spirit and healing in africa - University of the Free State

espond properly to God by himself, it is plausible to interpret the human desire to be healthy as
involvement of the Spirit. Barth’s perception of healing is holistic: he addresses the physicality
and spirituality of health, as well as its social dimension.
6.2.4 Arnold van Ruler
Arnold van Ruler (1908-1970) is a Reformed theologian who has been praised for his eccentric
pneumatology. His theological contributions did not only influence Dutch church and theology,
they also eventually gained an international character (Van Keulen 2009:7). His approach of
radicalizing sixteenth century Reformed motifs in order to make them relevant to twentieth
century church and theology resulted in Van Ruler’s theology still being significant up to this
very day (cf. Lombard 2009:24, who refers to Van Ruler’s relevance in various contexts like
South Africa, the USA, Japan and Australia). Van Ruler’s relatively independent
pneumatological approach is a clear and distinct voice in Reformed pneumatology, even though
it should be mentioned that Van Ruler’s theological contributions do not form a comprehensive
or systematically developed approach; he mainly offers suggestions and intriguing theological
ideas (Van de Beek 2009:21; Van den Brom 2009:37).
Spirit and creation
Van Ruler can be characterized as a ‘theologian of the good creation’ (Van de Beek 2009:14),
because the basic thrust of this theology is that the Trinitarian God is deeply committed to his
creation, and that all of God’s dynamic involvement is focused on the restoration of creation. In
Van Ruler’s theology, everything is arranged around creation: this world is the center of God’s
salvific activities, and in the end creation will be more beautiful than it was before. The purpose
of creation is to fully come under God’s reign (theocracy). Van Ruler’s ideas about creation are
closely linked to his vision of God’s kingdom. The kingdom is to be understood as God’s
ultimate and salvific involvement with this world, that aims at saving this world from sin and
death (Van Ruler 1947:40). This kingdom cannot be separated from creation, from this
existence, because it signifies God’s dream of the world, coloring all of current life with God’s
plan for creation (Van den Brom 2009:37, with reference to Van Ruler 1953:20f). In other
words, God’s kingdom is God’s dynamic involvement in this world, meaning that the eschaton
sheds it beams on this reality in such a way that creation has to be perceived as good creation:
this world is reconciled, this creation is a reality of salvation. This perspective allows Van Ruler
to speak of the deep joy that defines our creaturely existence (2009 [1966]:439-443). Van
Ruler’s theocratic perspective implies that creation is not an independent, separate entity, but
belongs to God’s reign; this world receives its full meaning in the light of the kingdom, and thus
cannot be separated from it. This also means that Van Ruler’s doctrine of creation does not allow
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