spirit and healing in africa - University of the Free State

justice, liberation and the affirmation of life. The personal and equal relationality of the Triune
God is a “metaphor of not what we have but what we do and who we are in the intricate web of
connections with God, self, others, and the planet” (Medley 2002:4, italics added). The
Trinitarian God is a loving God who carries the marks of genuine love: He is focused on the
existence of others with compassion. Characteristics like fecundity and generosity can also be
identified in God’s relational life, and should therefore be understood in the light of God’s love:
the flourishing, overflowing abundance of God is poured out on others, on creaturely life. The
generosity of God implies that God cannot contain life to Himself, but He shares the love He is.
Brueggemann (n.d.; online contribution) places the origin of fecundity in the Trinitarian God,
who shares His fullness of life: “in an orgy of fruitfulness, everything in its kind is to multiply
the overflowing goodness that pours from God’s creator spirit”.
Plantinga (1995:10, italics original) refers to the ecstatic and relational communication of God’s
life as shalom: it is “the webbing together of God, humans, and all creation in justice, fulfillment,
and delight is what the Hebrew prophets call shalom. We call it peace but it means far more than
mere peace of mind or a cease-fire between enemies. In the Bible, shalom means universal
flourishing, wholeness and delight – a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied
and natural gifts fruitfully employed, a state of affairs that inspires joyful wonder as its Creator
and Savior opens doors and welcomes creatures in whom He delights. Shalom, in other words, is
the way things ought to be”. Von Rad’s (1977:402) lexical approach to the Hebrew word shalom
in the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament makes it clear that one has to be cautious in
extracting the meaning of shalom, because shalom had various root meanings that can be applied
in various contexts 44 . Yet Von Rad (1977:402-406) also affirms that shalom denotes primarily a
44. Despite the semantic difficulty of the word shalom it is still possible to articulate some theological ideas in
relation to the biblical shalom. When the word shalom is used in the Scriptures, it conveys a sense of completeness,
of well-being that belongs to the personal, societal as well as the environmental realm. Shalom addresses one’s total
soundness, including physical health and material prosperity (Psalms 38:3). In fact, the Hebrew interpretation of
shalom is that it is the enemy of chaos. And since chaos can emerge in virtually every dimension of life, so should
the scope of shalom be understood as well: it touches every dimension of life. Paul Hanson (1984:347) indicates that
shalom “describes the realm where chaos is not allowed to enter, and where life can be fostered free from the fear of
all which diminishes and destroys”. And if shalom is disrupted and damaged by chaos, there is need for the
restoration of shalom. A second theological interpretation is that shalom is a gift from God (Kremer 1992). Shalom
is therefore always related to the God, who initiated a covenantal relationship with people. That is why shalom
theology is articulated on the basis of the idea that the full biblical narrative is about God’s desire to bring creation
into a shalom, a process that brings human responsibility under God’s reign. Another notion of shalom has to do
with justice. Nicholas Wolterstorff (1983:70) states that shalom necessitates “right harmonious relationships to other
human beings”. Without the presence of just and right relationships touching all forms of life, shalom cannot exist.
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