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character and the purpose of God to his people. Isaiah 61:1 alludes to the Holy Spirit withthe words: „The spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me topreach good tidings unto the meene of the symbolic evidence of the gift of the HolySpirit is narrated in Acts 2 „When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all withone accord in one place. Suddenly there came a sound from heaven like a rushing mightywind and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.‟ This evidence is accepted byboth URC and COGIC although the practice of COGIC is more prominent. Thedemonstration of this evidence is expected from all church members in all the churches.Members who are filled with the Holy Spirit often pray with and for others to be filled oranointed with the Holy Spirit. In the URC the practice of speaking in tongues is not achurch wide activity and is practiced only by individual members.The prosperity gospel tele-evangelist, and former driver for Oral Roberts, KennethCopeland, and his wife Gloria (Copeland 1990) describes five steps that any believer cantake to receive the Holy Spirit: Ask without fear, accept that God says you will receive theHoly Spirit, speak no more English, open your mouth wide and drink the Holy Spirit,breathing as deeply as possible, raise your voice and use the lips of your tongue and voiceto speak, and finally allow the living waters to flow from you with the greatest freedom.Copeland quotes several scriptures in Ephesians and John where the gift of the Holy Spiritis promised to all believers and argues that healing belongs to the person the moment theyare born into God‟s family. Many mainstream Christians cited by Oppenheimer (2011)assert there is no evidence that the above practice actually works, there is no scripture tosupport the practice and even that this is an occult technique borrowed from Hinduism inwhich the prana (breathing) energy fills the air. There was no evidence of this practice inthe observation of the healing activities in either of the two congregations in this study.163
Although the Holy Spirit was present prior to the day of Pentecost as evidenced in the OldTestament on several occasions such as when Moses selected the elders, some churchmembers believe that the day of Pentecost is the day that the power of the Holy Spiritmanifested itself in the community gathered in one place. This community consisted ofJerusalem Jews. Pentecost is the festival which fell on the fiftieth day after the Passover. Inmodern Christian practice it is the fifth Sunday after Easter Sunday and fifty days afterGood Friday. The Book of Acts reports a sound „as of a mighty wind‟ and that „cloventongues like as of fire‟ appeared and sat upon each of the men gathered. More impressivewas the outburst of glossolalia, or speaking in tongues, as the disciples were heard praisingGod in languages and dialects that differed from their native Galilean Aramaic. Thebaptism of the Holy Spirit was manifested in this situation and is seen in the church todayas the source of the gifts of the Spirit and the gift of healing following Romans 12, whichasserts that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are the word of wisdom, word of knowledge, faith,gifts of healing, working of miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits speaking andinterpretation of tongues. This is not dependent on whether members are added to thechurch or if members leave the church. The gifts are given to the church and the HolySpirit gives permission to different persons in the church to manifest these gift. (Muddiman2001). The interview material in section 5.5.2 below shows how this is part of Pentecostallife.The popular religious writer, Robbins (1995), however, contends that glossolalia is just aninnovation by Pentecostalism, the religious movement which began at the turn of thecentury and is not from God, does not truly honour God, and will not bring people to God.This, Robbins believes, is because the miracles (including Peter healing the sick and lame164
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Greenwich Academic Literature Archi
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AcknowledgementsI extend much grati
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Chapter 3: Methodology 633.1 Introd
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7.3 Prayer as Health Seeking Behavi
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CHAPTER ONEINTRODUCTION AND CONTEXT
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healing, bricolage and the use of s
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To remedy these gaps in the discour
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do with me‟ so she sent me to sch
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Interestingly, after 30 years of pr
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listening to a group of people that
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that I felt within the Black majori
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Chapter 3 describes the methodology
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espondents‟ perception of sufferi
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CHAPTER TWOLITERATURE REVIEW2.1 Int
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themes, it became necessary to revi
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suggests a combined approach where
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and healing as a kind of self-impro
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eports that the English believed th
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According to Davey et al (2002) ill
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deviant behaviour. The difference b
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church concretised the ideas of rel
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theology. It is no accident that th
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concept of culture we inevitably do
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When we look at the effect of cultu
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to help us to understand the totali
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information about the association a
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when emotional wounds are healed or
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climatic conditions, shelter and a
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cancers has been documented by Phil
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concepts of reality and destiny are
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healer intentionally through a proc
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attachments that meet humans' funda
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distinguish from mental disorders.
