About Me:

First, as a church pastor and an academic, I see the two professions as separate but complementary divine calls to serve humanity. This view makes me take a rather multidisciplinary approach to research and teaching. While I am foremost, a theologian and a scholar of religion, I am comfortable collaborating with scholars from literary studies, anthropology, sociology, political science, legal studies, psychology, and business studies. I believe interdisciplinarity is the present and the future of the academy.

Second, being conscious of the current trends in teaching in higher education, I take a holistic approach to teaching and learning, where intended learning outcomes, teaching and assessment are aligned. This approach means my students are always a central part in formulating their own learning outcomes, which helps to stimulate critical thinking and independence.

Qualifications:

• PhD, University of Bayreuth, Bavaria, Germany

Professional Memberships and Activities:

• Society for the Study of Theology (SST)
• Society for Pentecostal Studies (SPS)
• American Academy of Religion (AAR)
• Deutsche Gesellschaft für Missionswissenschaft (German Society for Mission Studies)
• Society for the Scientific Study of Religions (SSSR)
• Canadian School of Peacebuilding Network (CSOPN)
• Commission on Legal Pluralism (CLP)

Expertise:

• African Pentecostal-Charismatic Christianity
• Public Theology
• Mission Christianity in Ghana
• African Traditional Religions
• Research Methodology
• Curriculum Development

Research Interests:

• Media and Material Culture of African Pentecostal-Charismatism
• Use of the Bible in African Christianities
• The Encounters of Other Religious Traditions with Pentecostal-Charismatics
• Culture and Pentecostal-Charismatic Christianity
• Religion and Development
• African Pentecostal Hermeneutics

Field Research Experiences: 2010 (Three Northern Regions, Ghana), 2013-2016 (Greater Accra, Ghana), 2015 (Frankfurt, Germany), 2016 (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia), 2017 & 2018 (Amsterdam, Netherlands), 2019 (Hannover, Germany).

Selected Conferences

Nov. 2020       Surprising Bedfellows: Religious Education and Plurality in Ghanaian Schools. A Paper Presentation at the African Religions Group, American Academy of Religion Virtual Conference.

Sep. 2019        “Exploring Religion in the Public Spheres: Religious Education in Public Schools in Ghana.” 33^rd Biannual Conference of the German Association for the Study of Religion (DVRW). Panel Session: The Concept of Religion and its Consequences for the Study of Religion in and from Africa. Leibniz Universität Hannover, Hannover, Germany.

Nov. 2018        “Religion or Mere Noise? The Contestations over Sacred Sound and Urban Space in Accra, Ghana.” Annual Meetings of the American Academy of Religion – African Religions Group in Denver, Colorado, USA.

Nov. 2017       “Is Ghana governed by the law of the jungle? Religious liberties, religious diversity and the state. “ African Studies Association 60th Annual Meeting in the ‘Belief in colonial Ghana: Changes and continuity‘ Panel, Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Sep. 2016        “The Gospel(s) of Prosperity and its Concept of Development.” International Conference on Religious Engineering: Alternative Practices in the Context of Global Development at the University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany.

May 2016       “Drum Wars: The Clash of Religious Groups in a Cosmopolitan City.” International Conference on Religion, Peace and Conflict in Africa sponsored by Volkswagen Stiftung at the Addis Abeba University, Addis Abeba, Ethiopia.

Aug. 2015       “Loyalty and Disloyalty’: Building a church through membership drive.” XXI World Congress of the International Association for the History of Religions (IAHR) – Members only: Creating commitment in the context of religiously diverse societies in Africa Panel at the University of Erfurt, Erfurt, Germany. http://www.iahr2015.org/iahr/3188.html.

Dec. 2014       “‘From Egypt to Ahenfie’: Sacralisation of space in a Ghanaian Charismatic church.” International Conference on Religion and Space: Perspectives from African Experiences at the University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany.

Nov. 2014       “’Bodily Language and Metaphors in Pentecostalism’: A study of Charismatic Preaching in Ghana.” American Academy of Religion (AAR) Annual Meetings – Body and Religion Group and Religion, Affect, and Emotion Group in San Diego, California, USA. https://papers.aarweb.org/AAR-Sessions-Sun.pdf.

