fbpx
Wikipedia

Faith healing

May 03, 2023

"Faith healer" redirects here. For the play by Brian Friel, see Faith Healer.

Faith healing is the practice of prayer and gestures (such as laying on of hands) that are believed by some to elicit divine intervention in spiritual and physical healing, especially the Christian practice.[1] Believers assert that the healing of disease and disability can be brought about by religious faith through prayer or other rituals that, according to adherents, can stimulate a divine presence and power. Religious belief in divine intervention does not depend on empirical evidence of an evidence-based outcome achieved via faith healing.[2] Virtually all[a] scientists and philosophers dismiss faith healing as pseudoscience.[3][4][5][6]

The prophet Elijah praying for the recovery of the son of the widow of Zarephath, from the Bible's Books of Kings

Claims that "a myriad of techniques" such as prayer, divine intervention, or the ministrations of an individual healer can cure illness have been popular throughout history.[7] There have been claims that faith can cure blindness, deafness, cancer, HIV/AIDS, developmental disorders, anemia, arthritis, corns, defective speech, multiple sclerosis, skin rashes, total body paralysis, and various injuries.[8] Recoveries have been attributed to many techniques commonly classified as faith healing. It can involve prayer, a visit to a religious shrine, or simply a strong belief in a supreme being.[8]

Many people interpret the Bible, especially the New Testament, as teaching belief in, and the practice of, faith healing. According to a 2004 Newsweek poll, 72 percent of Americans said they believe that praying to God can cure someone, even if science says the person has an incurable disease.[9] Unlike faith healing, advocates of spiritual healing make no attempt to seek divine intervention, instead believing in divine energy. The increased interest in alternative medicine at the end of the 20th century has given rise to a parallel interest among sociologists in the relationship of religion to health.[2]

Faith healing can be classified as a spiritual, supernatural,[10] or paranormal topic,[11] and, in some cases, belief in faith healing can be classified as magical thinking.[12] The American Cancer Society states "available scientific evidence does not support claims that faith healing can actually cure physical ailments".[8] "Death, disability, and other unwanted outcomes have occurred when faith healing was elected instead of medical care for serious injuries or illnesses."[8] When parents have practiced faith healing rather than medical care, many children have died that otherwise would have been expected to live.[13] Similar results are found in adults.[14]

In various belief systems

Christianity

Overview

 
Faith healing by Fernando Suarez, Philippines

Regarded as a Christian belief that God heals people through the power of the Holy Spirit, faith healing often involves the laying on of hands. It is also called supernatural healing, divine healing, and miracle healing, among other things. Healing in the Bible is often associated with the ministry of specific individuals including Elijah, Jesus and Paul.[2]

Christian physician Reginald B. Cherry views faith healing as a pathway of healing in which God uses both the natural and the supernatural to heal.[15] Being healed has been described as a privilege of accepting Christ's redemption on the cross.[16] Pentecostal writer Wilfred Graves Jr. views the healing of the body as a physical expression of salvation.[17] Matthew 8:17, after describing Jesus exorcising at sunset and healing all of the sick who were brought to him, quotes these miracles as a fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah 53:5: "He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases".

Even those Christian writers who believe in faith healing do not all believe that one's faith presently brings about the desired healing. "[Y]our faith does not effect your healing now. When you are healed rests entirely on what the sovereign purposes of the Healer are."[18] Larry Keefauver cautions against allowing enthusiasm for faith healing to stir up false hopes. "Just believing hard enough, long enough or strong enough will not strengthen you or prompt your healing. Doing mental gymnastics to 'hold on to your miracle' will not cause your healing to manifest now."[18] Those who actively lay hands on others and pray with them to be healed are usually aware that healing may not always follow immediately. Proponents of faith healing say it may come later, and it may not come in this life. "The truth is that your healing may manifest in eternity, not in time".[18]

New Testament

Parts of the four canonical gospels in the New Testament say that Jesus cured physical ailments well outside the capacity of first-century medicine. Jesus' healing acts are considered miraculous and spectacular due to the results being impossible or statistically improbable.[19] One example is the case of "a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was not better but rather grew worse".[Mark 5:26–27] After healing her, Jesus tells her "Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace! Be cured from your illness".[Mark 5:34] At least two other times Jesus credited the sufferer's faith as the means of being healed: Mark 10:52 and Luke 19:10.

Jesus endorsed the use of the medical assistance of the time (medicines of oil and wine) when he told the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37), who "bound up [an injured man's] wounds, pouring on oil and wine" (verse 34) as a physician would. Jesus then told the doubting teacher of the law (who had elicited this parable by his self-justifying question, "And who is my neighbor?" in verse 29) to "go, and do likewise" in loving others with whom he would never ordinarily associate (verse 37).[20]

The healing in the gospels is referred to as a "sign"[John 6:2] to prove Jesus' divinity and to foster belief in him as the Christ.[John 4:48] However, when asked for other types of miracles, Jesus refused some[Matthew 12:38–42] but granted others[Luke 9:38–43] in consideration of the motive of the request. Some theologians' understanding is that Jesus healed all who were present every single time.[21] Sometimes he determines whether they had faith that he would heal them.[22] Four of the seven miraculous signs performed in the Fourth Gospel that indicated he was sent from God were acts of healing or resurrection. He heals the Capernaum official's son, heals a paralytic by the pool in Bethsaida, healing a man born blind, and resurrecting Lazarus of Bethany.[23]

Jesus told his followers to heal the sick[24] and stated that signs such as healing are evidence of faith. Jesus also told his followers to "cure sick people, raise up dead persons, make lepers clean, expel demons. You received free, give free".[Matthew 10:8][Mark 16:17–18]

Jesus sternly ordered many who received healing from him: "Do not tell anyone!"[25] Jesus did not approve of anyone asking for a sign just for the spectacle of it, describing such as coming from a "wicked and adulterous generation".[Matthew 12:38–39]

The apostle Paul believed healing is one of the special gifts of the Holy Spirit,[1 Corinthians 12:9][26] and that the possibility exists that certain persons may possess this gift to an extraordinarily high degree.[27]

In the New Testament Epistle of James,[5:14] the faithful are told that to be healed, those who are sick should call upon the elders of the church to pray over [them] and anoint [them] with oil in the name of the Lord.

The New Testament says that during Jesus' ministry and after his Resurrection, the apostles healed the sick and cast out demons, made lame men walk, raised the dead and performed other miracles. Apostles were holy men who had direct access to God and could channel his power to help and heal people.[28] For example, Saint Peter healed a disabled man.[29][Luke 3:1–10]

Jesus used miracles to convince people that he was inaugurating the Messianic Age, as in Mt 12.28. Scholars have described Jesus' miracles as establishing the kingdom during his lifetime.[30]

Early Christian church

Accounts or references to healing appear in the writings of many Ante Nicene Fathers, although many of these mentions are very general and do not include specifics.[31]

Catholicism

See also: Intercession of saints

The Roman Catholic Church recognizes two "not mutually exclusive" kinds of healing,[32]: I,3 [33]: nn2–3  one justified by science and one justified by faith:

  • healing by human "natural means [...] through the practice of medicine" which emphasizes that the theological virtue of "charity demands that we not neglect natural means of healing people who are ill" and the cardinal virtue of prudence forewarns not "to employ a technique that has no scientific support (or even plausibility)"[33]: nn2–3, 6, 10 
  • healing by divine grace "interceded on behalf of the sick through the invocation of the name of the Lord Jesus, asking for healing through the power of the Holy Spirit, whether in the form of the sacramental laying on of hands and anointing with oil or of simple prayers for healing, which often include an appeal to the saints for their aid"[33]: n2 

In 2000, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued "Instruction on prayers for healing" with specific norms about prayer meetings for obtaining healing,[32] which presents the Catholic Church's doctrines of sickness and healing.[34]: 230 [further explanation needed]

It accepts "that there may be means of natural healing that have not yet been understood or recognized by science",[33]: n6 [b] but it rejects superstitious practices which are neither compatible with Christian teaching nor compatible with scientific evidence.[33]: nn11–12 

Faith healing is reported by Catholics as the result of intercessory prayer to a saint or to a person with the gift of healing. According to U.S. Catholic magazine, "Even in this skeptical, postmodern, scientific age – miracles really are possible." According to a Newsweek poll, three-fourths of American Catholics say they pray for "miracles" of some sort.[36]

According to John Cavadini, when healing is granted, "The miracle is not primarily for the person healed, but for all people, as a sign of God's work in the ultimate healing called 'salvation', or a sign of the kingdom that is coming." Some might view their own healing as a sign they are particularly worthy or holy, while others do not deserve it.[36]

The Catholic Church has a special Congregation dedicated to the careful investigation of the validity of alleged miracles attributed to prospective saints. Pope Francis tightened the rules on money and miracles in the canonization process.[37] Since Catholic Christians believe the lives of canonized saints in the Church will reflect Christ's, many have come to expect healing miracles. While the popular conception of a miracle can be wide-ranging, the Catholic Church has a specific definition for the kind of miracle formally recognized in a canonization process.[38]

According to Catholic Encyclopedia, it is often said that cures at shrines and during Christian pilgrimages are mainly due to psychotherapy – partly to confident trust in Divine providence, and partly to the strong expectancy of cure that comes over suggestible persons at these times and places.[35][c]

Among the best-known accounts by Catholics of faith healings are those attributed to the miraculous intercession of the apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary known as Our Lady of Lourdes at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in France and the remissions of life-threatening disease claimed by those who have applied for aid to Saint Jude, who is known as the "patron saint of lost causes".[failed verification – see discussion][39]

As of 2004, Catholic medics have asserted that there have been 67 miracles and 7,000 unexplainable medical cures at Lourdes since 1858.[40] In a 1908 book, it says these cures were subjected to intense medical scrutiny and were only recognized as authentic spiritual cures after a commission of doctors and scientists, called the Lourdes Medical Bureau, had ruled out any physical mechanism for the patient's recovery.[41]

Evangelicalism

 
Laying on of hands for healing in Living Streams International Church, Accra, Ghana, 2018

In some Pentecostal and Charismatic Evangelical churches, a special place is thus reserved for faith healings with laying on of hands during worship services or for campaigns evangelization.[42][43] Faith healing or divine healing is considered to be an inheritance of Jesus acquired by his death and resurrection.[44] Biblical inerrancy ensures that the miracles and healings described in the Bible are still relevant and may be present in the life of the believer.[45]

At the beginning of the 20th century, the new Pentecostal movement drew participants from the Holiness movement and other movements in America that already believed in divine healing. By the 1930s, several faith healers drew large crowds and established worldwide followings.

