10.07.2015 Views

An investigation into the phenomena and practices of spiritual ...

An investigation into the phenomena and practices of spiritual ...

An investigation into the phenomena and practices of spiritual ...

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

those who believe <strong>the</strong>y have a healing vocation will cease to be members <strong>of</strong> acongregation, be it Pentecostal or non Pentecostal, where <strong>the</strong>y are not allowed to practise<strong>the</strong>ir gift <strong>and</strong> consequently become members <strong>of</strong> a church where <strong>the</strong>y are allowed topractise <strong>the</strong>ir gift.4:3 Pentecostal Theology in Practice: Dealing with <strong>the</strong> Person who is not HealedThe belief that <strong>the</strong> healer is an instrument used by God to deliver healing is foremost in <strong>the</strong>Pentecostal tradition <strong>and</strong> is integrated <strong>into</strong> <strong>the</strong> life <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> church. The signs <strong>of</strong> God‟s actionare in testimony, tongues <strong>and</strong> healing ra<strong>the</strong>r than <strong>the</strong>ology according to Tugwell et al.(1976). Healing is not dependent on <strong>the</strong> worthiness <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> person. It is dependent on <strong>the</strong><strong>spiritual</strong> connection between <strong>the</strong> healer <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> person seeking healing as well as <strong>the</strong>ir<strong>spiritual</strong> connectedness with God through <strong>the</strong> Holy Spirit. The Pentecostal view is tha<strong>the</strong>aling is available NOW <strong>and</strong> for all who claim it. When healing does not take place, it isperceived by <strong>the</strong> church <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> possibly <strong>the</strong> individual as <strong>the</strong> person not at <strong>the</strong> <strong>spiritual</strong>place to claim healing. This is likely to be attributed to some fault such as sin, within <strong>the</strong>individual <strong>and</strong> not because God does not want to heal <strong>the</strong>m. Much <strong>of</strong> this belief is notdocumented because <strong>the</strong>re is an aural/oral approach to learning.Some time before Archer (2007) attempted to contrast Pentecostal <strong>the</strong>ology systematicallywith Roman Catholic <strong>the</strong>ology, Belcher <strong>and</strong> Hall (2001) had identified <strong>the</strong> difficulties <strong>of</strong>developing a Pentecostal <strong>the</strong>ology <strong>of</strong> healing <strong>and</strong> attributed <strong>the</strong>m to <strong>the</strong> practice <strong>of</strong> thinking<strong>the</strong>ologically in <strong>the</strong> Pentecostal movement being still in its infancy. They see literature onhealing within <strong>the</strong> Pentecostal movement as still an under-developed variation on <strong>the</strong><strong>the</strong>mes <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> doctrine in <strong>the</strong> Roman Catholic <strong>and</strong> High <strong>An</strong>glican churches. This body <strong>of</strong>97

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!