A Theological Model of Healing to Inform an Authentic Healing Ministry (original) (raw)
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In our 21st century South African society influenced by Western medicine, African Religion and Christianity, a multiplicity of meanings of illness, suffering and healing simultaneously co-exist. This multiplicity of meaning can create confusion for Christian persons who become ill, or Christian caregivers (doctor, nurse, minister or lay-person) alike. A clear theology of healing will allow us to respond to illness and suffering with integrity of thought and praxis. In this dissertation, I construct a theology of healing that draws from traditional sources of theology (Scripture, Church Tradition and practice), and also from resources present within Western medicine and African Religion. At the outset I define healing by situating it within a conceptual framework that includes the ecosphere (representing health), anti-life forces (representing illness), suffering (representing an aspect of illness) and healing – the transition between illness and health. Using a phenomenological methodology, and including a detailed review of healing from within the paradigms of Western medicine, African Religion and Christianity, I examine an account of healing from each paradigm so as to describe the essential paradigmatic meanings of healing as follows: 1)Western medicine provides technical proficiency in addressing disease, but through objectivising of illness may leave persons with a sense of personal and interpersonal ‘disconnectedness’ related to the overall healing journey. 2) African Religion emphasises the powerful role of relationships amongst persons (living and dead) to sustain or impair health and healing and create meaning, but may leave persons without recourse and at the mercy of Ancestor spirits. 3) Christian theology, tradition and praxis reveals God’s love for humankind to be the source of healing – manifesting in the gift of life and human freedom through creation, and the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as a response to humankind’s misuse of freedom. Acknowledging the multifaceted dimensions of suffering that are uncovered in the phenomenological analysis, I revise the conceptual framework to situate suffering as a component of the ecosphere, anti-life forces and healing. I identify those aspects of healing from Western Medicine (powerful technology) and African Religion (powerful relationships and inter-connectedness) that complement Christian Theology, Scripture and Church Traditional teaching on healing and draw these together using the revised conceptual framework to delineate a theology of healing for contemporary South Africa. Finally, I briefly illustrate how this theology can be translated into praxis.
An Understanding of Healing in African Christianity: The Interface between Religion and Science
2019
Most of African Christian Churches place a lot of emphasize on healing practices as a response to the teaching of Jesus Christ. This explains why churches or crusades that practice healing in Africa are very popular and command the greatest numbers of adherents. According to these churches, the Lord commanded them to heal, and so they heal. Although some of these churches do not discourage the use of modern medicine, they are convinced that spiritual healing is a higher method than the effort to compete with God and yet there are others that completely discourage the use of modern medicine. Seen from the modern Kenya where science is understood to be the foundation of development and progress and religion as an important stand. This paper assesses African Christian Church believe on the relationship between religion and science. It also explores African Christian Church’s attitude spirituality has had on African Christian Church healing practices.
Verbum et Ecclesia, 2016
There are different streams of healing praxis in Africa today, namely African traditional healing, biomedical healing and spiritual healing (which includes the more recent �touch your TV screen� healing method) among others. These streams offer contemporary African people diverse alternatives with regard to healing. As much as the hegemony of Western biomedicine, as endorsed by missionaries in the past, can no longer serve as a norm in the area of healing, we can also not use the African traditional healing methods and or any other alternative presented to Africa without discernment. This suggests therefore that Reformed mission ecclesiology and missionary practitioners should critically engage the African context, worldview and culture on the matter of healing. It should also engage other forms of spiritual healing methods on offer in the African soil.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The use of an indigenous knowledge system when coming to healing in the Afr...