The first Pentecostals in the modern sense appeared in Topeka, Kansas, in a Bible school conducted by Charles Fox Parham, a holiness teacher and former Methodist pastor. Pentecostalism achieved worldwide attention in 1906 through the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles led by William Joseph Seymour.[46]

Smith Wigglesworth was also a well-known figure in the early part of the 20th century. A former English plumber turned evangelist who lived simply and read nothing but the Bible from the time his wife taught him to read, Wigglesworth traveled around the world preaching about Jesus and performing faith healings. Wigglesworth claimed to raise several people from the dead in Jesus' name in his meetings.[47]

During the 1920s and 1930s, Aimee Semple McPherson was a controversial faith healer of growing popularity during the Great Depression. Subsequently, William M. Branham has been credited as the initiator of the post-World War II healing revivals.[48]: 58 [49]: 25  The healing revival he began led many to emulate his style and spawned a generation of faith healers. Because of this, Branham has been recognized as the "father of modern faith healers".[50] According to writer and researcher Patsy Sims, "the power of a Branham service and his stage presence remains a legend unparalleled in the history of the Charismatic movement".[51] By the late 1940s, Oral Roberts, who was associated with and promoted by Branham's Voice of Healing magazine also became well known, and he continued with faith healing until the 1980s.[52] Roberts discounted faith healing in the late 1950s, stating, "I never was a faith healer and I was never raised that way. My parents believed very strongly in medical science and we have a doctor who takes care of our children when they get sick. I cannot heal anyone – God does that."[53] A friend of Roberts was Kathryn Kuhlman, another popular faith healer, who gained fame in the 1950s and had a television program on CBS. Also in this era, Jack Coe[54][55] and A. A. Allen[56] were faith healers who traveled with large tents for large open-air crusades.

Oral Roberts's successful use of television as a medium to gain a wider audience led others to follow suit. His former pilot, Kenneth Copeland, started a healing ministry. Pat Robertson, Benny Hinn, and Peter Popoff became well-known televangelists who claimed to heal the sick.[57] Richard Rossi is known for advertising his healing clinics through secular television and radio. Kuhlman influenced Benny Hinn, who adopted some of her techniques and wrote a book about her.[58]

Christian Science

Christian Science claims that healing is possible through prayer based on an understanding of God and the underlying spiritual perfection of God's creation.[7][59] The material world as humanly perceived is believed to not be the spiritual reality. Christian Scientists believe that healing through prayer is possible insofar as it succeeds in bringing the spiritual reality of health into human experience.[60] Christian Scientists believe that prayer does not change the spiritual creation but gives a clearer view of it, and the result appears in the human scene as healing: the human picture adjusts to coincide more nearly with the divine reality.[61] Christian Scientists do not consider themselves to be faith healers since faith or belief in Christian Science is not required on the part of the patient, and because they consider it reliable and provable rather than random.[62][63]

Although there is no hierarchy in Christian Science, Christian Science practitioners devote full time to prayer for others on a professional basis, and advertise in an online directory published by the church.[64][65] Christian Scientists sometimes tell their stories of healing at weekly testimony meetings at local Christian Science churches, or publish them in the church's magazines including The Christian Science Journal printed monthly since 1883, the Christian Science Sentinel printed weekly since 1898, and The Herald of Christian Science a foreign language magazine beginning with a German edition in 1903 and later expanding to Spanish, French, and Portuguese editions. Christian Science Reading Rooms often have archives of such healing accounts.[66][65]

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) has had a long history of faith healings. Many members of the LDS Church have told their stories of healing within the LDS publication, the Ensign.[67][68][69][70] The church believes healings come most often as a result of priesthood blessings given by the laying on of hands; however, prayer often accompanied with fasting is also thought to cause healings. Healing is always attributed to be God's power. Latter-day Saints believe that the Priesthood of God, held by prophets (such as Moses) and worthy disciples of the Savior, was restored via heavenly messengers to the first prophet of this dispensation, Joseph Smith.[71][72]

According to LDS doctrine, even though members may have the restored priesthood authority to heal in the name of Jesus Christ, all efforts should be made to seek the appropriate medical help. Brigham Young stated this effectively, while also noting that the ultimate outcome is still dependent on the will of God.[73]

If we are sick, and ask the Lord to heal us, and to do all for us that is necessary to be done, according to my understanding of the Gospel of salvation, I might as well ask the Lord to cause my wheat and corn to grow, without my plowing the ground and casting in the seed. It appears consistent to me to apply every remedy that comes within the range of my knowledge, and to ask my Father in Heaven, in the name of Jesus Christ, to sanctify that application to the healing of my body.[74]

But suppose we were traveling in the mountains, ... and one or two were taken sick, without anything in the world in the shape of healing medicine within our reach, what should we do? According to my faith, ask the Lord Almighty to ... heal the sick. This is our privilege, when so situated that we cannot get anything to help ourselves. Then the Lord and his servants can do all. But it is my duty to do, when I have it in my power.[74]

We lay hands on the sick and wish them to be healed, and pray the Lord to heal them, but we cannot always say that he will.[75]

Islam

A number of healing traditions exist among Muslims. Some healers are particularly focused on diagnosing cases of possession by jinn or demons.[76]

Buddhism

Chinese-born Australian businessman Jun Hong Lu was a prominent proponent of the "Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door", claiming that practicing the three "golden practices" of reciting texts and mantras, liberation of beings, and making vows, laid a solid foundation for improved physical, mental, and psychological well-being, with many followers publicly attesting to have been healed through practice.[77]

Scientology

Some critics of Scientology have referred to some of its practices as being similar to faith healing, based on claims made by L. Ron Hubbard in Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health and other writings.[78]

Scientific investigation

See also: Studies on intercessory prayer

Nearly all[a] scientists dismiss faith healing as pseudoscience.[3][4][5][6] Believers assert that faith healing makes no scientific claims and thus should be treated as a matter of faith that is not testable by science.[79] Critics reply that claims of medical cures should be tested scientifically because, although faith in the supernatural is not in itself usually considered to be the purview of science,[80][81][d] claims of reproducible effects are nevertheless subject to scientific investigation.[4][79]

Scientists and doctors generally find that faith healing lacks biological plausibility or epistemic warrant,[3]: 30–31  which is one of the criteria used to judge whether clinical research is ethical and financially justified.[83] A Cochrane review of intercessory prayer found "although some of the results of individual studies suggest a positive effect of intercessory prayer, the majority do not".[84] The authors concluded: "We are not convinced that further trials of this intervention should be undertaken and would prefer to see any resources available for such a trial used to investigate other questions in health care".[84]

A review in 1954 investigated spiritual healing, therapeutic touch and faith healing. Of the hundred cases reviewed, none revealed that the healer's intervention alone resulted in any improvement or cure of a measurable organic disability.[85]

In addition, at least one study has suggested that adult Christian Scientists, who generally use prayer rather than medical care, have a higher death rate than other people of the same age.[8]

The Global Medical Research Institute (GMRI) was created in 2012 to start collecting medical records of patients who claim to have received a supernatural healing miracle as a result of Christian Spiritual Healing practices. The organization has a panel of medical doctors who review the patient's records looking at entries prior to the claimed miracles and entries after the miracle was claimed to have taken place. "The overall goal of GMRI is to promote an empirically grounded understanding of the physiological, emotional, and sociological effects of Christian Spiritual Healing practices".[86] This is accomplished by applying the same rigorous standards used in other forms of medical and scientific research.

A 2011 article in the New Scientist magazine cited positive physical results from meditation, positive thinking and spiritual faith[87]

Criticism

I have visited Lourdes in France and Fatima in Portugal, healing shrines of the Christian Virgin Mary. I have also visited Epidaurus in Greece and Pergamum in Turkey, healing shrines of the pagan god Asklepios. The miraculous healings recorded in both places were remarkably the same. There are, for example, many crutches hanging in the grotto of Lourdes, mute witness to those who arrived lame and left whole. There are, however, no prosthetic limbs among them, no witnesses to paraplegics whose lost limbs were restored.

— John Dominic Crossan[88]

Skeptics of faith healing offer primarily two explanations for anecdotes of cures or improvements, relieving any need to appeal to the supernatural.[e][90] The first is post hoc ergo propter hoc, meaning that a genuine improvement or spontaneous remission may have been experienced coincidental with but independent from anything the faith healer or patient did or said. These patients would have improved just as well even had they done nothing. The second is the placebo effect, through which a person may experience genuine pain relief and other symptomatic alleviation. In this case, the patient genuinely has been helped by the faith healer or faith-based remedy, not through any mysterious or numinous function, but by the power of their own belief that they would be healed.[91][f][92] In both cases the patient may experience a real reduction in symptoms, though in neither case has anything miraculous or inexplicable occurred. Both cases, however, are strictly limited to the body's natural abilities.

According to the American Cancer Society:[8]

... available scientific evidence does not support claims that faith healing can actually cure physical ailments... One review published in 1998 looked at 172 cases of deaths among children treated by faith healing instead of conventional methods. These researchers estimated that if conventional treatment had been given, the survival rate for most of these children would have been more than 90 percent, with the remainder of the children also having a good chance of survival. A more recent study found that more than 200 children had died of treatable illnesses in the United States over the past thirty years because their parents relied on spiritual healing rather than conventional medical treatment.

