Entrusted with the Word
The publication of this book makes the history of the Church in Ghana more complete than it has been up to this point. The story about the establishment and growth of a society, whose major task involves the production and distribution of the Bible in the Ghanaian mother tongues, deserves a place in any history of the Church in Ghana. This book fills a historical gap that has existed for so long.
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While histories of the Church in Ghana have, conventionally, been treated according to denominations and, in a few cases, also accounted for the work of para-church organisations, they hardly pay any attention to organisations dedicated to bible work such as the Bible Society of Ghana (BSG).
It is against this background that the significance of Professor Kpobi’s book may be seen. Appropriately titled, “Entrusted with the Word”, the book tells the story of the Bible Society of Ghana in a way that links it with Ghanaian Mission and Church history. It connects the history of the origin and growth of Christianity in Ghana with mission-minded Christian groups and individuals on the different sides of the Atlantic, whose decisions and activities resulted in the successful planting of the Church in the country.
The Bible in Ghana
Organised into five stimulating chapters, the first traces the history of the Bible in Ghana on the topic, ‘The Bible in Ghana’, covering events and developments that took place between the fifteenth and the twentieth centuries. It echoes the speculation by earlier historians that the earliest copy of the Bible in Ghana must have come with the Portuguese explorers in the fifteenth century.
The chapter also tells the story of the earliest attempts to convert Ghanaians to Christianity, which actually brought Ghanaians into contact with the Bible. More relevant developments to note are the efforts in the eighteenth century directed at translations of portions of the Bible into the Mfantse dialect of the Akan language. This anticipated one of the core mandates of the Bible Society of Ghana - translation.
Historical background
The second chapter sets the historical background which enabled the author to place the history of the Bible Society of Ghana in the context of the global history of Bible Societies as they developed in Britain and spread to other parts of the world.
Chapters Three and Four launch the reader into the history of the formation, growth and development of the Bible Society of Ghana. It also analyses how the society sought to fulfil its mandate through well-calculated activities. Chapter Five, the concluding chapter, is dedicated to reflections on ongoing projects, current challenges and the prospects of the society as it positions itself to confront the complex and breath-taking transformations of the contemporary era and beyond.
Pictures of historic personalities and events
The book is generously splashed with pictures of historic personalities and events. These pictures have more than ornamental effect. They help bring the past alive and enable the reader visualise aspects of the story told in words in order to appreciate it better.
Exhibiting the growing and refreshing confidence which characterises most contemporary African Church historians, Rev. Prof. Kpobi is bold to point out, more than once, the role played by Africans in Bible work in Ghana since the 15th Century. He demonstrates a sophistication that does not sacrifice objectivity for ideological romanticism.
In keeping with the demonstrable ecumenical spirit of bible work from its beginnings, he stresses the great sacrifices and generosity of the foreign and international pioneers whose work formed the foundation on which the Bible Society of Ghana was built.
The author actually presents bible work, especially the aspect of translation, in terms of a continuous activity that has been carried on since the 18th Century into the era of the Bible Society of Ghana. That continuous activity has also had the support of local communities. He cites the example of the re-launch of the Asante Twi Bible in Kumasi in 1973, which the Asantehene and his chiefs enthusiastically supported.
However, the author leaves the reader wondering the possible reasons behind the support from the Asantehene and his council. An attempt to establish the reason for their attitude would have been immensely helpful in understanding the place of the Bible in modern Ghanaian society.
In a challenging situation of insufficient sources of data, the author shows admirable patience and skill in making creative use of the limited sources. His sources include important and relevant books such as Ekem’s Early Scriptures of the Gold Coast and Schaaf’s On their way Rejoicing: The History and the Role of the Bible in Africa. In addition to secondary sources and primary sources such as correspondence, reports and minutes of meetings, the author interviewed persons who were players or living witnesses of the events discussed in the book.
He raises the issue of absence of attempts to produce Bible helps such as commentaries and dictionaries in Ghanaian mother tongues; and laments the low commitment to ecumenism by contemporary Ghanaian churches. His other dreams include the production of more special purpose Bibles such as e-Bibles for the youth; Women’s Bible and Children’s Bible – all preferably, in the mother tongues.
But the most fascinating three of his dreams, in my judgment, are the ones about the development of the archives; the establishment of a Bible library, and the building of a Bible Museum for the Bible Society of Ghana. The usefulness of such facilities, if the dream becomes a reality, will certainly be immense.
The leadership of the Bible Society of Ghana can rejoice in the wise decision to assign Professor Kpobi the task of writing the commemorative history. They cannot feel disappointed by a work so brilliantly done: they can only feel proud. The book has come to enrich the general history of Church in Ghana. It is a must read for all who read the Bible as well as those with interest in the history of the Christianity and ecumenism in Ghana.