spirit and healing in africa - University of the Free State

tangible, just as it is in the Scriptures. Speaking in tongues, exorcism, prophecies, miracles and
healings are frequent expressions of the powerful presence of the Spirit, and are explained as the
Spirit being effective for the well-being of the individual and the community. At the risk of
approaching the Spirit as if He is at one’s disposal, the concern to demonstrate the power of
God’s Spirit visibly determines most church-based healing ministries (Anderson 1991:108).
5.3.4 Jesus the great physician
The relation between religion and health in the African context is not only represented by the
concept of the power of the Spirit, but is also embodied in the image of Jesus as the healer or the
great Physician. To many African believers, the image of Jesus as a healer is powerful, and they
feel comfortable with the idea that Jesus is their doctor through the power of the Spirit. Various
publications explore and shed light on the concept of a healing Jesus in the African context (see
Shorter 1985; Fabella & Oduyoye 1988; Kolié 1991; Stinton 2004, 2006; Brinkman 2007).
The popularity of the image of Jesus as a healer seems to have two explanations. First of all,
many believers share the experience that Jesus is directly involved in their daily life. In a context
where people constantly endure diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis (TB), and HIV/AIDS,
Jesus’ healing powers have a particular meaning, so that ‘Jesus the healer’ represents the
conviction that Jesus intervenes in human life in a healing manner. The theological meaning of
Twelftree’s study (1993) is appreciated against this backdrop. Twelftree’s Jesus the Exorcist
offers a scriptural foundation of Jesus’ ministry of exorcism. Despite the tendencies of twentieth
century theology, Twelftree states that the act of exorcism was a very central, yet ordinary,
element in Jesus’ activities. Downplaying the idea of Jesus as an exorcist implies neglecting the
meaning of Jesus the healer in a twofold way: (1) the aspect of direct intervention in the
believer’s life, and (2) the aspect of the (expected) victory of the supernatural battle against the
kingdom of Satan. These two elements are highly particularly well appreciated in relation to
health and healing by African Christians.
The second explanation for the popularity of Jesus as a healer is associated with the holistic
understandings of illness and health, of life and death. Because well-being and healing are part
and parcel of the African worldview, Jesus’ striving towards well-being and healing fits perfectly
well within the African understanding of healing and wholeness, which explains the appreciation
frictions and disbalance in the relationship of God and man. This means that prophecy, the act of declaring words of
God through the power of the Spirit, is incorporated in the ministry of healing, because it aims at spiritual and
physical well-being of the individual and the community.
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