The American Medical Association considers that prayer as therapy should not be a medically reimbursable or deductible expense.[93]

Belgian philosopher and skeptic Etienne Vermeersch coined the term Lourdes effect as a criticism of the magical thinking and placebo effect possibilities for the claimed miraculous cures as there are no documented events where a severed arm has been reattached through faith healing at Lourdes. Vermeersch identifies ambiguity and equivocal nature of the miraculous cures as a key feature of miraculous events.[94][95][96]

Negative impact on public health

Reliance on faith healing to the exclusion of other forms of treatment can have a public health impact when it reduces or eliminates access to modern medical techniques.[g][h][i] This is evident in both higher mortality rates for children[13] and in reduced life expectancy for adults.[14] Critics have also made note of serious injury that has resulted from falsely labelled "healings", where patients erroneously consider themselves cured and cease or withdraw from treatment.[7][j] For example, at least six people have died after faith healing by their church and being told they had been healed of HIV and could stop taking their medications.[99] It is the stated position of the AMA that "prayer as therapy should not delay access to traditional medical care".[93] Choosing faith healing while rejecting modern medicine can and does cause people to die needlessly.[100]

Christian theological criticism of faith healing

Christian theological criticism of faith healing broadly falls into two distinct levels of disagreement.

The first is widely termed the "open-but-cautious" view of the miraculous in the church today. This term is deliberately used by Robert L. Saucy in the book Are Miraculous Gifts for Today?.[101] Don Carson is another example of a Christian teacher who has put forward what has been described as an "open-but-cautious" view.[102] In dealing with the claims of Warfield, particularly "Warfield's insistence that miracles ceased",[103] Carson asserts, "But this argument stands up only if such miraculous gifts are theologically tied exclusively to a role of attestation; and that is demonstrably not so."[103] However, while affirming that he does not expect healing to happen today, Carson is critical of aspects of the faith healing movement, "Another issue is that of immense abuses in healing practises.... The most common form of abuse is the view that since all illness is directly or indirectly attributable to the devil and his works, and since Christ by his cross has defeated the devil, and by his Spirit has given us the power to overcome him, healing is the inheritance right of all true Christians who call upon the Lord with genuine faith."[104]

The second level of theological disagreement with Christian faith healing goes further. Commonly referred to as cessationism, its adherents either claim that faith healing will not happen today at all, or may happen today, but it would be unusual. Richard Gaffin argues for a form of cessationism in an essay alongside Saucy's in the book Are Miraculous Gifts for Today? In his book Perspectives on Pentecost[105] Gaffin states of healing and related gifts that "the conclusion to be drawn is that as listed in 1 Corinthians 12(vv. 9f., 29f.) and encountered throughout the narrative in Acts, these gifts, particularly when exercised regularly by a given individual, are part of the foundational structure of the church... and so have passed out of the life of the church."[106] Gaffin qualifies this, however, by saying "At the same time, however, the sovereign will and power of God today to heal the sick, particularly in response to prayer (see e.g. James 5:14, 15), ought to be acknowledged and insisted on."[107]

Fraud

Skeptics of faith healers point to fraudulent practices either in the healings themselves (such as plants in the audience with fake illnesses), or concurrent with the healing work supposedly taking place and claim that faith healing is a quack practice in which the "healers" use well known non-supernatural illusions to exploit credulous people in order to obtain their gratitude, confidence and money.[57] James Randi's The Faith Healers investigates Christian evangelists such as Peter Popoff, who claimed to heal sick people on stage in front of an audience. Popoff pretended to know private details about participants' lives by receiving radio transmissions from his wife who was off-stage and had gathered information from audience members prior to the show.[57] According to this book, many of the leading modern evangelistic healers have engaged in deception and fraud.[108] The book also questioned how faith healers use funds that were sent to them for specific purposes.[k] Physicist Robert L. Park[91] and doctor and consumer advocate Stephen Barrett[7] have called into question the ethics of some exorbitant fees.

There have also been legal controversies. For example, in 1955 at a Jack Coe revival service in Miami, Florida, Coe told the parents of a three-year-old boy that he healed their son who had polio.[109][110] Coe then told the parents to remove the boy's leg braces.[109][110] However, their son was not cured of polio and removing the braces left the boy in constant pain.[109][110][111] As a result, through the efforts of Joseph L. Lewis, Coe was arrested and charged on February 6, 1956, with practicing medicine without a license, a felony in the state of Florida.[112] A Florida Justice of the Peace dismissed the case on grounds that Florida exempts divine healing from the law.[55][113][114] Later that year Coe was diagnosed with bulbar polio, and died a few weeks later at Dallas' Parkland Hospital on December 17, 1956.[109][115][116][117]

Miracles for sale

TV personality Derren Brown produced a show on faith healing entitled Miracles for Sale which arguably exposed the art of faith healing as a scam. In this show, Derren trained a scuba diver trainer picked from the general public to be a faith healer and took him to Texas to successfully deliver a faith healing session to a congregation.[118]

United States law

The 1974 Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) required states to grant religious exemptions to child neglect and child abuse laws in order to receive federal money.[119] The CAPTA amendments of 1996 42 U.S.C. § 5106i state:

(a) In General. – Nothing in this Act shall be construed –

"(1) as establishing a Federal requirement that a parent or legal guardian provide a child any medical service or treatment against the religious beliefs of the parent or legal guardian; and "(2) to require that a State find, or to prohibit a State from finding, abuse or neglect in cases in which a parent or legal guardian relies solely or partially upon spiritual means rather than medical treatment, in accordance with the religious beliefs of the parent or legal guardian.

"(b) State Requirement. – Notwithstanding subsection (a), a State shall, at a minimum, have in place authority under State law to permit the child protective services system of the State to pursue any legal remedies, including the authority to initiate legal proceedings in a court of competent jurisdiction, to provide medical care or treatment for a child when such care or treatment is necessary to prevent or remedy serious harm to the child, or to prevent the withholding of medically indicated treatment from children with life threatening conditions. Except with respect to the withholding of medically indicated treatments from disabled infants with life threatening conditions, case by case determinations concerning the exercise of the authority of this subsection shall be within the sole discretion of the State.

Thirty-one states have child-abuse religious exemptions. These are Alabama, Alaska, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia, and Wyoming.[120] In six of these states, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Ohio and Virginia, the exemptions extend to murder and manslaughter. Of these, Idaho is the only state accused of having a large number of deaths due to the legislation in recent times.[121][122] In February 2015, controversy was sparked in Idaho over a bill believed to further reinforce parental rights to deny their children medical care.[123]

Reckless homicide convictions

Parents have been convicted of child abuse and felony reckless negligent homicide and found responsible for killing their children when they withheld lifesaving medical care and chose only prayers.[124]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b "Despite the lack of generally accepted demarcation criteria, we find remarkable agreement among virtually all philosophers and scientists that fields like astrology, creationism, homeopathy, dowsing, psychokinesis, faith healing, clairvoyance, or ufology are either pseudosciences or at least lack the epistemic warrant to be taken seriously." Martin Mahner, 2013.[3]: 30–31 
  2. ^ According to a Catholic Encyclopedia article about psychotherapy from 1911, the application of scientific principles has probably been the responsible cause of more faith cures than anything else. Faith in a scientific discovery acts through the mind of a patient to bring about an improvement of symptoms, if not a cure of the disease. The patients who are cured usually suffer from chronic conditions, they either have only a persuasion that they are ill or have some physical ailment, but the patients inhibit through solicitude and worry the natural forces that would bring about a cure. This inhibition cannot be lifted until the mind is relieved by confidence in a remedy or scientific discovery that gives them a conviction of cure.[35]
  3. ^ A pre-1911 analysis of the records of cures shows that the majority of accepted cures have been in patients suffering from demonstrable physical conditions.[35]
  4. ^ "The "faith" in faith healing refers to an irrational belief, unsupported by evidence, that mysterious supernatural powers can eradicate disease. Science deals with evidence, not faith." Bruce Flamm, 2004.[82]
  5. ^ "Benefits may result because of the natural progression of the illness, rarely but regularly occurring spontaneous remission or through the placebo effect." UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center[89]
  6. ^ "Patients who seek the assistance of a faith healer must believe strongly in the healer's divine gifts and ability to focus them on the ill." UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center[89]
  7. ^ "Faith healing can cause patients to shun effective medical care". Bruce Flamm[97]
  8. ^ "It is often claimed that faith healing may not work but at least does no harm. In fact, reliance on faith healing can cause serious harm and even death." Bruce Flamm[82]
  9. ^ "Faith-healers take from their subjects any hope of managing on their own. And they may very well take them away from legitimate treatments that could really help them." James Randi[98]
  10. ^ "These [discarded medications] are substances without which those people might well die."James Randi[98]
  11. ^ "[Some] faith-healers have been less than careful in their use of funds sent to them for specific purposes."James Randi[98]

References

  1. ^ "Faith healing". thearda.com. University Park, PA: Association of Religion Data Archives. from the original on 2016-01-01. Retrieved 2015-10-24. Citing Smith, Jonathan; Green, William Scott, eds. (1995). The HarperCollins Dictionary of Religion. San Francisco, CA: HarperCollins. p. 355.
  2. ^ a b c Village, Andrew (2005). "Dimensions of belief about miraculous healing". Mental Health, Religion & Culture. 8 (2): 97–107. doi:10.1080/1367467042000240374. S2CID 15727398.
  3. ^ a b c d Mahner, Martin (2013). Pigliucci, Massimo; Boudry, Maarten (eds.). Philosophy of pseudoscience reconsidering the demarcation problem (Online-Ausg. ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 30. ISBN 978-0226051826. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  4. ^ a b c Hassani, Sadri (2010). From Atoms to Galaxies: A Conceptual Physics Approach to Scientific Awareness. CRC Press. p. 641. ISBN 978-1439882849. Retrieved 18 April 2018. There are also activities that, although not classified (or claimed) as science, have implications that trespass into the scientific territories. Examples of this category of activities are the claim that we have been visited by aliens riding unidentified flying objects, all psychic phenomena, and faith healing. We study the nature of all these activities under the general heading of pseudoscience. …
  5. ^ a b Erzinclioglu, Zakaria (2000). Every Contact Leaves a Trace: Scientific Detection in the Twentieth Century. Carlton Books. p. 60. ISBN 978-1842221617. For example, most scientists dismiss the notion of faith-healing, a phenomenon for which there is a certain amount of evidence.
  6. ^ a b See also:

    Pitt, Joseph C.; Pera, Marcello (2012). Rational Changes in Science: Essays on Scientific Reasoning. Springer Science & Business Media. ISBN 978-9400937796. Retrieved 18 April 2018. Such examples of pseudoscience as the theory of biorhythms, astrology, dianetics, creationism, faith healing may seem too obvious examples of pseudoscience for academic readers.

