spirit and healing in africa - University of the Free State

look forward. The direction is the future, and the process toward true health is rooted in God’s
eternal love that transfigures the body (1992:95).
Moltmann’s concern for the earth gave rise to his call for the reverence of the life of all the
living, and led to the obvious inclusion of the human body in the liberation by the Spirit of the
resurrection. The liberation of the body is about reaching true health, that is: mustering the
strength to be human. In his Gifford lectures (1984/1985), Moltmann emphasized that health is
not so much a condition of the body, but rather an attitude that reveals one’s humanity. True
health, or vitality, is the power of the soul to deal with the difficulties and afflictions in life; it is
the strength to live, to suffer, and even to die (see also Veenhof 2005:272). Consequently, it is
attainable for anybody (regardless of age, presence of disease, or other kinds of disabilities) to
possess health, because true health is grounded in vitality, in the affirmation of life, in the will to
live in the light of hope.
Evaluation of Moltmann’s approach to healing
On the basis of his perception of healing as a charisma of the Spirit and as transfiguration
through faith in Christ in light of the dawning kingdom, Moltmann’s approach to healing can be
characterized as rather broad when it is considered that up to this point the theme of healing had
hardly been addressed in Reformed theology.
An initial point of interest in Moltmann’s approach is his view on healing as a charisma. It has
become clear that Moltmann characterizes healing as a charisma or a gift of the Spirit. This
charisma is determined by one’s being, because the way one is and comes before God is the
equivalent of one’s gift to be used and lived out in the perspective of the coming Kingdom.
One’s calling thus embraces one’s being, and the physical and social existence of the believer is
brought under the reign of God. There seems, however, to be an inconsistency in Moltmann’s
pneumatological approach to healing as a charisma: when Moltmann moves from explaining
charismata or the charismatic experiences in life to healing experiences, he seems to shift from
charisma as being to charisma as experiencing, and from charisma as something that needs to be
lived out to charisma as something that can only be received. Charismata are defined by
Moltmann as the way a human being is, but when it comes to healing Moltmann seems to
suggest that the human being is a passive recipient rather than an active participant. This
becomes particularly clear when he states: “in every grave illness ‘we fight for our lives’. In
every healing we feel that ‘we have been restored to life’” (Moltmann 1992:190). A shift can be
noticed: from ‘fighting’ as an active form, to ‘having been restored’ as a passive expression of
184