Clearing a Path through Jesus of the Deep Forest: Intercultural Perspectives on Christian Praise and Public Witness in Afua Kuma’s Akan Oral Epic

First, an ideal is articulated, that African “mother-tongue” theologies would be good not only for Africa, intraculturally, but also for theologies of the global North, interculturally. Second, a hermeneutical problem is identified, that of reading (translated) theological texts from the African vernaculars out of context, without regard for African traditional religion as the matrix from which they emerge. Third, a (partial) solution is adumbrated, taking as a case study an oral epic potentially challenging to theologies of the global North. As the article unfolds, assumptions about the key concepts—“Christian,” “praise,” “public,” and “witness”—and what these might look like from an African perspective are implicitly interrogated.