Abstract

Exorcism in particular and deliverance in general are known phenomena in many cultures especially in Africa. Exorcism is the attempt to control and cast out or expel evil spirits or demons from a habitat, person, place or item. Deliverance, which is wider in scope than exorcism, is a process of being saved or set free. This is the process of liberating, rescuing or setting free a person, a place, an object from demonic or negative force domination. Because of The African Christian experience in general and the Akan worldview in particular which shall be discussed later in this work, the concept of exorcism becomes relevant as part of an understanding of deliverance within the neo-prophetic churches, hence the attention given to it in this work. This thesis is a study of the practice of deliverance in the church, an examination of The African Christian experience and understanding deliverance in people’s real-life situation, and to make a case for The African Christian claim for the need for and the efficacy of deliverance with reference to the neo-prophetic churches in Ghana. The researcher adopted a phenomenological and a historical approach in data collection and analysis. Data were collected from both leaders and patrons of selected neo-prophetic churches in Ghana. This work concludes among others that the neo-prophetic ministries affirm strongly the importance of the ministry of deliverance in the whole ministry of the Christian church.