Similarities and Differences in the Healing Practices of Pentecostal Churches and the African Traditional Religions in Botswana

Abstract

The essay examines the similarities and differences in the healing practices of Pentecostal churches and the traditional religions in the context of Botswana. The major similarities result from the fact that in both the Pentecostal churches and the traditional religions there is a strong belief in supernatural interventions in times of crisis in order to preserve, prolong and protect life. While certain methods and strategies are similar, the belief in ancestors in the case of traditional religions, and in Jesus and the Holy Spirit, who are the key agents of healing for Pentecostal churches, mark the major points of difference. The term ‘healer’, is accepted and generally used to describe the traditional healing practitioners, while it is never used to refer to Pentecostals possessing and exercising the gift of healing. For Pentecostals the healer is either Jesus Christ or the Holy Spirit.