    Zerbe, Michael J. (2007). Composition and the Rhetoric of Science: Engaging the Dominant Discourse. SIU Press. p. 86. ISBN 978-0809327409. [T]he authors of the 2002 National Science Foundation Science and Engineering Indicators devoted and entire section of their report to the concern that the public is increasingly trusting in pseudoscience such as astrology, UFOs and alien abduction, extrasensory perception, channeling the dead, faith healing, and psychic hotlines.

    Robert Cogan (1998). Critical Thinking: Step by Step. University Press of America. p. 217. ISBN 978-0761810674. Faith healing is probably the most dangerous pseudoscience.

    Leonard, Bill J.; Crainshaw, Jill Y. (2013). Encyclopedia of Religious Controversies in the United States: A–L. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1598848670. Retrieved 18 April 2018. Certain approaches to faith healing are also widely considered to be pseudoscientific, including those of Christian Science, voodoo, and Spiritualism.
  7. ^ a b c d Barrett, Stephen (December 27, 2009). "Some Thoughts about Faith Healing". Quackwatch. from the original on 2014-02-09. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  8. ^ a b c d e f . American Cancer Society. 2013-01-17. Archived from the original on 2013-04-27.
  9. ^ Kalb, Claudia (2003-11-09). "Faith & Healing". Newsweek. 142 (19): 44–50, 53–54, 56. PMID 16124185.
  10. ^ Walker, Barbara; McClenon, James (1995). "6". Out of the Ordinary: Folklore and the supernatural. Utah State University Press. pp. 107–121. ISBN 978-0874211962. Retrieved May 19, 2015. Supernatural experiences provide a foundation for spiritual healing. The concept supernatural is culturally specific, since some societies regard all perceptions as natural; yet certain events-such as apparitions, out-of-body and near-death experiences, extrasensory perceptions, precognitive dreams, and contact with the dead-promote faith in extraordinary forces. Supernatural experiences can be defined as those sensations directly supporting occult beliefs. Supernatural experiences are important because they provide an impetus for ideologies supporting occult healing practices, the primary means of medical treatment throughout antiquity.
  11. ^ Martin, M (1994). (PDF). Science and Education. 3 (4): 357–371. Bibcode:1994Sc&Ed...3..357M. doi:10.1007/BF00488452. S2CID 22730647. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-07-13. Retrieved 2014-09-24. Cures allegedly brought about by religious faith are, in turn, considered to be paranormal phenomena but the related religious practices and beliefs are not pseudoscientific since they usually have no scientific pretensions.
  12. ^ Lesser, R; Paisner, M (March–April 1985). "Magical thinking in Formal Operational adults". Human Development. 28 (2): 57–70. doi:10.1159/000272942.
  13. ^ a b Asser, Seth M.; Swan, Rita (April 1998). "Child fatalities from religion-motivated medical neglect" (PDF). Pediatrics. 101 (4): 625–629. doi:10.1542/peds.101.4.625. PMID 9521945. S2CID 169037. (PDF) from the original on 2012-04-17. Retrieved 2007-11-19.
  14. ^ a b Simpson, William F. (1989). "Comparative longevity in a college cohort of Christian Scientists". JAMA. 262 (12): 1657–1658. doi:10.1001/jama.1989.03430120111031. PMID 2769921.
  15. ^ Cherry, Reginald B. (1999) [1998]. The Bible Cure (reprint ed.). HarperOne. ISBN 978-0062516152.[page needed] Citing: John 9:1–7 and Mark 10:46–52.
  16. ^ Bosworth 2001, p. 32.
  17. ^ Graves, Wilfred Jr. (2011). In Pursuit of Wholeness: Experiencing God's Salvation for the Total Person. Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image. p. 52. ISBN 978-0768437942.
  18. ^ a b c Keefauver, Larry (June 17, 2009). . Charisma. Archived from the original on 2009-05-11.
  19. ^ Ehrman, B. D. (2016). The New Testament: a historical introduction to the early Christian writings (6th ed.) New York: Oxford University Press. 251–253.[ISBN missing]
  20. ^ Booth, Craig W. (December 16, 2003). "Faith Healing – God's Compassion, God's Power, and God's Sovereignty: Is a Christian permitted to seek medical assistance and to use medicine?". thefaithfulword.org. Retrieved 2007-05-01.
  21. ^ Bosworth 2001, p. 61.
  22. ^ Bosworth 2001,[page needed].
  23. ^ Ehrman, B. D. (2016). The New Testament: a historical introduction to the early Christian writings (6th ed.) New York: Oxford University Press. 171–172. ISBN 978-0199757534
  24. ^ Crossan, J. D. (1994). Jesus: a revolutionary biography. New York: HarperOne. 119–123. ISBN 978-0061800351
  25. ^ Matthew 8:4; 9:30; Mark 5:43, 7:24, 7:36, 8:30, 9:9; Luke 5:14
  26. ^ Harris, S. L. (2015). The New Testament: a student's introduction (8th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Education. 345.[ISBN missing]
  27. ^ Price, Charles P. (2009). "Faith Healing". Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 2009-11-01.
  28. ^ Pilch, J. J. (2004). Visions and healing in the Acts of the Apostles: how the early believers experienced God. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press. 40. ISBN 978-0814627976
  29. ^ Harris, S. L. (2015). The New Testament: a student's introduction (8th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Education. 292–293. ISBN 978-0078119132
  30. ^ Brown, Raymond E.; et al. (1990). "78:20; 81:106, 112–113, 117". The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0136149347.
  31. ^ Darling, Frank C (1989). Biblical Healing: Hebrew and Christian roots. Boulder, Colorado: Vista Publications. pp. 95–182. ISBN 978-0962250408.
  32. ^ a b Catholic Church. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (2000-09-14). "Instruction on prayers for healing". vatican.va. Vatican City. from the original on 2001-01-24.
  33. ^ a b c d e Catholic Church. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Committee on Doctrine (2009-03-25). (PDF). usccb.org. Washington, DC: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-05-08. Retrieved 2015-11-04.
  34. ^ Ascoli, Micol (2009). "Psychotherapy or religious healing? : the 'therapeutic' cult of charismatic Catholics in Italy". In Incayawar, Mario; Wintrob, Ronald; Bouchard, Lise (eds.). Psychiatrist and traditional healers : unwitting partners in global mental health. WPA series, evidence and experience in psychiatry. Hoboken, NJ: J. Wiley & Sons. pp. 229–236. doi:10.1002/9780470741054.ch18. ISBN 978-0470741054.
  35. ^ a b c   One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Walsh, James J. (1911). "Psychotherapy". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 12. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  36. ^ a b Scanlon, Leslie (June 2009). "It's a miracle!". U.S. Catholic. Vol. 74, no. 6. p. 12.
  37. ^ . Crux. 2016-09-23. Archived from the original on 2017-04-27. Retrieved 2017-04-26.
  38. ^ Pinches, Charles (2007). "Miracles: A Christian theological overview". Southern Medical Journal. 100 (12): 1236–1242. doi:10.1097/SMJ.0b013e31815843cd. PMID 18090969. S2CID 33420931.
  39. ^   One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Bertrin, Georges (1910). "Notre-Dame de Lourdes". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  40. ^ . ZENIT Daily Dispatch. Zenit News Agency. February 11, 2004. Archived from the original on 2007-11-21. Retrieved 2007-12-14 – via ewtn.com. Citing Associazione Medici Cattolici Italiani. Sezione di Milano, ed. (2004). "Il medico di fronte al miracolo". Il medico di fronte al miracolo. Convegno promosso dall'A.M.C.I. tenuto a Milano il 23 novembre 2002 (in Italian). Cinisello Balsamo, IT: Edizioni Paoline. ISBN 978-8821550607.
  41. ^ Bertrin, Georges (1908). Lourdes: a history of its apparitions and cures. Translated by Agnes Mary Rowland Gibbs. New York [u.a.]: Benziger Brothers. hdl:2027/nnc1.0020343540. OCLC 679304003.
  42. ^ Cecil M. Robeck, Jr, Amos Yong, The Cambridge Companion to Pentecostalism, Cambridge University Press, UK, 2014, p. 138
  43. ^ Béatrice Mohr et Isabelle Nussbaum, Rock, miracles & Saint-Esprit, rts.ch, Switzerland, April 21, 2011
  44. ^ Randall Herbert Balmer, Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism: Revised and expanded edition, Baylor University Press, US, 2004, p. 212
  45. ^ Sébastien Fath, Du ghetto au réseau: Le protestantisme évangélique en France, 1800–2005, Édition Labor et Fides, Genève, 2005, p. 28
  46. ^ Synan, Vinson (14 June 2009). "The Origins of the Pentecostal Movement". Holy Spirit Research Center, Oral Roberts University.
  47. ^ Posner, Sarah; Conason, Joe (2008). God's Profits: Faith, Fraud, and the Republican Crusade for Values Voters. Polipoint Press. p. 67. ISBN 978-0979482212.
  48. ^ Anderson, Allan (2004). An introduction to Pentecostalism: global charismatic Christianity. Cambridge [u.a.]: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521532808.
  49. ^ Harrell, David E. (1975). All things are possible: the healing and charismatic revivals in modern America. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0253100900.
  50. ^ Sheryl, J. Greg (2013). "The Legend of William Branham" (PDF). The Quarterly Journal. 33 (3). ISSN 1083-6853.
  51. ^ Sims 1996, p. 195.
  52. ^ Oral Roberts, Pentecostal Evangelist, Dies at 91 – Obituary (Obit) – NYTimes.com
  53. ^ Jones, Charles (January 21, 1958). " 'I've no secrets to hide', says evangelist Roberts". The Miami News. p. 5A. Retrieved 2014-01-23.[permanent dead link]
  54. ^ "7,000 in evangelistic tent sing when lights go out". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. August 24, 1953. p. 7. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  55. ^ a b . The Washington Post. Associated Press. February 21, 1956. p. 3. Archived from the original on 2014-02-02. Retrieved 2007-11-12 – via ProQuest.
  56. ^ . Chronicle-Telegram. Elyria, OH. June 25, 1970. Archived from the original on August 15, 2016. Retrieved 2007-05-17.
  57. ^ a b c Randi 1989, p. 10.
