spirit and healing in africa - University of the Free State

and her status? Does the Bible not describe Jesus performing miracles, even how He raised a
human being from the dead? How then does Reformed theology relate her illness to God’s
message of grace and healing? Where does she, with a virus that will never leave her body, fit
into God’s love? What theological support does Grace Banda receive in order to connect her
clinical status with the call to place her life under the will of God?
2. Research problem
The purpose of introducing Grace Banda into this study is to present the task of Reformed
theology in Southern Africa. On the basis of available academic literature and my personal
interest in Reformed church and theology in Zambia and the surrounding countries, this study is
limited to the field of Reformed theology in Southern Africa. For a period of five years I was
privileged to be attached to a theological seminary in Zambia and to learn about theology and
church life in Africa. As a Dutch minister I learnt that there are as many similarities between
Dutch and Zambian church life as there are differences. One of the main differences, for
example, is the minister’s required pastoral ability to exorcise evil spirits. One of the courses in
the curriculum at the seminary, where students from all over Southern Africa are trained, is
designed to specifically attend to the issue of exorcism in order to address the perceived need
within the many congregations of Reformed and Presbyterian churches in Zambia, Zimbabwe,
Malawi and Mozambique. In addition to the matter of spiritual deliverance, ministers and
congregants of Southern African churches are confronted daily with the implications of
HIV/AIDS and poverty, resulting in the all-pervasive presence of illness, suffering and death.
The success of the many Pentecostal churches, increasing rapidly in the Southern African region,
contributes to the problem of Reformed and Presbyterian believers: what resources does
Protestant theology have in order to address the need for spiritual healing and physical healing?
Are these resources as powerful and effective as the resources of Pentecostal theology? These
questions draw attention to the task of Reformed theology in relation to the believers’ quest for
healing in Southern Africa.
Reformed church and theology in Southern Africa face the challenge of developing and
articulating theological views on health, which address the believers’ quest for healing in a
meaningful way 3 . Perhaps it would be better to state that Reformed church and theology need to
3. This thesis is delimited to the geographical area of Southern Africa, but the challenge posed to Reformed church
and theology also applies to other parts in the world. The problem of healing and theology can be placed in a
broader context. When one focuses on the Dutch theological discourse on healing, for example, one will see that the
theme of healing has been placed on the theological agenda, and that efforts are made to revalue the Western
scientific biomedicine paradigm from the perspective of Christian faith. While acknowledging the positive meaning
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