spirit and healing in africa - University of the Free State

the power of sin by the forgiveness of sins. Sin is to be understood as every action, behavior,
posture, and exercise of influence that destroys the foundations of life-promoting behavior,
including the possibilities of repentance (Welker 1994:316). The forgiveness of sins is the only
proper response to the power of sin, because it discontinues the advancement of the influence of
sin. Thus, the work of the Spirit not only creates a ‘new beginning’, but also produces new
structural patterns of life with notions of reintegration, re-stabilization, harmony, restoration and
rebirth (Welker 1994:318). This rebirth is a transformation of human life, where the Spirit claims
the ‘old life’ in all its dimensions (its successful and unsuccessful aspects), and uses it for the
purpose of union with God, justice and peace (Welker 1994:331-341). God is the initiator of the
restoration of life, and places this transformed life in the force field of the Spirit.
The Spirit does not disregard or remove the physicality of life, but rather aims at its renewal and
transformation (Ezekiel 36:26-28). It is the materiality of life that characterizes creaturely life,
and the Spirit does not want to circumvent this fleshliness: “in order to effect life, the action of
the Spirit needs that which is fleshy” (Welker 1994:167). This means that the Spirit of God
enlists us the way we are, including every aspect of our physicality, and starts preparing us for
change so that there is correspondence between our being human and the work of the Spirit
(Welker 1994:320). The physical, vulnerable existence is placed in the life affirming service of
the Spirit through its renewal by the Spirit. The charismata of the Spirit also belong to the force
field of the Spirit, and they serve to share in the knowledge of God that is mediated by the Spirit
(Welker 1994:241).
In summary, Welker’s pneumatology does not start explicitly from within a Trinitarian frame,
but focuses on the diverse testimonies of the experiences of God’s Spirit. Welker does not offer a
systematic metaphysical treatment of the person of the Spirit, because he views theological
articulations about God’s nature as speculative and unrealistic. The key words of Welker’s
pneumatology are postmodern, realistic, plurality and diversity. God’s Spirit moves in creation
as a field of force that generates a domain of resonance in which people are liberated and
transformed to new empowerment and renewal.
6.2.7 Jan Veenhof
Jan Veenhof (1934) is a Dutch Reformed theologian who is considered internationally an
authority in the field of Reformed systematic theology and pneumatology (Roozenboom
2007:126). The publication Vrij Gereformeerd (2005), a collection of his articles and lectures,
testifies to this. Veenhof also revealed his appreciation for the charismatic renewal movement,
which challenges traditional Reformed approaches to the work of the Holy Spirit and the
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