spirit and healing in africa - University of the Free State

worldwide Reformed family, there will always be different positions regarding Scripture,
confessions, traditions and spirituality.
The awareness that controversies and changes within the Reformed story create many stories,
implies a modest approach when trying to identify a Reformed frame of reference. The same
evidently goes for intimating a matrix of Reformed pneumatology. The term ‘matrix’ suggests
some kind of general or overall perspective representing the Reformed perspective on the Holy
Spirit, but it should be emphasized that there is no such thing as ‘the’ Reformed pneumatological
perspective, and that the term ‘matrix’ refers to a rather dynamic collection of various strands of
Reformed approaches to the work of the Holy Spirit. It is about gathering these conflicting and
corresponding strands in the assumption that some particular marks can be identified as
Reformed representations of pneumatology.
Smit’s reference to the Reformed complex tale of multiple stories transpires in the methodology
of this chapter: the exploration of the contours of Reformed pneumatology is defined by the fact
that there are many Reformed pneumatologies, and that they all represent a Reformed profile. In
the following section (6.2) some prominent Reformed peumatologies will be presented. They
differ in scope and content, but what they do have in common is that they have been developed
by Reformed theologians who had an impact on Reformed theology, including Reformed
theological discourse in Africa. Besides the gathering of different strands of systematic
approaches to the work of the Holy Spirit, it is also important to pay attention to the role of the
Holy Spirit in the Reformed confessions. Reformed confessionalism, as a trajectory of Reformed
theology, has had a great impact in Southern Africa. The confessional perspective on the Holy
Spirit should thus be taken into consideration in the search for a Reformed pneumatological
profile. After the overview of various Reformed pneumatologies, I will address the question of
which role is appropriated to the Holy Spirit in the Heidelberg Catechism.
It is my understanding that the gathering of these different stories and strands regarding the work
of the Holy Spirit cannot lead to a complete and basic Reformed pneumatological matrix, but
that it will generate sensitivity to the richness and potential of Reformed pneumatological
thought: while offering a kaleidoscopic view on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, some contours of
a Reformed matrix might emerge, possibly also presenting productive avenues for speaking
about God and healing in the African context. It is within this pattern of cohesion and
controversy that I want to search for particular motifs that appear regularly in Reformed
pneumatological thought, in order to find new ways of speaking about Spirit and healing from a
Reformed perspective.
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