The Quest For The Christ Of Africa, By Donald J.

There is one name given to Jesus through the eyes of the African people that stood out to me the most. This name is Jesus the Healer. I believe that this name has a universal or global meaning even though in our reading “The Quest for the Christ of Africa” by Donald J. Goergen, Jesus the healer is only presented in terms of its relevance to the African people. I believe not only is it important to see how this name given to Jesus is of great relevance to the african people but also how it is relevant to people around the globe, and how calling Jesus the healer is relatable to every Christian. It is important to understand first how calling Jesus the “healer” makes sense biblically. First off, in the bible on many accounts Jesus performed
In Africa Nganga is a person who has the ability to connect with another world as well as has the ability to understand the causes of illness, misfortunes, and stresses. This person would also understand how to address these things in supernatural ways. Also in some areas of Africa the christian priest will be called Nganga. This idea of nganga leads us into a more specific name Goergen offers to Jesus, more specific than Jesus the healer he calls him “witchdoctor”. This was shocking to me because in most cases Christian communities would think the idea of a witchdoctor would be anti-christian but what Goergen says is that the idea “witch” is no more negative than the word “doctor” and how “witchdoctor” actually has great meaning in the african society. “It shows Africa's struggles with the reality of evil. In Africa, the "witch" is the most powerful image of what not to be. Thus Christ is a non-witch, an anti-witch, a witch healer or doctor, a physician who has power over the powers of evil” (Georgen 6). In other words, Africans believe that Jesus or Jesus the witch doctor understands how to handle a witch or, by my own inference, Jesus understands how to handle humans at our absolute worst and has the power to heal us at our
I believe considering all that the African people have gone through including “slave trade, colonization, the post-colonial formation of the nationstates, neo-colonialism's economic dependency, intertribal violence and war, the corruption of many post-independence national leaders, and on and on” Jesus the healer is the most important title given to Jesus but I also believe it could be one of the most important titles for christians everywhere (Georgen