Chapter 5

By Tim ODonnell, Aubrey Hinderlider,

Shelby Lopez & Izzy Storm
Facing Evil
Reality of evil and the devil
Corruption
Wars
Massacres
Sickness
Natural disaster

Introduction
Healing and Exorcism
Global South
Northern World
Importance to Jesus ministry
Historical context
Christian worldview vs. traditional superstition
freedom in faith vs. bondage to fate

Pagan Memories
Traditional animist beliefs and folk religions

Context for Christianity in Global South

Tolerance from Northern Christians
Evidence of God?
Devil Worship?

Victory
Constant fear of evil is conquered by Jesus

Practical victory
Healing
Exorcism

Spiritual victory
Salvation
Loosing the Captives
Important ideals spiritual warfare & deliverance & liberation

Global North
Spiritual warfare ideas are rarely recognized
Belief in exorcism & deliverance is strange/fanatical

Global South
Less rational
Ideals commonly embraced by smaller sects
Larger denominations, like Lutherans and Catholics, adopt elements
of warfare view to compete with smaller sects



Psalm 91
The Lion and the Adder
Psalm 91
Used for protection in many areas of the world
Usage dates back to ancient Coptic Egyptian churches
Relatable animals
Heavy usage during times of disaster
Popular culture
Film (City of God)
Birthdays/Celebrations
And It Was Night
Vigils/All night services (pungwe)
Regular parts of independent churches
To challenge the demons that live in the dark

New Testament
Light vs. dark
En de nux
Witches
African Christian beliefs
Humans are linked to evil forces (seen as a threat)
Results in Post-Reformation European terror

1970s
Wamumiani appear in large numbers
Emergence of witch hunters

People drifted to independent churches in search of cures for
all ailments

The African Christian is fearful: fear of the environment, fear
of the neighbors, fear of sorcerers. Only Jesus Christ can free
him. Cameroonian bishop
Healing as Spiritual Warfare
Sickness as a result of evil

Healing as revival
Healing associated with conversion

Christian healing versus indigenous healing

Healing in the Global South
Strong tradition of miraculous healing in Global South cultures

Synthesis of Christian healing traditions and indigenous
healing traditions

Eisegetical readings of Scripture
James 5:14
Psalm 91

Connections to Christian
Traditions

The Elijah/Elisha Narrative
Popular in Medieval Christianity
Popular in Coptic Christianity
Echoes of Elijah

Christs Healing
Simplicity and versatility
Traditional methods of healing

From Generation to Generation
For many Christians in the global South, though, the idea of
ancestral guilt, of curses spanning generations , is anything but a
relic of distant antiquity. ( Jenkins 120)
Appeal to the lower castes in the society (India: Christianity and
Islam), people can push off the weight of their ancestors
Indian Christian Theology: Heavily dominated with upper caste
Dalit Theology: equal birth, equal opportunity
African Christian beliefs: confessing person sins and addressing
generational sins/curses
Justification thought text: Ezekiel, Exodus 20, Matthew
Understanding of effects on the a persons life due to their
ancestry/past

Healing and Wholeness
Beliefs in demonic practices, witchcraft, ancestral curses, etc. vary
from the global North and global south
Who judges which is right?
Hugo Grotius: We should proceed as if God is not given (Jenkins
122)
Global South: healing ministers, people not getting medical
attention even if its available (lacking of faith) , magical oils, etc.
Yet, suspicion is always a feeling with such practices
Nigeria: Prohibits reports on healing and miracles
Healing connects directly with the New Testament message
South: Devoted and faithful people suffer, still. People look to the
book of Job or other texts

Religion and the Decline of
Magic
Modern science ideas and technologies might help
channel/control beliefs of Christians
Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic : in African
churches, supernatural powers are addressed but not
obsessed over
Witchcraft is seen as believers not understanding the power
Christ has over our lives
Having the idea of personal faith with Jesus can help the
absence of fear against him
Preaching about the reality of witchcraft is prevalent
throughout African churches
Confident in the Church protection can resort in people not
getting involved in such tactics

The Triumph of Reason
Culture and practices are also influenced by practical reasoning
Euro-American proclamations of scientific objectivity are not
quite as genuine as they appear. ( Jenkins 125)
People look for reasons, explanations to understand certain events:
they use conspiracy theories or belief in something supernatural
Western impulses can be irrational, religion does not offer channels
to expresses such impulses. African churches, are more
understanding to the religious impulses that comes with it

The Triumph of Reason (cont.)
An individual in both Northern and Southern practices are
responsible for their own sins
Common starting line is not the same because of history evils:
slavery, discrimination, etc.
Though many Southern-world Christians believe thoroughly
in ideas of spiritual warfare and healing, that does not of itself
imply an otherworldly orientation, in the sense of a reluctance
to become involved in secular conflicts ( Jenkins 127)
Secular world does not mean evil but just challenge the
church

Cosmic War in the New
Testament

Spiritual Warfare
Beginning with Satans rebellion against God
Struggle against the forces of evil
Christians at war with the world
Gods final victory through Jesus
Not explicit in Scripture
Pauls Letters
Ephesians 6:12 Armor of God
For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but
against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic
powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of
evil in the heavenly places.

