spirit and healing in africa - University of the Free State

historical condition of this world, and there she displays her power of life that points toward the
restoration and the affirmation of creaturely existence.
The future of creation requires an attitude of affirmation and sanctification of life. Moltmann’s
perspective on life and sanctification is that life is meant to grow and to develop, because
creaturely life is willed by God (1992:171-179). Sanctification is thus about the facilitation of the
growth of life, which means the upholding and the protecting of all dimensions of life threatened
by manipulation, violence and exploitation. Sanctification implies the retrieval of the holiness of
life by respecting life, particularly life that is weak and insignificant. It also implies the
acceptance of the boundaries of life, the rejection of violence pertaining to life, and the quest for
harmony and balance. Sanctification hinges on the themes of creation and re-creation: any form
of life is holy, because it is created by God and is desired by God for his coming inhabitation
(1992:178).
The emphasis on the work of the Spirit has its climax in the event of the cross, which is fully
Trinitarian in Moltmann’s theology (1992:58-77). The occasion is when the Son’s utter isolation
and the Father’s mourning are translated into a history of surrender and love through the work of
the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is present in the cross, and can be identified with the suffering of the
Son, even though her suffering is not the same as the Son’s suffering. The Spirit accompanied
Christ on his way to the cross, and that is why the Spirit is the Spirit of the crucified One. In the
cross event, the Spirit becomes the love between the Father and the Son — the love that
generates life, and brings it closer to its purpose. In other words, in Moltmann’s approach
pneumatology is the link between Christology and eschatology.
Because the Spirit of life is the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit is associated with the current condition
of creation. The presence of the Spirit in creation is because of God’s deep love for created life,
and the experience of the Spirit’s presence will enable people to look forward and to hope: “the
experience of the Spirit is the reason for the eschatological longing for complete salvation, the
redemption of the body and the new creation of all things” (Moltmann 1992:73). The work of the
Spirit in creation fills people with hope and expectation, while they resist destructive powers in
life.
In summary, Moltmann’s pneumatology reveals a high appreciation of creation and the
ecological environment. Creation is destined to become God’s dwelling place. The
eschatological hope defines the condition of creation: any form of creaturely life is to be
affirmed as holy in the light of God’s love and grace and redemptive work in the cross and
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