spirit and healing in africa - University of the Free State

Besides the argument that Jesus himself instigated a healing ministry, adherents of church-based
healing have an arsenal of biblical texts available for confirming their motivation for a healing
ministry. Certain Old Testament texts as well as one from the New Testament are often cited
when the relationship of the faith community and the search for health needs to be clarified or
confirmed. For example, Psalm 91 is a key text pertaining exorcism and spiritual protection.
Jenkins (2006:107f) describes how meaningful Psalm 91 is to Christians in Asia and Africa,
indicating that there is barely any difference in appreciation of the Psalm among believers of
different denominations. As in Jesus’ days, the Psalm is understood within the framework of
demonology and exorcism. Continuously battling evil and demons, the believer receives faith
and strength from Psalm 91, trusting that the words of the Psalm offer protection against any
kind of mishap. Based on Psalm 91, the believer is convinced that in the end he or she will be
victorious.
A different but equally essential bible text within the church-based healing discourse is the letter
of James. The frame of spiritual warfare is absent, and the ministry of healing is closely linked
with the community of believers. The emphasis is on the prayer of the surrounding community,
and on the use of oil. The commission of using anointing oil has been received well within many
churches in sub-Saharan Africa. Some churches (like the Aladura churches in West Africa)
turned the anointing oil into a commodity for trade, resulting in situations where olive oil “is
now commercially advertised more for its religious than its culinary purposes” (Asamoah-Gyadu
2005:237, italics in original). But the use of anointing oil also began in denominations other than
the AICs and the PCCs. The fact that the use of anointing oil is encouraged biblically,
contributed to the oil anointment being one of the few healing rituals that are widespread across
the entire African continent.
addressing the divergence in epistemological views on deliverance ministry within the Reformed tradition in Africa.
In response to the denial of the existence of the devil (in a report of the Algemene Taakspan vir Leer en Aktuele
Sake during the General Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church in 2007), Van Rensburg proposes a methodology for
qualitative research in order to explore further the meaning of a ministry of deliverance. The ongoing debate shows
that the complex matter of exorcism clearly poses a challenge to Reformed church and theology in Africa. On the
one hand, the Reformed tradition does have biblical and theological resources for developing exorcism practices
(see e.g. Van den Bosch 2010:59-69) and the socio-cultural environment seems to be in need of such practices, but
on the other hand the influence of the Enlightenment en modern worldview makes it difficult to come to terms with
the realities of evil forces, malevolent spirits and the devil.
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