spirit and healing in africa - University of the Free State

CHAPTER 8. THE SPIRIT AND TRANSFORMATION
This chapter forms a part of the exploration into the possibilities of expressing the link between
God and health. As in the previous chapter, it is assumed that such possibilities can be found in a
discussion between the African health discourse and the Reformed pneumatological discourse.
As it turns out, the theme of transformation can be regarded as one of the avenues to articulate a
link between God and health: it is argued here that the notion of transformation is recognized as
essential in both the missionary medicine discourse (African health discourse) and in Reformed
thought. This chapter addresses the complexity of the concept of transformation in relation to
healing in Reformed pneumatological discourse.
The conversation between the two discourses, therefore, focuses on a different interface
compared to the previous chapter. This means that there is not necessarily a logical development
of ideas from Chapter 7. The exploration of the notion of transformation is to be regarded as
examining another theme that is born out of the encounter between the discourse of African
health conceptualizations and the discourse on Reformed theology.
8.1 TRANSFORMATION AND THEOLOGICAL DISCOURSE
On the basis of the description of the missionary medicine discourse (Chapter 3), it became clear
that the notion of transformation constitutes a crucial component of this health discourse.
Missionary medicine, the label of the matrix of medical missions’ theories, motives, basic
features, developments and practices, is permeated with the concept of transformation. In
essence, every aspect of missionary medicine refers to the strong desire of medical missionaries
to establish a profound change in the lives of those to whom they have reached out. The general
aim of medical missions was to generate changes for the physical, social and spiritual
improvement of African people. One could say that the medical missionaries’ focus on
transformation was located at the intersection of materiality (body) and spirituality (soul), and
that the notion of healing referred to the intended transformation of the individual. An example
of this focus on transformation at the intersection of physicality and spirituality is found in the
missionaries’ understanding that the transformation of the soul, through the saving union with
Christ, transpired in the human body. Another example is the missionaries’ emphasis on bodily
hygiene as an indication of spiritual growth in holiness. In Chapter 3 it was concluded that
healing and transformation were inextricably connected in the discourse of missionary medicine.
221