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take a phenomenological and ethnogr
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coming but her method is not primar
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from posters on the church notice b
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Healing services in both churches f
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Qualitative method can, however, be
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3.5 Problems of participant and non
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difficulties that were to be presen
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isolating experience was certainly
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not necessarily addressed through t
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It may not be possible for all the
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signed to their awareness and appro
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Consequently the practice relating
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problem free. Ethnography requires
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ecommended by the Pastor. When they
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The greater proportion of females i
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difficulties involved in constructi
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musical Pentecostal style of worshi
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The different emphases in soteriolo
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literature may remain in its infanc
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does not mean „Pentecostal‟ nor
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church, the cultural differences we
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umbrella of churches. The leaders c
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local autonomy, the majority of Con
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The post-1905 Pentecostals saw thei
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the Holy Ghost). Interestingly the
Page 121 and 122: the churches they are busy breaking
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Page 125 and 126: such as COGIC, have developed a str
Page 127 and 128: the church group to strangers. In t
Page 129 and 130: and illustrate the oral tradition o
Page 131 and 132: 4.8.1. Description of the inside of
Page 133 and 134: The order of service below is based
Page 135 and 136: forgiving note may signify partial
Page 137 and 138: Table 3 Organisational hierarchy of
Page 139 and 140: One of the original churches which
Page 141 and 142: communion table. To the right of th
Page 143 and 144: Minister used an acronym to illustr
Page 145 and 146: GloriaPrayer for grace or collectSc
Page 147 and 148: service whilst URC church attendees
Page 149 and 150: mainstream Christianity, their doct
Page 151 and 152: on the project and make requests to
Page 153 and 154: made to integrate the white people
Page 155 and 156: ‗Garlic is good for reducing high
Page 157 and 158: 4.13 ConclusionThis chapter began w
Page 159 and 160: organization. This role can only be
Page 161 and 162: 5.3 The Authority and Power of the
Page 163 and 164: to become approved (professional) m
Page 165 and 166: majority. In recent years with Brit
Page 167 and 168: leadership although it is about aut
Page 169 and 170: Azusa Street outpouring in 1906. Af
Page 171: other who wal sorderly, and not of
Page 175 and 176: Respondent 3 covered topics includi
Page 177 and 178: Respondent 10 (below) has similar v
Page 179 and 180: of rejection by the host community
Page 181 and 182: ehaviour model. In this situation,
Page 183 and 184: and they feel. It is not everybody
Page 185 and 186: many sections of society. It also s
Page 187 and 188: people. These qualities, however, a
Page 189 and 190: came across as though he was presen
Page 191 and 192: very important for this.On occasion
Page 193 and 194: CHAPTER SIXSUFFERING AND HEALING6.1
Page 195 and 196: mind body and spirit implies that i
Page 197 and 198: suffering. Most of these situations
Page 199 and 200: Respondent: Not for my sister she h
Page 201 and 202: man to repent and return to the cre
Page 203 and 204: clotting treatment. After the treat
Page 205 and 206: gift of miraculous powers go with t
Page 207 and 208: What I teach on this matter is, tha
Page 209 and 210: The bible does not condemn, forbid
Page 211 and 212: possibility of impending change in
Page 213 and 214: prayer or they are rested. What is
Page 215 and 216: „Whatever the educational attainm
Page 217 and 218: „The message of Job is a comfort
Page 219 and 220: he has questioned God‟s purposes
Page 221 and 222: pray for them. In the words of seve
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demonic forces. Explanations of spi
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In the observation example quoted a
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employed by the mother had she live
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healing. Worthington et al. (2007)
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in the account of a young mother in
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y not having a normal relationship
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and not related to any one cultural
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prayer to ma e me better‟, as tho
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Non-academic, or „popular‟ Chri
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when the healer petitions God in pr
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health and the ways in which hospit
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showing lethargy in praying, failin
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know when you have stomach ulcer yo
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ministers like Harris (2002) 3 . Th
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Healing services in the URC are mor
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Respondent: You have to have the gi
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psychological effect of knowing her
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Chapter 2, without taking some posi
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Prayer for distant healing takes pl
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Although prayers for healing are sa
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The healing services also include f
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The method and processes of closing
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7.7. ConclusionThis chapter has exa
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This chapter was born out of observ
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website (http://www.stonybrookmedic
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For those who reject traditional Ch
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hands on the forehead of each perso
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The minister also invited the rest
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service closed with silence accompa
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In this respondent‟s‟ account,
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Below are brief parts of extracts p
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service was when the speaker came t
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observed believed the aura of the h
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Ministers/healers of these two cong
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constituent of worship even where t
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to herself, and argues that music h
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could not read or write. Such music
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linking the psychic/mythological an
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group coordination through rhythmo-
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People can become so involved in a
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visual and auditory areas which act
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Campbell (1998) argue that as music
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The extracts from fieldwork notes b
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In COGIC the singing is accompanied
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when I was ill. Then my mum died th
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The passage cited from Respondent 1
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CHAPTER TENCONCLUSION AND RECOMMEND
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etween health professionals and chu
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The initial aim of the study: „to
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part of worship services a priority
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health professionals and spiritual
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are culturally conditioned rational
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professionals. Despite the differen
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prominent amongst people who attend
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ReferencesAchterberg, J., (1985) Im
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Bentham, J., (2001ff, originally 18
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Department of Health, (1999) Saving
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Hall, S., (1985) “Religious Ideol
Page 339 and 340:
Katz, J. J., (1990) Metaphysics of
Page 341 and 342:
http://emedicine.medscape.com/artic
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Pullar, P., (1988) Spiritual and La
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Comparative Perspective, Berg, Oxfo
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International, London and New York.
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