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Miraculous healing in rural Malawi: between ‘grace’ and ‘work’

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 October 2017

Daniel Wroe
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Abstract

The way in which people approach ill health and its relief is often explained as a function of pragmatic evaluation. Through looking at a case of illness in the family of David Kaso, a Baptist pastor living in rural Malawi, this article suggests that trust or faithfulness may be more appropriate terms with which to describe people's approaches to healing and their social antecedents and outcomes. Pentecostal churches had grown in influence in the area where the churches David led were located. Pentecostal leaders often emphasized that experiencing divine healing, or successfully bringing it about, were the results of the ‘work’ that Christians did for God. David and his congregants recognized the difficult questions this perspective could raise about their status in church and emphasized instead that healing happened in God's ‘grace’, largely irrespective of the actions of the Christian. This being the case, the efficacy of prayer as a way of bringing about healing could not really be tested nor, as a corollary, could the outcome of prayer for healing stand as a proxy for evaluating the Christian. The uncertainties David and his church members admitted over healing meant that the basis of their relationships was better described in terms of trust or faithfulness than pragmatism.

Résumé

On explique souvent la manière d'aborder la maladie et de la soulager comme une fonction d’évaluation pragmatique. À travers l’étude d'un cas de maladie dans la famille de David Kaso, pasteur baptiste résidant dans une région rurale du Malawi, cet article suggère qu'il serait plus approprié de parler de confiance ou de fidélité pour décrire la manière d'aborder la guérison et ses antécédents et résultats sociaux. Les églises pentecôtistes ont gagné en influence dans la région où officie David. Les responsables pentecôtistes ont souvent souligné que l'expérience d'une guérison divine, ou le fait de la provoquer, était le résultat de « l’œuvre » des chrétiens pour Dieu. David et les membres de sa congrégation reconnaissent les questions difficiles que cette perspective peut soulever concernant leur statut au sein de l’église et préfèrent insister sur le fait que la guérison survient à la « grâce » de Dieu quelles que soient, en grande partie, les actions du chrétien. En l’état, il n'est pas vraiment possible de tester l'efficacité de la prière comme moyen de guérison, pas plus que le résultat de la prière, en corollaire, ne peut se poser en tant que moyen d’évaluer le chrétien. À la lumière des incertitudes admises par David et les membres de son église concernant la guérison, il est plus approprié de décrire la base de leurs relations en termes de confiance ou de fidélité, plutôt que de pragmatisme.

Type
Missions and miracles
Information
Africa , Volume 87 , Issue 4 , November 2017 , pp. 806 - 831
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2017 

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