Christopher Cat has successfully completed his PhD thesis on ‘Unrealised Pentecostal Divine Healing
Expectations: A Pastoral Dialogue With The Psychology Of Religion And Coping’. We caught up
with him for a conversation about his work.
What sparked your interest in this area of research?
As a Pentecostal minister I became aware of an unresolved tension between the talk about divine
healing and what was occurring in people’s lived experiences. When people were promised healings that did not manifest, it could lead to grief and a devastating shipwreck of their faith. Miracles do happen, but most of the time they do not – and we need to own this.
What was the biggest surprise from your findings?
Pentecostal churches can really excel in providing practical care and spiritual support to their members. The resulting sense of feeling loved and cared for is often what keeps people connected to Pentecostal communities, even when they do not get healed. However, my research discovered that this care is compromised when there is an over-emphasis on positivity and miracles, in a way that doesn’t track with what people are really experiencing.
What difference will your research make?
I hope to encourage Pentecostal caregivers as they seek to minister to people who suffer in different ways. I would like to see Pentecostal ministers equipped both to seek for divine healing, and to care well for people with ongoing challenges. I hope to encourage Pentecostals to better align their discourse of
divine healing with what actually occurs in lived experience.
What’s next for you? Do you have more research plans for the future?
I would like to publish two books from this research, one with the technical details, and then a more practical guide for caregivers. I would also like to turn this research into a training program that can offer caregivers some hands-on experience in developing a wider range of ministry tools when caring for people who are different, or suffering, or seeking healing.
Cat, Christopher.
Unrealised Pentecostal Divine Healing Expectations: A Pastoral Dialogue With The Psychology Of Religion And Coping (PhD)
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