By Julius K. Satsi, GNA
Accra, May 15, GNA - Reverend Professor J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, a Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences has urged Ghanaians to be more patriotic as Dr Ephraim Amu portrayed by in his works.
Professor Asamoah-Gyadu said Dr Ephraim Amu revealed through his works, his nationalistic and patriotic crave, leading him to propagate Christianity with a strong touch of African culture.
He was speaking at the 14th Ephraim Amu Memorial Lecture, on Thursday in Accra.
Themed, “O’er Heathen Lands Afar: Missionary Hymnody, Ephraim Amu’s Musings and Christianity as a Non-Western Endeavour,” the event was sponsored by the International Central Gospel Church, the Methodist Church, Ghana – Accra Dioceses, Ken and Angela Ofori-Atta, and the Trinity Theological Seminary.
Rev Prof Asamoah-Gyadu said most of Dr Amu also known as Owura Amu’s musical compositions underscored his strong Christian faith, one of which was revealed through his composed hymns: “Odomankoma”.
Prof Asamoah-Gyadu said Ephraim Amu invited all citizens and the African Nationals to be patriotic in their endeavours, saying “to be patriotic is to love your nation and do so selflessly, but most of the time people do things selfishly”.
He said he was surprised at the number of people who threw parties when appointed into public office in various capacities saying, “It tells you that the motives for serving the nation is not nationalistic”
The Rev Prof said Ephraim Amu encouraged Ghanaians to be more patriotic, nationalistic, and do something with their God-given gifts.
In praising the late Owura Amu, Rev Prof Asamoah-Gyadu said, “We acknowledge him in his ground-breaking work in African ethnomusicology and especially for blazing the trail in making that field worthy of academic investigation and study.”
He noted that Christianity was going through a reversal mode in terms of evangelism, indicating that most evangelists now moved from the African countries to preach to Europeans, who initially introduced the faith to Africans.
The Fellow of the Academy noted, “In both Western and Eastern Europe today, the largest Christian congregations are all founded and led by Africans, adding, “the rise of African immigrant Churches in Europe and North America means perhaps that the old hymns that saw Africa as a heathen land afar, may be acquiring new meanings and context of relevance”.
The lecture, which was characterised by music of the legend Ephraim Amu, saw in attendance fellows of the Academy, some men of God and members of the public.
The Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences is the nation’s premier society of the learned with the mission to encourage the creation, acquisition, dissemination and utilisation of knowledge for national development through the promotion of learning.
GNA
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