Rhetorical use of Sobolo (Hibiscus drink) as Yesu Mogya (Blood of Jesus) for Holistic Healing in Contemporary Ghanaian Christianity: A Critical Analysis from the Perspective of Biblical Theology and Christian Ethics

Abstract

This article sought to survey the rhetorical use of Sobolo (hibiscus drink) as Yesu Mogya (the blood of Jesus) for holistic healing in contemporary Ghanaian Christianity. From the perspective of Biblical Theology and Christian Ethics, it argued that the phenomenon of using plant products and symbolic objects for miraculous healing is both explicitly and implicitly rooted in the Bible. Contrary to the dispensationalist perspective with its emphasis on the cessation of miraculous healing in some Western contexts and within scholarship, the continuous relevance of miraculous healing in Ghanaian Christianity is not much debated in the ecclesial context. It is, therefore, maintained that the use of symbols such as Sobolo for healing creates opportunities for the wholistic needs of the members of the church to be met. These needs are claimed to be fulfilled by spiritual means. From a Christian ethical perspective, this paper, however, cautions that sobolo as a miraculous drink in the Ghanaian Christian context should not be used as an exclusive means of physical well-being and development of society. It is further argued that the cyclical use of sobolo as a healing juice for all and diverse kinds of miraculous healings needs to be questioned in the light of biblical theology.

Keywords

• wholistic healing
• worldview
• biblical theology
• christian ethics
• sobolo