2 Corinthians 10:3-4
1 Peter 2:11

Canonical Gospels
Jesus Ministry
Satans Temptation
Gadarene Demoniacs
Jairus Daughter
Hemorrhaging Woman

Lords Prayer
deliver us from the evil one

The Disciples Luke 10
Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!

Different Perspectives
Global South
Pessimistic
See evil in everything, work of demons

Global North
Optimistic
Accept angels
Evil work of humans

Contemporary
Witchdemonology

Missionaries, preached that the devil was behind African
cosmos worship
Instability via social/political/natural collapse

Synthesization of Western and African concepts that results in
the practice of deliverance ministry
Demons & exorcism via West
Witchcraft of Africa

Based on cosmology & hostile take overs performed by
demonic spirits
Pentecostal Backlash
1960s: Emergence of Pentecostal sects
1980s: Publication of books/tapes to spread the word
Derek Prince
Ancestral curses
Residual demons
Must be helped by the Holy Spirit

Like missionaries, the Pentecostals hated the wide range of
worship
Natural spirits worshiped by the Natives were possessed by devil
spawn ancestral curse
Demons
Demons are given chances, aka openings to enter a humans
body (mainly when they are sinning)
EX: Idolatry, non-Christian worship, emotional trauma, and porn
This leads to the idea that everyone possesses demons within (or
can by any minor infraction)
Everyone should be brought to deliverance, even if already baptized
Deliverance
2 forms: Mass & Personal
Kwasi from Ghana
Akosua L. from Ghana

Allows people to find a way out of sin and feel redeemed
They wont lose themselves forever then
People are also vastly preoccupied with demons and lore
Contemporary Ideals
Witchdemonology tries to combine their views with the foreign,
Global North ideals

In the early 20
th
century, stopping celebrations of demons was
enough for the Pentecostals
Now they must completely expel the demons, via exorcism and
deliverance

Paradox: Traditional African practices are demonic (agree with
missionaries) & reject ideals that witchcraft is superstitious
(disagree)

Results: combination of Traditional and Christian views post-
modern
Mainly care about saving their spiritual self
James 5:14-18
Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and
have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord.
The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and
anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. Therefore confess your
sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed.
The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human
being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three
years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and
the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest. (NRSV)

The Language of James
Astheneo sick (5:14)
Translated more generally as weakness
Physically
Spiritually
Generally

Kanne sick (5:15)
Physical sickness/weariness

Sozo, egeiro, iaomai heal, raise
Sin and Suffering
Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one
another, so that you may be healed.

Connection, but no casual relationship

The elders of the church
Sin as a barrier to community
Healing creates a community
Elijah
Sin
Miraculous drought in connection with societal sin
Social and physical healing

Prayer
The prayer of faith
Prayer is a symbol of a relationship
Connections to the Global
South
Healing and restoration
Individual and societal sin
Conversion, restoration, revival

Methods of healing
Simple, physical
Forms relationships

Wholeness
Healing restores more than the physical
Exorcism, Old Testament
Exorcism: evicting demons or spirits from a person believed to
be possessed

Not many passages related to demonic possessions/ exorcism
3 stories of Abielech ( Evil spirits sent directly from God)
Monotheistic views caused outlooks on this topic to be
rejected
Some passages may have been deleted from early Hebrew
scriptures

New Testament
More evidence of demonic possessions in Gospel and Acts
Cause: Victims never responsible
Acts 19:13, explains how dangerous exorcism can be. (
superhuman power, expelled priests from the house,
recognize non- Christians)
Characteristics: Multiple possessions, gifts of demons,
disorders, demonic speech, strength, variety in wickedness,
easy to perform, use of clothing items, dependent on victims
faith, many sick believe to be possessed

Global South Interpretations
African Theological Journal, article by A publication at
Tanzanian Lutheran College
Mark I: 21-28- The passages were explaining when Jesus
possessed a man.
Compared it to Esther
Psalm 91: used for exorcism as well as spiritual protection

Discussion Questions
1) Does the Global Souths readiness to see the Devil in every
bad thing make them overly pessimistic (or does that make
the Northern World overly optimistic)? Does this prohibit their
view of God or enhance it? Does this make the Devil the only
active deity in the cosmic war?

2) Why is the spiritual self so incredibly important in the
Global South? Does this allow people to live life the way they
want to or does it put them in a box where self expression is
sinful?

3) How does one ascertain what is good and what is evil?