Ghanaian musician Knii Lante has questioned why the Christian God is consistently referred to in masculine terms in the Bible, rather than being described as both male and female.

Speaking in an interview with Kwame Dadzie and Doreen Avio on Daybreak Hitz, the reggae and soul artiste compared the Christian depiction of God to that of the Ga people, saying the Ga concept reflects the full nature of humanity more accurately.

“I was reading around and I realised that our concept of God is Ataa Naa Nyungmo. Ataa is ‘father’. Naa is ‘mother’. So our concept of God is either neutral or represents both [gender].

“In the Bible they say ‘and he created’. God is never referred as ‘she’ in the Bible. Why? God is a spirit; God doesn’t have testes, God doesn’t have vagina. God is a spirit so on what basis do we refer to God as a ‘he’? It is just masochism.”

He added that the Ga understanding of God may even be more balanced than that of those who claim to have brought Christianity to Ghana.

According to Knii Lante, Ghanaians should take pride in their cultural heritage, describing it as the “soul” of their being. 

He made the point while speaking on the significance of the Homowo Festival, which is currently being marked in various parts of Accra.

Despite his critique, Knii Lante stressed that he remains a Christian.

Some notable songs by Knii Lante are Baby Take Good Care, House of Pain, You, Baby Be Mine and Beautiful Virgo.

Others are When You Love Someone, What’s the Reason, Baby Take Me Away and Jee Juju.