Browsing by Author "Juro, Charles"

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    A church historical judicial assessment of the Reformed Church in Zimbabwe engagement with demon possession and exorcism
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2016-11-21) Juro, Charles; Plaatjies van Huffel, Mary-Anne; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Theology. Dept. of Systematic Theology and Ecclesiology.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The Reformed Church in Zimbabwe (RCZ) was constituted in a context where the converts to Christianity believed that the diviners are the only people who have the authority to control the powers that destabilize the normal order. The focal point of this thesis is A Church historical judicial assessment of the Reformed Church in Zimbabwe’s engagement with demon possession and exorcism. Chapter two attends to the biblical perspectives regarding demon possession and exorcism. Amongst others the origin of the devil, demon possession and exorcism in the Old Testament, Intertestamental period as well as the New Testament is being addressed in this chapter. Chapter three highlights the African Traditional view on demon possession/spirit possession and exorcism. The chapter identifies causes for the sudden disappearances of the practice of exorcism rites amongst the Shona people belonging to the Reformed Church in Zimbabwe and. focuses therefor on an African view of demon possession, unexpected or involuntary possession, expected or voluntary possession, communal and Shamanism possession, as well as the practice of demon possession in Zimbabwe and the challenges it poses to the Christian believers in the Reformed Church in Zimbabwe. Chapter 4 deals with the historical background of the Reformed Church in Zimbabwe. The Dutch Reformed missionaries in Zimbabwe encountered numerous challenges regarding the Shona people’s view on the subject of demon possession/spirit possession and exorcism. The chapter analyses the perspective of the Dutch Reformed Missionaries who evangelized Masvingo province on demon possession/spirit possession and exorcism. The missionaries equated demon possession/spirit possession and exorcism with heathenism. In Chapter 5 attention is given to a church judicial assessment of the church order regulations in place in the Reformed Church in Zimbabwe concerning demon possession or exorcism. The influence of the missionaries of the Dutch Reformed Church on the current provisions in the church order of the Reformed Church in Zimbabwe should not be underestimated. These church judicial provisions, build in by the missionaries in the church order of the Shona Reformed Church and the later Reformed Church in Zimbabwe, curbs any influence of the Shona culture in the Reformed Church in Zimbabwe. In Chapter 6 the researcher proposes that the Church Order of the Reformed Church in Zimbabwe as well as theological training and ministry of the Reformed Church in Zimbabwe should make provision, taking the rich Shona cultural background in to account, for a ministry of exorcism; a liturgy on exorcism as well as theological dialogue in order to address the problem of exorcism in the Reformed Church in Zimbabwe.