appreciation of the doctrine of the Trinity. Major among these include Modalism (persons are the ways God expresses Himself), Arianism (the Son is a creature and not divine) and Tritheism (there are three distinct gods). These criticisms have led to the distortions of the theological affirmation of the doctrine. Therefore, for some Christians, the Trinity is a concept that confuses the understanding of the nature of God. This is explained by the fact that the doctrine remains one of the controversies in Christian theology to explain. Misconceptions about the Trinitarian nature of God therefore exist and have degenerated into a belief in God either as three distinct divine beings or as one God revealed in different ways at different times. Christians understanding of the doctrine of Trinity and the relationship among the persons of the Trinity needs further empirical exploration. Though most empirical studies done regarding the Trinitarian nature of God are westernized, in Africa, particularly Ghana, limited literature seem to exist on the Presbyterian's conception of the doctrine. This study contributes to discussion and knowledge regarding Trinitarian theology and the contemporary questions and issues associated with it from the context of the Akropong- Akuapem Presbyterians’ of Ghana. Methodologically, this study employed a qualitative research method using in-depth interviews to explore the conception of the doctrine of the Trinity. The phenomenological research design was employed since it is the most ideal in exploring meanings people attach to human phenomena such as their conception of the Trinity of God. The samples for data collection include the clergy and lay of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana in Akropong-Akuapem since it is one of the first and premier congregations of the Presbytery in Ghana. A sampling of the unit of analysis was done using purposive sampling. Inductive thematic analysis will be performed on the interview data where coding and theme development are directed by the content of the data. Conceptually, the argument of this study was grounded in Perichoresis and Trinitarian theology which was identified mainly through contextualization. To deeply explore the issues, relevant theological literature, prominent scholarly work as well as relevant biblical texts from both the Old and New Testament were used.