  58. ^ Nickell, Joe (May–June 2002). . Skeptical Inquirer. Vol. 26, no. 3. Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Archived from the original on 2013-10-30. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  59. ^ Eddy, Mary Baker (1910) [1875]. Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. pp. 1–17. ISBN 978-0879524371.
  60. ^ Carroll, Robert Todd (2014). "Faith Healing". The Skeptic's Dictionary (online ed.).
  61. ^ Bergman, Gerald (October 2001). "The Christian Science holocaust". The New England Journal of Skepticism. Vol. 4, no. 4. New England Skeptical Society.
  62. ^ Eddy, Mary Baker (1925). Prose Works other than Science and Health. 1st Church of Christ Scientist. p. 33.
  63. ^ Peel, Robert (1988). Health and medicine in the Christian Science tradition. NY: Crossroad. p. 2. ISBN 978-0824508951.
  64. ^ "Directory of practitioners". The First Church of Christ, Scientist.
  65. ^ a b Matlins, Stuart (2003). How to Be a Perfect Stranger: The Essential Religious Etiquette Handbook. Skylight Paths Publishing. pp. 70–76. ISBN 978-1594731402.
  66. ^ "JSH-Online". The First Church of Christ, Scientist.
  67. ^ Miller, Brandon J. (September 2001). "I needed a blessing". Latter-day Saint Voices. The Ensign of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Ensign). pp. 64–68.
  68. ^ Ribeiro, Sérgio (January 2004). "He restoreth my soul". Latter-day Saint Voices. Ensign. pp. 70–73.
  69. ^ Heal, Simon (April 2010). "Call an ambulance!". Latter-day Saint Voices. Ensign. pp. 60–63.
  70. ^ Peñate de Guerra, Magdalena (September 2005). "We rejoiced in her healing". Latter-day Saint Voices. Ensign. pp. 66–69.
  71. ^ "Joseph Smith/Healings and miracles". fairmormon.org. FairMormon. May 23, 2010. from the original on 2010-02-01. Retrieved 2010-09-20.
  72. ^ "Joseph Smith: Prophet of God". Josephsmith.net. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS).[full citation needed]
  73. ^ Young, Brigham 1997, Chapter 34: "Strengthening the Saints Through the Gifts of the Spirit". pp. 251–259
  74. ^ a b Young, Brigham 1997, Ch, 34. pp. 251–259 Citing: Young, Brigham 1941, p. 163
  75. ^ Young, Brigham 1997, Ch, 34. pp. 251–259 Citing: Young, Brigham 1941, p. 162
  76. ^ Encyclopedia of Love in World Religions, Volume 1. ABC-CLIO. p. 42.
  77. ^ "Visit of Aussie-based 'Buddhist Master' draws controversy". The Star. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  78. ^ Cooper, Paulette. The Scandal of Scientology.
  79. ^ a b "Popular Delusions III: Faith Healing". 26 September 2006. Retrieved 30 April 2018. Naturally, this result has provoked bitter complaints from many believers who assert that God should not be put to the test. In response to the MANTRA study, an English bishop said, "Prayer is not a penny in the slot machine. You can't just put in a coin and get out a chocolate bar." Similarly, in a New York Times article on prayer studies from October 10, 2004, Rev. Raymond J. Lawrence Jr. of New York-Presbyterian Hospital is quoted as saying, "There's no way to put God to the test, and that's exactly what you're doing when you design a study to see if God answers your prayers. This whole exercise cheapens religion, and promotes an infantile theology that God is out there ready to miraculously defy the laws of nature in answer to a prayer."
  80. ^ Martin, Michael (1994). (PDF). Science & Education. 3 (4): 364. Bibcode:1994Sc&Ed...3..357M. doi:10.1007/BF00488452. S2CID 22730647. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 July 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2018. Cures allegedly brought about by religious faith are, in turn, considered to be paranormal phenomena but the related religious practices and beliefs are not pseudoscientific since they usually have no scientific pretensions.
  81. ^ Gould, Stephen Jay (March 1997). "Non-overlapping magisteria". Natural History. Vol. 106. pp. 16–22. Re-published in Gould, Stephen Jay (1998). . Leonardo's Mountain of Clams and the Diet of Worms. New York: New Harmony. pp. 269–283. Archived from the original on 2017-01-04. Retrieved 2008-01-30.
  82. ^ a b Flamm, Bruce (September–October 2004). . Skeptical Inquirer. Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Archived from the original on 2009-11-06.
  83. ^ Wendler, David (2017). "The Ethics of Clinical Research". The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2017 ed.). Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University.
  84. ^ a b Roberts, Leanne; Ahmed, Irshad; Davison, Andrew (15 April 2009). "Intercessory prayer for the alleviation of ill health". Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2009 (2): CD000368. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD000368.pub3. PMC 7034220. PMID 19370557.
  85. ^ Rose, Louis (1954). "Some aspects of paranormal healing". The British Medical Journal. 2 (4900): 1329–1332. doi:10.1136/bmj.2.4900.1329. PMC 2080217. PMID 13209112.
  86. ^ "About GMRI – Global Medical Research Institute". Global Medical Research Institute – Applying rigorous methods of evidence-based medicine to study Christian Spiritual Healing practices. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  87. ^ Jo Marchant, "Heal Thyself", New Scientist, 27 August 2011, pp. 33–36.
  88. ^ Crossan, John Dominic; Watts, Richard G., eds. (1999) [c. 1996]. Who is Jesus?: Answers to Your Questions About the Historical Jesus (reprint ed.). Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox. p. 64]. ISBN 978-0664258429.
  89. ^ a b . UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, UC San Diego Health System, University of California, San Diego. Archived from the original on 2008-10-06. Retrieved 2008-01-17.
  90. ^ Carroll, Robert Todd (January 8, 2014). "Faith Healing". The Skeptic's Dictionary.
  91. ^ a b Park, Robert L. (2000). Voodoo Science: The Road from Foolishness to Fraud. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 50–51. ISBN 978-0195135152.
  92. ^ Humphrey, Nicholas (2002). "Chapter 19: Great Expectations: The Evolutionary Psychology of Faith-Healing and the Placebo Effect" (PDF). The Mind Made Flesh: Essays from the Frontiers of Psychology and Evolution. Oxford University Press. pp. 255–285. ISBN 978-0192802279. (PDF) from the original on 2005-05-29.
  93. ^ a b "H-185.987 Prayer Fees Reimbursed As Medical Expenses". American Medical Association. Retrieved 2008-01-17.[dead link]
  94. ^ Scientific apriori's against the paranormal 2009-06-19 at the Wayback Machine by Prof. Etienne Vermeersch.
  95. ^ Vermeersch, E., Het paranormale ter discussie, Studiumgenerale, nr 9107, Utrecht University, 1992, pp. 81–93 (English title: The paranormal questioned).
  96. ^ Vermeersch, E., Epistemologische Inleiding tot een Wetenschap van de Mens, Brugge, De Tempel, 1966.
  97. ^ Flamm, Bruce L. (2004). . Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine. 8 (2). Archived from the original on 2007-08-16. Retrieved 2008-01-17.
  98. ^ a b c Randi 1989, p. 141.
  99. ^ Lane, Liz (November 25, 2011). . Sky News. Archived from the original on November 26, 2011.
  100. ^ Robert Cogan (1998). Critical Thinking: Step by Step. University Press of America. p. 217. ISBN 978-0761810674.
  101. ^ Saucy, Robert L. (1996). Grudem, Wayne (ed.). Are Miraculous Gifts for Today?. ISBN 978-0310201557.[full citation needed]
  102. ^ "D.A. Carson: Biographical Sketch". Monergism.com. Portland, OR: Christian Publication Resource Foundation. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  103. ^ a b Carson 1987, p. 156.
  104. ^ Carson 1987, pp. 174–175.
  105. ^ Gaffin 1979,[page needed].
  106. ^ Gaffin 1979, pp. 113–114.
  107. ^ Gaffin 1979, p. 114.
  108. ^ "Some Thoughts about Faith Healing". www.quackwatch.com. 27 December 2009. Retrieved 2016-04-07.
  109. ^ a b c d "Faith healer dies – Victim of bulbar polio". Daily Courier. Yavapai County, AZ. December 18, 1956. Archived from the original on January 29, 2013. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
  110. ^ a b c "'Faith-healer' dies of polio". The Salina Journal. Salina, KS. December 17, 1956. p. 5.
  111. ^ Davis, Mike (February 8, 1956). "Lost faith: Mother's story of healer". The Miami Daily News. Miami, FL. p. 7A. Retrieved 2014-01-23.[permanent dead link]
  112. ^ Roberts, Jack (January 19, 1958). "$10,000 dares Oral Roberts to prove faith healing". The Miami News. Miami, FL. Retrieved 2014-01-23.[permanent dead link]
  113. ^ "The Week In Religion". Walla Walla Union-Bulletin. July 1, 1956.[full citation needed]
  114. ^ "Charges against Texas faith healer dismissed". St. Petersburg Times. St. Petersburg, FL. February 21, 1956. p. 9. Retrieved 2014-01-23.[permanent dead link]
  115. ^ "Faith healer Jack Coe dies". Corpus Christi Times. Corpus Christi, TX. December 17, 1956. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
  116. ^ . The Washington Post. December 17, 1956. Archived from the original on 2009-08-26. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
  117. ^ "Jack Coe is dead at 38; Texas evangelist succumbs to bulbar polio". The New York Times. December 17, 1956. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
  118. ^ "Derren Brown: Miracles For Sale was deceptively entertaining polio". Metro. April 25, 2011. from the original on February 15, 2013.
  119. ^ Merrick, Janna C. (2003). "Spiritual healing, sick kids and the law: Inequities in the American healthcare system". American Journal of Law & Medicine. 29 (2–3): 269–299. doi:10.1017/S0098858800002847. PMID 12961808. S2CID 27122896.
  120. ^ (PDF). Child Welfare Information Gateway, Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services. April 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-10-11. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
  121. ^ Child Abuse in Idaho: Deadly & Legal
  122. ^ Living on a Prayer: Why Does God Kill So Many Children in Idaho?
  123. ^ Parental rights bill sparks lengthy testimony
  124. ^ "US 'prayer cure' couple lose appeal over child's death". BBC News. July 3, 2013.

