spirit and healing in africa - University of the Free State

denotes that God upholds creation in a steady and evolutionary way: creaturely life is blessed
with the potential to grow and develop, and to move towards the ultimate display of God’s image
in creation. Kuyper explicitly mentions the development of medical science as an expression of
progressive general grace (Kuyper 1893:205).
The crucial notion of Kuyper’s doctrine of common or general grace is the central meaning of
creation. The idea of God’s common grace for all of creation implies that one cannot speak of
grace without mentioning creation. The condition of creation after the Fall entails a reenvisioning
of creation’s final destiny (since God’s image in creation had become damaged),
making the efficacies of general grace indispensable if God’s sovereignty is to be retained (over
against man determining the course of creation). The existence of creaturely life is the very fact
upon which the doctrine of common grace is built (Roozenboom 2007:175) 38 .
Spirit and re-creation
The constant and progressive general grace in creation, through the work of the Spirit, is
conceived as the foundation of particular grace. This is the kind of grace that brings creaturely
life to another level, and closer to its destination. Here Kuyper makes a clear distinction between
the work of the Father, the Son and the Spirit, by indicating that “to lead the creature to its
destiny, to cause it to develop according to its nature, to make it perfect, is the proper work of the
Holy Spirit” (Kuyper 1946:34). Since the Father has the power to bring forth the essentials of the
creature’s existence, and the Son has the power to put together and arrange these constituents,
the Spirit is to be perceived as the Perfecter of creation. She is needed in order to establish the
believer’s glorious end.
The Holy Spirit leads creation to its consummation. A central thought in Kuyper’s doctrine of
creation is the progressive line from creation to consummation or completion. Notions like
process, development, history, recreation and restoration, all indicate that God has a plan with
creation, and that He moves creation in a particular direction. The Spirit’s work of particular
grace is about the removal of sin, and the elevation of creation to another level. Kuyper indicates
that “the work of the Holy Spirit that most concerns us is the renewing of the elect after the
image of God” (1946:27, italics original). This elevation or renewal is also called the rebirth of
life. This rebirth means that the believer partakes in Christ’s holiness, because God created new
38. The Dutch theologian Jochem Douma, who wrote a dissertation on the doctrine of common grace in the
theologies of Abraham Kuyper, Klaas Schilder and John Calvin, criticizes Kuyper’s understanding of common grace
on the basis of Kuyper’s too optimistic view on creation. Contrary to Kuyper, Douma emphasizes the limited scope
of common grace (1966:355).
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