© 2024 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Journals. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (EHASS) ISSN – Online 2720-7722 | Print 2821-8949 Volume 5 Issue 13 October 2024 pp 2123-2130 Available online at: https://noyam.org/journals/ehass/ DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.20245138 “Sunsum” and “Honhom” in African Socioreligioculture and Spirituality Edward Agboada 1 & Peter Addai Mensah 1 1 Department of Religious Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana. INTRODUCTION The cosmology of African socioreligiocultural and spirituality are defined by complex epistemology and a nomenclature that create not just a context but a framework that forms the foundation for belief, and practice. These epistemologies and nomenclatures which are nonetheless distinctive to the Afri ca’s indigenous socioculture and spirituality are developed out of careful reflections, encounters and experiences with the supernatural and how it is reflected in social structures and systems. A concept that has presented so much debate within the African socioreligioculture and spirituality is the interplay, dichotomy and functionality of sunsum and honhom. Sunsum or honhom not only play a significant role in the quasi-physical or quasi-spiritual components of created elements but also it forms one of two important components in addition to ɔkra (Soul), and honam (body) in Onipa (human). Together, sunsum or honhom form the tripartite or pentachotomistic conception of ‘Onipa.’ While sunsum is defined as a ‘life force’, honhom is defined as a ‘spiritual essence’. The interplay of sunsum and honhom therefore defines the functionality of every element in creation and the nature of their relationship with Onyankopɔn (the Supreme-Being). Significantly, sunsum and honhom are not just linguistic preferences for spirit in specific cultures as translated into English and different from ɔkra (soul) Correspondence Edward Agboada Email: agboadaedwards@gmail.com Publication History Received: 8 th May, 2024 Accepted: 17 th September , 2024 Published online: 7 th October, 2024 ABSTRACT Sunsum and Honhom in the African socioreligioculture and spirituality present a complexity of functionality and purpose that provides distinctive context to the interplay of dimensions that define existence (being). In any case, ‘existence’ or ‘being’ must possess distinctive functionality and a purpose that defines the specificity of their spiritual or physical purposes. The study which examines the meaning, significance and relevance of Sunsum and Honhom within the African socioreligioculture and spirituality attempts to decipher their implications for Christianity, Theology and Biblical scholarship especially in Africa and beyond. It used ethno-anthropology and socio-phenomenology which examined the meaning, significance and relevance of sunsum and honhom not just as a linguistic preference or juxtaposition but as a dimension, or functionality that establishes both an epistemology and a nomenclature that provide the right approach and methods for nurturing or relating with people or elements within the physical and spiritual cosmology. The study contributes to the ongoing discourse on the functionality of Sunsum and Honhom within African socioreligioculture and spirituality and how they affect how human beings or elements within the African Socioreligioculture and Spirituality are perceived or related to/with. Keywords: Sunsum, Honhom, Honam, Spirituality, Africa