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

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intuition and discernment to channel spiritual energy for the benefit of others. Theinteraction between the healer and the person seeking healing is a unique and special onewhich may or may not result in healing. In the churches, the healers pray for guidance,protection, the power and authority of the Holy Spirit, not forgetting the person who isseeking healing. Their prayers sometimes include a request for the approval andauthority of the wider church. Prayers are said in different styles of responsive, prayingtogether where the leader initiates the prayer and others participate in groups of men,women or individually. Members of the prayer group or congregation may be asked todescribe their concerns as a request for prayer for an individual or a particular situation.Extempore prayers may be made in response to written requests and open prayer allowseveryone to make their own contribution.Harvey (2004) proposes that Jesus‟ instruction to his disciples on how to pray was agesture to oppose the Jewish traditional method of praying and a move away fromelaborate prayers they were expected to recite every day. In the Lord‟s Prayer there is anelement of petitioning for healing by asking for forgiveness.Respondent 5 explained her belief in the power of healing that she claimed through herown prayer and fasting.Respondent 5 (COGIC): When I received spiritual healing-----mmm. When you believeyou can. A long time ago, I had a stomach ulcer which lasted years. I went to thehospital, I did everything and I think one day I decided that ----- and I said ‗God if youare really there I am going to fast five days and I want you to heal me.‘ So I fasted fivedays without water or food. I just stayed there reading my bible and praying and you237
know when you have stomach ulcer you have to eat regularly. During the five days I didnot have any pain or anything. After the five days I said I was going to eat somethingthat I am not supposed to eat. You know that we Africans, we eat hot peppery and spicyfood and you know that plantain can be very hard. So I said I am going to eat hot pepperand roast plantain and that is what I ate. Under normal circumstances when you arefasting, you eat something that is soft, but because I was challenging God, that was whatI ate and from there on I have not experienced any pain, I was not rushed to hospital. SoI received that healing without going to anybody, just talking to HIM and challengingHIM so I said ‗God if you are there I am going to challenge you because you are thehealer and I am going to do this through fasting and prayer‘.I did what an ulcer patient should not do and I got my healing.Levenstein (1998) gives a bio-medical explanation of gastric or stomach ulcer asunderstood to be exacerbated by stress as anxiety causes an increase in the production ofacidic gastric juices that digest the stomach walls and cause ulcers. During the fastingshe rested the stomach and prayer helped her to relax the muscles of the body. Althoughthis is a contradiction to the medical treatment for ulcers it may be that her body had itsown way of responding to treatment and one of the reasons for the successful responsecould be simply allowing the body to rest. What is not easily explained is thepermanency of the „cure‟. She did not report a change in her lifestyle, what she didmention was a different approach (possibly cultural) to the usual medical approach for awhite European person. Doctors such as Posner (1995) have also explained how thistype of response might appear to be a spontaneous remission from a mis-diagnosedcancer.238
Page 1:
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
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the churches they are busy breaking
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friends started to meet in the home
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such as COGIC, have developed a str
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the church group to strangers. In t
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and illustrate the oral tradition o
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4.8.1. Description of the inside of
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The order of service below is based
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forgiving note may signify partial
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Table 3 Organisational hierarchy of
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One of the original churches which
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communion table. To the right of th
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Minister used an acronym to illustr
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GloriaPrayer for grace or collectSc
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service whilst URC church attendees
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mainstream Christianity, their doct
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on the project and make requests to
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made to integrate the white people
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‗Garlic is good for reducing high
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4.13 ConclusionThis chapter began w
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organization. This role can only be
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5.3 The Authority and Power of the
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to become approved (professional) m
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majority. In recent years with Brit
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leadership although it is about aut
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Azusa Street outpouring in 1906. Af
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other who wal sorderly, and not of
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Although the Holy Spirit was presen
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Respondent 3 covered topics includi
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Respondent 10 (below) has similar v
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of rejection by the host community
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ehaviour model. In this situation,
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and they feel. It is not everybody
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many sections of society. It also s
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people. These qualities, however, a
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came across as though he was presen
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very important for this.On occasion
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CHAPTER SIXSUFFERING AND HEALING6.1
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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
Page 223 and 224: demonic forces. Explanations of spi
Page 225 and 226: In the observation example quoted a
Page 227 and 228: employed by the mother had she live
Page 229 and 230: healing. Worthington et al. (2007)
Page 231 and 232: in the account of a young mother in
Page 233 and 234: y not having a normal relationship
Page 235 and 236: and not related to any one cultural
Page 237 and 238: prayer to ma e me better‟, as tho
Page 239 and 240: Non-academic, or „popular‟ Chri
Page 241 and 242: when the healer petitions God in pr
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Page 245: showing lethargy in praying, failin
Page 249 and 250: ministers like Harris (2002) 3 . Th
Page 251 and 252: Healing services in the URC are mor
Page 253 and 254: Respondent: You have to have the gi
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Page 257 and 258: Chapter 2, without taking some posi
Page 259 and 260: Prayer for distant healing takes pl
Page 261 and 262: Although prayers for healing are sa
Page 263 and 264: The healing services also include f
Page 265 and 266: The method and processes of closing
Page 267 and 268: 7.7. ConclusionThis chapter has exa
Page 269 and 270: This chapter was born out of observ
Page 271 and 272: website (http://www.stonybrookmedic
Page 273 and 274: For those who reject traditional Ch
Page 275 and 276: hands on the forehead of each perso
Page 277 and 278: The minister also invited the rest
Page 279 and 280: service closed with silence accompa
Page 281 and 282: In this respondent‟s‟ account,
Page 283 and 284: Below are brief parts of extracts p
Page 285 and 286: service was when the speaker came t
Page 287 and 288: observed believed the aura of the h
Page 289 and 290: Ministers/healers of these two cong
Page 291 and 292: constituent of worship even where t
Page 293 and 294: to herself, and argues that music h
Page 295 and 296: 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
Page 333 and 334:
Bentham, J., (2001ff, originally 18
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Department of Health, (1999) Saving
Page 337 and 338:
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
Page 345 and 346:
Comparative Perspective, Berg, Oxfo
Page 347 and 348:
International, London and New York.
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