Spitting Ginger in Jesus’ Name? The Concept of Hybridity in a Lele Theology of Healing

Abstract

In the January 2018 issue of the IBMR, R. Daniel Shaw introduced the concept of hybridity to define how the Christian faith can connect meaningfully with people’s local rituals and practices. I researched how mature Lele Christians in Papua New Guinea evaluate their traditional concepts of sickness and healing. In this article I argue that hybridity provides a useful theoretical framework to understand how Lele Christians relate their Christian faith to their tradition. I also show that the concept finds good biblical precedent and is significantly moving forward the discussion about the relationship of Christianity and culture.