spirit and healing in africa - University of the Free State

theological frame. The ideas that will be developed in the chapters 7-10 are rooted in the
following biblical perspectives:
(1) God is the ultimate healer in the Bible. Biblical texts such as Ex. 15:26 (‘I am the Lord who
heals you’) and Deut. 32:39 (‘I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal’)
define the setting in which reflection on health and healing takes place. All thoughts and
concepts are shaped by the fundamental biblical issue that God is the origin of life, health and
healing. Both Testaments express explicitly that the God of the Bible is the God who desires
healing and restoration for his people and for all of creation. Not only texts such as Ex. 15:26
refer to God’s identity as a healer, also in Jesus the Messiah is God’s work of healing revealed
(Matt. 4:23; Luke 4:18-19). The basic thrust is that God is in a loving relationship with his
creation, and the well-being of creation is included in this covenant (Psalm 139:14; Sir. 34:20).
(2) God’s ways of healing are pluriform. The Bible does not speak about the relation between
God and healing in one voice, but rather shows that God accomplishes healing in rich and
diverse ways. God’s initiative to restore and protect his creation is not bound to particular times
or places. Frederick Gaiser’s publication on healing in the Bible (2010) offers a clear view on the
pluriformity of God’s methods of healing. His somewhat eclectical selection of biblical
witnesses (Ex. 15:22-26; Numbers 21:4-9; 1 Sam. 1:1-2:10; 2 Kings 5:1-27; 2 Kings 20:1-11;
Psalm 6; Psalm 38; Psalm 77; Isa. 38:1-22; Isa. 53:4-5; Mark 2:1-12; Mark 5:21-43; Mark 9:14-
29; Luke 17:11-19; John 9:1-4; Acts 3:1-26; Sirach 38:1-15) is brought into dialogue with
modern insights in order to explore the ways in which the Bible amplifies the claims and the
promises of both the Old and the New Testament (Gaiser 2010:4).
Gaiser’s study of these texts also shows the multi-dimensionality of God’s healing. The biblical
stories of healing are not to be seen as witnesses in a vacuum; they are not separated from other
parts of life, but are instead fully related to realities such as culture, community, prayer,
medicine, human wisdom, demons, sin, the cross, the covenant and the Kingdom.
(3) Biblically speaking God’s healing stretches out to believers and to nonbelievers (Gen. 20:17;
Luke 7:7), to individuals and to the community of believers (2 Chron. 30:20), to the whole of
humanity (Jer. 51:8; Rev. 22:2) and to all of creation (2 Chron. 7:14; Isa. 1-7; Rom. 8:21). The
scope of God’s healing power is not to be underestimated, because God encompasses the entire
creation and every dimension of it. Relationships, body and mind, soul and spirit – the Scriptures
testify that anything or anyone broken, can be restored and healed by God. The notion of God’s
power is inherent to God’s healing. Creation is not an autonomous reality but is created by God
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