Holiness as Wholeness: Ethical Implications towards an Inclusive Understanding of the HIV / AIDS Crisis in Kenya

Abstract

This study presents a critical examination of holiness as wholeness – ethical implications towards an inclusive understanding of the HIV/AIDS crisis in Kenya. The understanding of holiness and its interpretation has contributed to the stigmatisation of those infected and affected by HIV and AIDS. The study calls for a theologically based re-interpretation of holiness, firstly, by evaluating and interpreting a Pentecostals understanding of HIV and AIDS and its effects on stigma and discrimination; secondly, it aims to assess how the doctrine of holiness as wholeness is challenged by the impact of HIV and AIDS in the Redeemed Gospel Church (RGC), a concrete Pentecostal church in East Africa; and thirdly, it aims to propose a new approach to the doctrine of holiness as wholeness, which could be applied in the Pentecostal African context globally.