Abstract

VAN ECK, Ernest  and  SAKITEY, Daniel. ἐλθέτωἡβασιλείασου: Interpreting the Lord's Prayer (Mt 6:10a) in the light of Ewe-Ghanaian eschatological vision. Herv. teol. stud. [online]. 2019, vol.75, n.3, pp.1-7. ISSN 2072-8050.  http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/hts.v75i3.5207.

This article examines the phrase ἐλθέτωἡβασιλείασου in Matthew and Luke's versions of the Lord's Prayer in the light of Ewe-Ghanaian eschatological vision. Theoretically, it uses a combination of the historical-critical and indigenous Mother Tongue Biblical Hermeneutical approaches to explore the implication of βασιλεία for the Ewe-Ghanaian Christian. The article discusses the diversity in the interpretations of the text from the early church to the modern and postmodern periods in Christian history and argues that this diversity has occurred as a result of the fluidity of the eschatological visions in the Judeo-Christian Scriptures and that the linear eschatological vision described by the church is inconsistent with the cyclical vision in Ewe cosmology. This dual eschatological vision creates a dilemma in the Ewe-Ghanaian Christian's understanding of the eternal states. Finally, it is argued that to resolve this eschatological dilemma is to clearly define the place of Ewe eschatological vision in Christian eschatology and interpreting the former as replica of the latter.

Keywords : The Lord's Prayer; Libation prayer; The kingdom of God; The kingdom of heaven; Christian eschatology; Ewe eschatology; Ewe cosmology.

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