Bibliography

External links

  •   Media related to Faith healing at Wikimedia Commons

May 03, 2023
faith, healing, faith, healer, redirects, here, play, brian, friel, faith, healer, practice, prayer, gestures, such, laying, hands, that, believed, some, elicit, divine, intervention, spiritual, physical, healing, especially, christian, practice, believers, as. Faith healer redirects here For the play by Brian Friel see Faith Healer Faith healing is the practice of prayer and gestures such as laying on of hands that are believed by some to elicit divine intervention in spiritual and physical healing especially the Christian practice 1 Believers assert that the healing of disease and disability can be brought about by religious faith through prayer or other rituals that according to adherents can stimulate a divine presence and power Religious belief in divine intervention does not depend on empirical evidence of an evidence based outcome achieved via faith healing 2 Virtually all a scientists and philosophers dismiss faith healing as pseudoscience 3 4 5 6 The prophet Elijah praying for the recovery of the son of the widow of Zarephath from the Bible s Books of Kings Claims that a myriad of techniques such as prayer divine intervention or the ministrations of an individual healer can cure illness have been popular throughout history 7 There have been claims that faith can cure blindness deafness cancer HIV AIDS developmental disorders anemia arthritis corns defective speech multiple sclerosis skin rashes total body paralysis and various injuries 8 Recoveries have been attributed to many techniques commonly classified as faith healing It can involve prayer a visit to a religious shrine or simply a strong belief in a supreme being 8 Many people interpret the Bible especially the New Testament as teaching belief in and the practice of faith healing According to a 2004 Newsweek poll 72 percent of Americans said they believe that praying to God can cure someone even if science says the person has an incurable disease 9 Unlike faith healing advocates of spiritual healing make no attempt to seek divine intervention instead believing in divine energy The increased interest in alternative medicine at the end of the 20th century has given rise to a parallel interest among sociologists in the relationship of religion to health 2 Faith healing can be classified as a spiritual supernatural 10 or paranormal topic 11 and in some cases belief in faith healing can be classified as magical thinking 12 The American Cancer Society states available scientific evidence does not support claims that faith healing can actually cure physical ailments 8 Death disability and other unwanted outcomes have occurred when faith healing was elected instead of medical care for serious injuries or illnesses 8 When parents have practiced faith healing rather than medical care many children have died that otherwise would have been expected to live 13 Similar results are found in adults 14 Contents 1 In various belief systems 1 1 Christianity 1 1 1 Overview 1 1 2 New Testament 1 1 3 Early Christian church 1 1 4 Catholicism 1 1 5 Evangelicalism 1 1 6 Christian Science 1 1 7 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints 1 2 Islam 1 3 Buddhism 1 4 Scientology 2 Scientific investigation 3 Criticism 3 1 Negative impact on public health 3 2 Christian theological criticism of faith healing 3 3 Fraud 3 4 Miracles for sale 4 United States law 4 1 Reckless homicide convictions 5 See also 6 Notes 7 References 8 Bibliography 9 External linksIn various belief systems EditChristianity Edit Overview Edit Faith healing by Fernando Suarez Philippines Regarded as a Christian belief that God heals people through the power of the Holy Spirit faith healing often involves the laying on of hands It is also called supernatural healing divine healing and miracle healing among other things Healing in the Bible is often associated with the ministry of specific individuals including Elijah Jesus and Paul 2 Christian physician Reginald B Cherry views faith healing as a pathway of healing in which God uses both the natural and the supernatural to heal 15 Being healed has been described as a privilege of accepting Christ s redemption on the cross 16 Pentecostal writer Wilfred Graves Jr views the healing of the body as a physical expression of salvation 17 Matthew 8 17 after describing Jesus exorcising at sunset and healing all of the sick who were brought to him quotes these miracles as a fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah 53 5 He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases Even those Christian writers who believe in faith healing do not all believe that one s faith presently brings about the desired healing Y our faith does not effect your healing now When you are healed rests entirely on what the sovereign purposes of the Healer are 18 Larry Keefauver cautions against allowing enthusiasm for faith healing to stir up false hopes Just believing hard enough long enough or strong enough will not strengthen you or prompt your healing Doing mental gymnastics to hold on to your miracle will not cause your healing to manifest now 18 Those who actively lay hands on others and pray with them to be healed are usually aware that healing may not always follow immediately Proponents of faith healing say it may come later and it may not come in this life The truth is that your healing may manifest in eternity not in time 18 New Testament Edit This section uncritically uses texts from within a religion or faith system without referring to secondary sources that critically analyze them Please help improve this article by adding references to reliable secondary sources with multiple points of view September 2015 Learn how and when to remove this template message Parts of the four canonical gospels in the New Testament say that Jesus cured physical ailments well outside the capacity of first century medicine Jesus healing acts are considered miraculous and spectacular due to the results being impossible or statistically improbable 19 One example is the case of a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years and who had suffered much under many physicians and had spent all that she had and was not better but rather grew worse Mark 5 26 27 After healing her Jesus tells her Daughter your faith has made you well Go in peace Be cured from your illness Mark 5 34 At least two other times Jesus credited the sufferer s faith as the means of being healed Mark 10 52 and Luke 19 10 Jesus endorsed the use of the medical assistance of the time medicines of oil and wine when he told the parable of the Good Samaritan Luke 10 25 37 who bound up an injured man s wounds pouring on oil and wine verse 34 as a physician would Jesus then told the doubting teacher of the law who had elicited this parable by his self justifying question And who is my neighbor in verse 29 to go and do likewise in loving others with whom he would never ordinarily associate verse 37 20 The healing in the gospels is referred to as a sign John 6 2 to prove Jesus divinity and to foster belief in him as the Christ John 4 48 However when asked for other types of miracles Jesus refused some Matthew 12 38 42 but granted others Luke 9 38 43 in consideration of the motive of the request Some theologians understanding is that Jesus healed all who were present every single time 21 Sometimes he determines whether they had faith that he would heal them 22 Four of the seven miraculous signs performed in the Fourth Gospel that indicated he was sent from God were acts of healing or resurrection He heals the Capernaum official s son heals a paralytic by the pool in Bethsaida healing a man born blind and resurrecting Lazarus of Bethany 23 Jesus told his followers to heal the sick 24 and stated that signs such as healing are evidence of faith Jesus also told his followers to cure sick people raise up dead persons make lepers clean expel demons You received free give free Matthew 10 8 Mark 16 17 18 Jesus sternly ordered many who received healing from him Do not tell anyone 25 Jesus did not approve of anyone asking for a sign just for the spectacle of it describing such as coming from a wicked and adulterous generation Matthew 12 38 39 The apostle Paul believed healing is one of the special gifts of the Holy Spirit 1 Corinthians 12 9 26 and that the possibility exists that certain persons may possess this gift to an extraordinarily high degree 27 In the New Testament Epistle of James 5 14 the faithful are told that to be healed those who are sick should call upon the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord The New Testament says that during Jesus ministry and after his Resurrection the apostles healed the sick and cast out demons made lame men walk raised the dead and performed other miracles Apostles were holy men who had direct access to God and could channel his power to help and heal people 28 For example Saint Peter healed a disabled man 29 Luke 3 1 10 Jesus used miracles to convince people that he was inaugurating the Messianic Age as in Mt 12 28 Scholars have described Jesus miracles as establishing the kingdom during his lifetime 30 Early Christian church Edit Accounts or references to healing appear in the writings of many Ante Nicene Fathers although many of these mentions are very general and do not include specifics 31 Catholicism Edit See also Intercession of saints The Roman Catholic Church recognizes two not mutually exclusive kinds of healing 32 I 3 33 nn2 3 one justified by science and one justified by faith healing by human natural means through the practice of medicine which emphasizes that the theological virtue of charity demands that we not neglect natural means of healing people who are ill and the cardinal virtue of prudence forewarns not to employ a technique that has no scientific support or even plausibility 33 nn2 3 6 10 healing by divine grace interceded on behalf of the sick through the invocation of the name of the Lord Jesus asking for healing through the power of the Holy Spirit whether in the form of the sacramental laying on of hands and anointing with oil or of simple prayers for healing which often include an appeal to the saints for their aid 33 n2 In 2000 the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued Instruction on prayers for healing with specific norms about prayer meetings for obtaining healing 32 which presents the Catholic Church s doctrines of sickness and healing 34 230 further explanation needed It accepts that there may be means of natural healing that have not yet been understood or recognized by science 33 n6 b but it rejects superstitious practices which are neither compatible with Christian teaching nor compatible with scientific evidence 33 nn11 12 Faith healing is reported by Catholics as the result of intercessory prayer to a saint or to a person with the gift of healing According to U S Catholic magazine Even in this skeptical postmodern scientific age miracles really are possible According to a Newsweek poll three fourths of American Catholics say they pray for miracles of some sort 36 According to John Cavadini when healing is granted The miracle is not primarily for the person healed but for all people as a sign of God s work in the ultimate healing called salvation or a sign of the kingdom that is coming Some might view their own healing as a sign they are particularly worthy or holy while others do not deserve it 36 The Catholic Church has a special Congregation dedicated to the careful investigation of the validity of alleged miracles attributed to prospective saints Pope Francis tightened the rules on money and miracles in the canonization process 37 Since Catholic Christians believe the lives of canonized saints in the Church will reflect Christ s many have come to expect healing miracles While the popular conception of a miracle can be wide ranging the Catholic Church has a specific definition for the kind of miracle formally recognized in a canonization process 38 According to Catholic Encyclopedia it is often said that cures at shrines and during Christian pilgrimages are mainly due to psychotherapy partly to confident trust in Divine providence and partly to the strong expectancy of cure that comes over suggestible persons at these times and places 35 c Among the best known accounts by Catholics of faith healings are those attributed to the miraculous intercession of the apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary known as Our Lady of Lourdes at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in France and the remissions of life threatening disease claimed by those who have applied for aid to Saint Jude who is known as the patron saint of lost causes failed verification see discussion 39 As of 2004 update Catholic medics have asserted that there have been 67 miracles and 7 000 unexplainable