Nov. 2014       “The Politics of Silence: Conflict Over the Ban on Drumming and Noisemaking in Accra.” One-Day Workshop, Department of Extra-European Christianity (Faculty of Theology), University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.

Jun. 2014       “The impact of the ‘Economic Gospel’: The case of Mensa Otabil’s International Central Gospel Church.” Conference of the African Studies Association in Germany (VAD) – Future Africa Congress – in the Gospel of Prosperity and Social Change in Africa Panel at the University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany. http://vad-ev.de/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Programme-VAD-Bayreuth-2014.pdf.

Jan. 2014        “Metaphors of the body’: Building a community through preaching.” Society for the Study of Theology Postgraduate Conference – Bodies: Bridges and Boundaries Panel at the University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.

Selected Publications:

Monograph

• Arthur, J. A. (2018). The Politics of Religious Sound: Conflict and the Negotiation of Religious Diversity in Ghana. Berlin: LIT Verlag. See The Politics of Religious Sound | Beiträge zur Afrikaforschung | Reihen | Publikationen | LIT Verlag (lit-verlag.de)

Edited Volume

• Debele, S. B., & Arthur, J. A. (2016). Religion and Space: Perspectives from African Experiences(Vol. Bayreuth African Studies Working Papers 15). Bayreuth: Institute of African Studies, University of Bayreuth. Retrieve from Religion and Space : Perspectives from African Experiences – ERef Bayreuth (uni-bayreuth.de).

Peer Reviewed Journal Articles

• Arthur, J.A. (2020). “The Gospel of Prosperity and its Concept of Development: A Ghanaian Pentecostal-Charismatic Experience.” Religion 51 (1): 90-104. Retrieve from The gospel of prosperity and its concept of development: A Ghanaian Pentecostal-Charismatic experience: Religion: Vol 51, No 1 (tandfonline.com)
• Arthur, J.A. (2018). “Bodies as bridges: Metaphors and Charismatic Preaching in Ghana.” Ghana Journal of Religion and Theology, 7(2), 31-47. Retrieve from BODIES AS BRIDGES: METAPHORS AND CHARISMATIC PREACHING IN GHANA | Ghana Journal of Religion and Theology (ug.edu.gh).
• Arthur, J. A. (2017). The Drum Wars: The Clash of Religious Groups in a    Cosmopolitan City. Journal for the Study of the Religions of Africa and its Diaspora, 3(1), 21-35. Retrieve from e-Journal – The African Association for the Study of Religions (a-asr.org).
• Arthur, J.A. (2017). “Prosperity Theology(ies): The Case of Mensa Otabil and the ICGC”. In Interkulturelle Theologie43 (4), 401-419. Retrieve from Description: Prosperity theology(ies) (ixtheo.de).

Book Chapters

• Arthur, J.A. “Exploring Issues of Wealth and Poverty in the Gospels: A Ghanaian Pentecostal/Charismatic Reading of Luke 16,” in Wonsuk Ma, Opoku Onyinah, and Rebekah Bled, eds., Good News to the Poor: Spirit-Empowered Responses to Poverty(Tulsa, OK: ORU Press, forthcoming 2021).
• Arthur, J.A. “Visions of Church Life in the Post COVID-19 Era: Analysis and Proposal,” in Opoku Onyinah & Alfred Koduah, eds., Christian Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic (forthcoming 2021).
• Arthur, J. A. (2016). “From ‘Egypt’ to ‘Ahenfie’: The Sacralisation of Space in a Ghanaian Charismatic Church. In S. B. Debele, & J. A. Arthur, Religion and Space: Perspectives from African Experiences(Vol. Bayreuth African Studies Working Papers 15, pp. 117-130). Bayreuth: Institute of African Studies, University of Bayreuth. Retrieve from Religion and Space : Perspectives from African Experiences – EPub Bayreuth (uni-bayreuth.de).
• Debele, S. B., & Arthur, J. A. (2016). Introduction. In S. B. Debele, & J. A. Arthur, Religion and Space: Perspectives from African Experiences(Vol. Bayreuth African Studies Working Papers 15, pp. 1-4). Bayreuth: Institute of African Studies, University of Bayreuth. Retrieve from Religion and Space : Perspectives from African Experiences – EPub Bayreuth (uni-bayreuth.de).