Jesus The Medicine-Man/ Healer in The African Tradition
Date
2002-02
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Abstract
Healing is one of the greatest needs of the modem men and women. In Africa, with
its numerous problems of poverty, sickness, political violence leading to death, people
need healing more than any continent in the world. In traditional African societies, those
who restore health to the sick are called medicine men or healers. Jesus did just that and
so from the African point of view, he was indeed a healer. But very often. African healers
fail to deal with certain sicknesses. Jesus was a healer per excellence, because he even
overcame death so he remains forever a healer.
In this long essay, we try to focus on the works of Jesus especially in his ministry of
healing in comparison to an African healer. This work is divided into four Chapters.
Chapter one presents the definition of sickness and kinds of sickness. The chapter also
examines the background of sickness in human life. Chapter two presents the African
attitude towards sickness. The areas tackled are; the traditional beliefs on sickness, causes
and how Africans deal with sickness. Then comes chapter three in which sickness in the
Bible is discussed. Chapter four is divided into three parts. The first part is a comparative
study of Jesus and the traditional African healers. The second part of the chapter focuses
on a Christology of healing. The last part of the chapter is a conclusion. It contains
integrative reflections together with a general conclusion of the entire project. The
research is limited to the library sources, only with few verbal interviews and personal
experience with the sick people.
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Keywords
Jesus, Medicine-Man, Healer, African Tradition