medical cures at Lourdes since 1858 40 In a 1908 book it says these cures were subjected to intense medical scrutiny and were only recognized as authentic spiritual cures after a commission of doctors and scientists called the Lourdes Medical Bureau had ruled out any physical mechanism for the patient s recovery 41 Evangelicalism Edit Laying on of hands for healing in Living Streams International Church Accra Ghana 2018 In some Pentecostal and Charismatic Evangelical churches a special place is thus reserved for faith healings with laying on of hands during worship services or for campaigns evangelization 42 43 Faith healing or divine healing is considered to be an inheritance of Jesus acquired by his death and resurrection 44 Biblical inerrancy ensures that the miracles and healings described in the Bible are still relevant and may be present in the life of the believer 45 At the beginning of the 20th century the new Pentecostal movement drew participants from the Holiness movement and other movements in America that already believed in divine healing By the 1930s several faith healers drew large crowds and established worldwide followings The first Pentecostals in the modern sense appeared in Topeka Kansas in a Bible school conducted by Charles Fox Parham a holiness teacher and former Methodist pastor Pentecostalism achieved worldwide attention in 1906 through the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles led by William Joseph Seymour 46 Smith Wigglesworth was also a well known figure in the early part of the 20th century A former English plumber turned evangelist who lived simply and read nothing but the Bible from the time his wife taught him to read Wigglesworth traveled around the world preaching about Jesus and performing faith healings Wigglesworth claimed to raise several people from the dead in Jesus name in his meetings 47 During the 1920s and 1930s Aimee Semple McPherson was a controversial faith healer of growing popularity during the Great Depression Subsequently William M Branham has been credited as the initiator of the post World War II healing revivals 48 58 49 25 The healing revival he began led many to emulate his style and spawned a generation of faith healers Because of this Branham has been recognized as the father of modern faith healers 50 According to writer and researcher Patsy Sims the power of a Branham service and his stage presence remains a legend unparalleled in the history of the Charismatic movement 51 By the late 1940s Oral Roberts who was associated with and promoted by Branham s Voice of Healing magazine also became well known and he continued with faith healing until the 1980s 52 Roberts discounted faith healing in the late 1950s stating I never was a faith healer and I was never raised that way My parents believed very strongly in medical science and we have a doctor who takes care of our children when they get sick I cannot heal anyone God does that 53 A friend of Roberts was Kathryn Kuhlman another popular faith healer who gained fame in the 1950s and had a television program on CBS Also in this era Jack Coe 54 55 and A A Allen 56 were faith healers who traveled with large tents for large open air crusades Oral Roberts s successful use of television as a medium to gain a wider audience led others to follow suit His former pilot Kenneth Copeland started a healing ministry Pat Robertson Benny Hinn and Peter Popoff became well known televangelists who claimed to heal the sick 57 Richard Rossi is known for advertising his healing clinics through secular television and radio Kuhlman influenced Benny Hinn who adopted some of her techniques and wrote a book about her 58 Christian Science Edit Christian Science claims that healing is possible through prayer based on an understanding of God and the underlying spiritual perfection of God s creation 7 59 The material world as humanly perceived is believed to not be the spiritual reality Christian Scientists believe that healing through prayer is possible insofar as it succeeds in bringing the spiritual reality of health into human experience 60 Christian Scientists believe that prayer does not change the spiritual creation but gives a clearer view of it and the result appears in the human scene as healing the human picture adjusts to coincide more nearly with the divine reality 61 Christian Scientists do not consider themselves to be faith healers since faith or belief in Christian Science is not required on the part of the patient and because they consider it reliable and provable rather than random 62 63 Although there is no hierarchy in Christian Science Christian Science practitioners devote full time to prayer for others on a professional basis and advertise in an online directory published by the church 64 65 Christian Scientists sometimes tell their stories of healing at weekly testimony meetings at local Christian Science churches or publish them in the church s magazines including The Christian Science Journal printed monthly since 1883 the Christian Science Sentinel printed weekly since 1898 and The Herald of Christian Science a foreign language magazine beginning with a German edition in 1903 and later expanding to Spanish French and Portuguese editions Christian Science Reading Rooms often have archives of such healing accounts 66 65 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints Edit The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints LDS has had a long history of faith healings Many members of the LDS Church have told their stories of healing within the LDS publication the Ensign 67 68 69 70 The church believes healings come most often as a result of priesthood blessings given by the laying on of hands however prayer often accompanied with fasting is also thought to cause healings Healing is always attributed to be God s power Latter day Saints believe that the Priesthood of God held by prophets such as Moses and worthy disciples of the Savior was restored via heavenly messengers to the first prophet of this dispensation Joseph Smith 71 72 According to LDS doctrine even though members may have the restored priesthood authority to heal in the name of Jesus Christ all efforts should be made to seek the appropriate medical help Brigham Young stated this effectively while also noting that the ultimate outcome is still dependent on the will of God 73 If we are sick and ask the Lord to heal us and to do all for us that is necessary to be done according to my understanding of the Gospel of salvation I might as well ask the Lord to cause my wheat and corn to grow without my plowing the ground and casting in the seed It appears consistent to me to apply every remedy that comes within the range of my knowledge and to ask my Father in Heaven in the name of Jesus Christ to sanctify that application to the healing of my body 74 But suppose we were traveling in the mountains and one or two were taken sick without anything in the world in the shape of healing medicine within our reach what should we do According to my faith ask the Lord Almighty to heal the sick This is our privilege when so situated that we cannot get anything to help ourselves Then the Lord and his servants can do all But it is my duty to do when I have it in my power 74 We lay hands on the sick and wish them to be healed and pray the Lord to heal them but we cannot always say that he will 75 Islam Edit A number of healing traditions exist among Muslims Some healers are particularly focused on diagnosing cases of possession by jinn or demons 76 Buddhism Edit Chinese born Australian businessman Jun Hong Lu was a prominent proponent of the Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door claiming that practicing the three golden practices of reciting texts and mantras liberation of beings and making vows laid a solid foundation for improved physical mental and psychological well being with many followers publicly attesting to have been healed through practice 77 Scientology Edit Some critics of Scientology have referred to some of its practices as being similar to faith healing based on claims made by L Ron Hubbard in Dianetics The Modern Science of Mental Health and other writings 78 Scientific investigation EditSee also Studies on intercessory prayer Nearly all a scientists dismiss faith healing as pseudoscience 3 4 5 6 Believers assert that faith healing makes no scientific claims and thus should be treated as a matter of faith that is not testable by science 79 Critics reply that claims of medical cures should be tested scientifically because although faith in the supernatural is not in itself usually considered to be the purview of science 80 81 d claims of reproducible effects are nevertheless subject to scientific investigation 4 79 Scientists and doctors generally find that faith healing lacks biological plausibility or epistemic warrant 3 30 31 which is one of the criteria used to judge whether clinical research is ethical and financially justified 83 A Cochrane review of intercessory prayer found although some of the results of individual studies suggest a positive effect of intercessory prayer the majority do not 84 The authors concluded We are not convinced that further trials of this intervention should be undertaken and would prefer to see any resources available for such a trial used to investigate other questions in health care 84 A review in 1954 investigated spiritual healing therapeutic touch and faith healing Of the hundred cases reviewed none revealed that the healer s intervention alone resulted in any improvement or cure of a measurable organic disability 85 In addition at least one study has suggested that adult Christian Scientists who generally use prayer rather than medical care have a higher death rate than other people of the same age 8 The Global Medical Research Institute GMRI was created in 2012 to start collecting medical records of patients who claim to have received a supernatural healing miracle as a result of Christian Spiritual Healing practices The organization has a panel of medical doctors who review the patient s records looking at entries prior to the claimed miracles and entries after the miracle was claimed to have taken place The overall goal of GMRI is to promote an empirically grounded understanding of the physiological emotional and sociological effects of Christian Spiritual Healing practices 86 This is accomplished by applying the same rigorous standards used in other forms of medical and scientific research A 2011 article in the New Scientist magazine cited positive physical results from meditation positive thinking and spiritual faith 87 Criticism EditI have visited Lourdes in France and Fatima in Portugal healing shrines of the Christian Virgin Mary I have also visited Epidaurus in Greece and Pergamum in Turkey healing shrines of the pagan god Asklepios The miraculous healings recorded in both places were remarkably the same There are for example many crutches hanging in the grotto of Lourdes mute witness to those who arrived lame and left whole There are however no prosthetic limbs among them no witnesses to paraplegics whose lost limbs were restored John Dominic Crossan 88 Skeptics of faith healing offer primarily two explanations for anecdotes of cures or improvements relieving any need to appeal to the supernatural e 90 The first is post hoc ergo propter hoc meaning that a genuine improvement or spontaneous remission may have been experienced coincidental with but independent from anything the faith healer or patient did or said These patients would have improved just as well even had they done nothing The second is the placebo effect through which a person may experience genuine pain relief and other symptomatic alleviation In this case the patient genuinely has been helped by the faith healer or faith based remedy not through any mysterious or numinous function but by the power of their own belief that they would be healed 91 f 92 In both cases the patient may experience a real reduction in symptoms though in neither case has anything miraculous or inexplicable occurred Both cases however are strictly limited to the body s natural abilities According to the American Cancer Society 8 available scientific evidence does not support claims that faith healing can actually cure physical ailments One review published in 1998 looked at 172 cases of deaths among children treated by faith healing instead of conventional methods These researchers estimated that if conventional treatment had been given the survival rate for most of these children would have been more than 90 percent with the remainder of the children also having a good chance of survival A more recent study found that more than 200 children had died of treatable illnesses in the United States over the past thirty years because their parents relied on spiritual healing rather than conventional medical treatment