African Christianity and healing: Implications for pastoral care
In die Skriflig / In Luce Verbi
The rapid rise of Christianity in the developing world, and specifically in Africa, has asked renewed questions about pastoral theology and pastoral care. The African worldview, as a possible explanation for the increase in Christianity, is one of the most cited reasons for this growth. Pentecostalism and the Charismatic movement are referred to as ‘new’ Christianity. The new Christianity is influenced by the practices and characteristics of the African worldview. Wholistic healing derives from the African worldview perspective that reduces the dichotomy between spiritual and science, or spirit and body. This approach to healing, differs from the Western worldview that approaches healing from a biomedical perspective. The disparity in worldviews and subsequent different approaches to healing, are assessed against the backdrop of the implications for pastoral theology and pastoral care.Contribution: The African worldview and ‘new’ Christianity contribute by engaging critically with t...
Finding a place for Jesus as healer in Reformed mission in Africa
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies, 2011
Africa is a continent plagued with many sicknesses and diseases. Self-evidently health and healing would be major concerns and interests of the inhabitants.Reformed mission has formed a strategic alliance with scientifically tested medicine in the past. Africans do not find this alliance sufficient. They, however, need a medical mission that could deal with ‘African sicknesses’. The question is whether we need an alliance with traditional medical practitioners. Because traditional healing is linked to traditional religion, we are confronted with difficult missiological questions.The solution offered in this article concentrates on two dimensions, (1) an openness to and a respect for African culture and religion and (2) a radical rediscovery of Jesus as healer.
African Traditional Healing Practices and the Christian Community
The article draws attention to the continuing popularity of African traditional healing practices, and asks whether African churches and modern medical programs can continue simply to denounce or to ignore such practices. The need for a further appraisal becomes apparent when it is shown that the purposes of these healing practices fulfill certain functions not met by modern medicine. When a comparison shows that the healing practices recorded in the Old and New Testaments often have more in common with African traditional practices than with modern medicine, the question whether the African Christian community should re-evaluate the traditional healing practices becomes unavoidable.
Finding a place for Jesus as healer in Reformed mission in Africa : original research
Hts Teologiese Studies-theological Studies, 2011
Africa is a continent plagued with many sicknesses and diseases. Self-evidently health and healing would be major concerns and interests of the inhabitants. Reformed mission has formed a strategic alliance with scientifically tested medicine in the past. Africans do not find this alliance sufficient. They, however, need a medical mission that could deal with 'African sicknesses'. The question is whether we need an alliance with traditional medical practitioners. Because traditional healing is linked to traditional religion, we are confronted with difficult missiological questions. The solution offered in this article concentrates on two dimensions, (1) an openness to and a respect for African culture and religion and (2) a radical rediscovery of Jesus as healer.
2019
Sickness is a problem that has not escaped any society and thus is on the agenda of every culture. Since time immemorial cultures have searched for answers to the questions raised by the phenomenon of sickness but none have provided solutions, as it has become clear that sickness is part of our human existence. Many people have resorted to religion in search consolation in times of affliction and the Roman Catholic Church is not immune to this expectation, as we see many leaving the church in search of healing in the African Traditional Religions and other Christian churches because they feel that the church is inadequately dealing with the problem. In this study the author undertakes a research journey within the Diocese of Witbank of the RCC to investigate as to why the church's healing ministry is not effective. Through engagement with participants in the research field and relevant literature the author discovered that the RCC is seen to be suspicious of the African worldview and consequently does not take its members' fears and frustrations around the phenomenon of sickness serious as it judges them to be superstitious. This suggests that there is nothing that Western Christianity can learn from African cultures maintaining its superior attitude and further alienating indigenous communities. The author suggests that in order for the RCC to responds with relevance to this problem it needs to reconcile the Christian worldview, which is western, with the African worldview. He puts high on the agenda of Christian theology the urgent call to African theologians to develop an African theology that will give birth to a genuine African Christianity. In conclusion as a solution the author proposes an integrated and intercultural healing ministry for the Diocese of Witbank. This model is aimed at appropriating African values, idioms and language in the RCC to create an atmosphere where the church is seen as a welcome guest who comes bearing gifts but at the same time expects to be taken care of by its host.