John Wesley’s Economic Ethics and Poverty Alleviation in Ghana

Abstract

Although no country is completely unaffected by poverty, this socio-economic canker tends to affect developing countries more than developed countries. The global impact of poverty was so serious that the United Nations Millennium Summit, held in September 2000, came out with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which had the reduction of extreme poverty by half by the year 2015 as its first goal. Africa was a prime focus of poverty reduction because of the serious effect of this economic challenge on the continent. Ghana (the context of this study) is a developing country in Africa, experiencing a high level of poverty despite its abundant natural resources. Different governments and religious organizations have made various attempts in combating poverty in Ghana, yet the nation is still faced with poverty. The key theological responses to poverty in Ghana are found between the two extremes of considering poverty as a requirement for salvation and considering material wealth as something to be experienced by every believer. This literature research explores how a contextual application of John Wesley’s economic ethics - “Gain all you can, save all you can and give all you can” - may function to fight against poverty in Ghana. By engaging the three key aspects of Wesley’s economic ethics within the Ghanaian socio-economic setting, the study found that poverty alleviation in Ghana requires not only cultural, social, and political transformation but also a shift from wealth accumulation to wealth distribution. Wealth distribution, in this context, means sharing excess wealth with the needy so that each individual is able to meet basic life needs.