The American Medical Association considers that prayer as therapy should not be a medically reimbursable or deductible expense 93 Belgian philosopher and skeptic Etienne Vermeersch coined the term Lourdes effect as a criticism of the magical thinking and placebo effect possibilities for the claimed miraculous cures as there are no documented events where a severed arm has been reattached through faith healing at Lourdes Vermeersch identifies ambiguity and equivocal nature of the miraculous cures as a key feature of miraculous events 94 95 96 Negative impact on public health Edit Reliance on faith healing to the exclusion of other forms of treatment can have a public health impact when it reduces or eliminates access to modern medical techniques g h i This is evident in both higher mortality rates for children 13 and in reduced life expectancy for adults 14 Critics have also made note of serious injury that has resulted from falsely labelled healings where patients erroneously consider themselves cured and cease or withdraw from treatment 7 j For example at least six people have died after faith healing by their church and being told they had been healed of HIV and could stop taking their medications 99 It is the stated position of the AMA that prayer as therapy should not delay access to traditional medical care 93 Choosing faith healing while rejecting modern medicine can and does cause people to die needlessly 100 Christian theological criticism of faith healing Edit Christian theological criticism of faith healing broadly falls into two distinct levels of disagreement The first is widely termed the open but cautious view of the miraculous in the church today This term is deliberately used by Robert L Saucy in the book Are Miraculous Gifts for Today 101 Don Carson is another example of a Christian teacher who has put forward what has been described as an open but cautious view 102 In dealing with the claims of Warfield particularly Warfield s insistence that miracles ceased 103 Carson asserts But this argument stands up only if such miraculous gifts are theologically tied exclusively to a role of attestation and that is demonstrably not so 103 However while affirming that he does not expect healing to happen today Carson is critical of aspects of the faith healing movement Another issue is that of immense abuses in healing practises The most common form of abuse is the view that since all illness is directly or indirectly attributable to the devil and his works and since Christ by his cross has defeated the devil and by his Spirit has given us the power to overcome him healing is the inheritance right of all true Christians who call upon the Lord with genuine faith 104 The second level of theological disagreement with Christian faith healing goes further Commonly referred to as cessationism its adherents either claim that faith healing will not happen today at all or may happen today but it would be unusual Richard Gaffin argues for a form of cessationism in an essay alongside Saucy s in the book Are Miraculous Gifts for Today In his book Perspectives on Pentecost 105 Gaffin states of healing and related gifts that the conclusion to be drawn is that as listed in 1 Corinthians 12 vv 9f 29f and encountered throughout the narrative in Acts these gifts particularly when exercised regularly by a given individual are part of the foundational structure of the church and so have passed out of the life of the church 106 Gaffin qualifies this however by saying At the same time however the sovereign will and power of God today to heal the sick particularly in response to prayer see e g James 5 14 15 ought to be acknowledged and insisted on 107 Fraud Edit Skeptics of faith healers point to fraudulent practices either in the healings themselves such as plants in the audience with fake illnesses or concurrent with the healing work supposedly taking place and claim that faith healing is a quack practice in which the healers use well known non supernatural illusions to exploit credulous people in order to obtain their gratitude confidence and money 57 James Randi s The Faith Healers investigates Christian evangelists such as Peter Popoff who claimed to heal sick people on stage in front of an audience Popoff pretended to know private details about participants lives by receiving radio transmissions from his wife who was off stage and had gathered information from audience members prior to the show 57 According to this book many of the leading modern evangelistic healers have engaged in deception and fraud 108 The book also questioned how faith healers use funds that were sent to them for specific purposes k Physicist Robert L Park 91 and doctor and consumer advocate Stephen Barrett 7 have called into question the ethics of some exorbitant fees There have also been legal controversies For example in 1955 at a Jack Coe revival service in Miami Florida Coe told the parents of a three year old boy that he healed their son who had polio 109 110 Coe then told the parents to remove the boy s leg braces 109 110 However their son was not cured of polio and removing the braces left the boy in constant pain 109 110 111 As a result through the efforts of Joseph L Lewis Coe was arrested and charged on February 6 1956 with practicing medicine without a license a felony in the state of Florida 112 A Florida Justice of the Peace dismissed the case on grounds that Florida exempts divine healing from the law 55 113 114 Later that year Coe was diagnosed with bulbar polio and died a few weeks later at Dallas Parkland Hospital on December 17 1956 109 115 116 117 Miracles for sale Edit TV personality Derren Brown produced a show on faith healing entitled Miracles for Sale which arguably exposed the art of faith healing as a scam In this show Derren trained a scuba diver trainer picked from the general public to be a faith healer and took him to Texas to successfully deliver a faith healing session to a congregation 118 United States law EditThe 1974 Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act CAPTA required states to grant religious exemptions to child neglect and child abuse laws in order to receive federal money 119 The CAPTA amendments of 1996 42 U S C 5106i state a In General Nothing in this Act shall be construed 1 as establishing a Federal requirement that a parent or legal guardian provide a child any medical service or treatment against the religious beliefs of the parent or legal guardian and 2 to require that a State find or to prohibit a State from finding abuse or neglect in cases in which a parent or legal guardian relies solely or partially upon spiritual means rather than medical treatment in accordance with the religious beliefs of the parent or legal guardian b State Requirement Notwithstanding subsection a a State shall at a minimum have in place authority under State law to permit the child protective services system of the State to pursue any legal remedies including the authority to initiate legal proceedings in a court of competent jurisdiction to provide medical care or treatment for a child when such care or treatment is necessary to prevent or remedy serious harm to the child or to prevent the withholding of medically indicated treatment from children with life threatening conditions Except with respect to the withholding of medically indicated treatments from disabled infants with life threatening conditions case by case determinations concerning the exercise of the authority of this subsection shall be within the sole discretion of the State Thirty one states have child abuse religious exemptions These are Alabama Alaska California Colorado Delaware Florida Georgia Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Vermont Virginia and Wyoming 120 In six of these states Arkansas Idaho Iowa Louisiana Ohio and Virginia the exemptions extend to murder and manslaughter Of these Idaho is the only state accused of having a large number of deaths due to the legislation in recent times 121 122 In February 2015 controversy was sparked in Idaho over a bill believed to further reinforce parental rights to deny their children medical care 123 Reckless homicide convictions Edit Parents have been convicted of child abuse and felony reckless negligent homicide and found responsible for killing their children when they withheld lifesaving medical care and chose only prayers 124 See also EditAnointing of the sick Breathwork New Age Efficacy of prayer Egregore Energy medicine Folk medicine Huna method New Age Self efficacy Thaumaturgy Witch doctor List of ineffective cancer treatments List of topics characterized as pseudoscienceNotes Edit a b Despite the lack of generally accepted demarcation criteria we find remarkable agreement among virtually all philosophers and scientists that fields like astrology creationism homeopathy dowsing psychokinesis faith healing clairvoyance or ufology are either pseudosciences or at least lack the epistemic warrant to be taken seriously Martin Mahner 2013 3 30 31 According to a Catholic Encyclopedia article about psychotherapy from 1911 the application of scientific principles has probably been the responsible cause of more faith cures than anything else Faith in a scientific discovery acts through the mind of a patient to bring about an improvement of symptoms if not a cure of the disease The patients who are cured usually suffer from chronic conditions they either have only a persuasion that they are ill or have some physical ailment but the patients inhibit through solicitude and worry the natural forces that would bring about a cure This inhibition cannot be lifted until the mind is relieved by confidence in a remedy or scientific discovery that gives them a conviction of cure 35 A pre 1911 analysis of the records of cures shows that the majority of accepted cures have been in patients suffering from demonstrable physical conditions 35 The faith in faith healing refers to an irrational belief unsupported by evidence that mysterious supernatural powers can eradicate disease Science deals with evidence not faith Bruce Flamm 2004 82 Benefits may result because of the natural progression of the illness rarely but regularly occurring spontaneous remission or through the placebo effect UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center 89 Patients who seek the assistance of a faith healer must believe strongly in the healer s divine gifts and ability to focus them on the ill UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center 89 Faith healing can cause patients to shun effective medical care Bruce Flamm 97 It is often claimed that faith healing may not work but at least does no harm In fact reliance on faith healing can cause serious harm and even death Bruce Flamm 82 Faith healers take from their subjects any hope of managing on their own And they may very well take them away from legitimate treatments that could really help them James Randi 98 These discarded medications are substances without which those people might well die James Randi 98 Some faith healers have been less than careful in their use of funds sent to them for specific purposes James Randi 98 References Edit Faith healing thearda com University Park PA Association of Religion Data Archives Archived from the original on 2016 01 01 Retrieved 2015 10 24 Citing Smith Jonathan Green William Scott eds 1995 The HarperCollins Dictionary of Religion San Francisco CA HarperCollins p 355 a b c Village Andrew 2005 Dimensions of belief about miraculous healing Mental Health Religion amp Culture 8 2 97 107 doi 10 1080 1367467042000240374 S2CID 15727398 a b c d Mahner Martin 2013 Pigliucci Massimo Boudry Maarten eds Philosophy of pseudoscience reconsidering the demarcation problem Online Ausg ed Chicago University of Chicago Press p 30 ISBN 978 0226051826 Retrieved 18 April 2018 a b c Hassani Sadri 2010 From Atoms to Galaxies A Conceptual Physics Approach to Scientific Awareness CRC Press p 641 ISBN 978 1439882849 Retrieved 18 April 2018 There are also activities that although not classified or claimed as science have implications that trespass into the scientific territories Examples of this category of activities are the claim that we have been visited by aliens riding unidentified flying objects all psychic phenomena and faith healing We study the nature of all these activities under the general heading of pseudoscience a b Erzinclioglu Zakaria 2000 Every Contact Leaves a Trace Scientific Detection in the Twentieth Century Carlton Books p 60 ISBN 978 1842221617 For example most scientists dismiss the notion of faith healing a phenomenon for which there is a certain amount of evidence a b See also Pitt Joseph C Pera Marcello 2012 Rational Changes in Science Essays on Scientific Reasoning Springer Science amp Business Media ISBN 978 9400937796 Retrieved 18 April 2018 Such examples of pseudoscience as the theory of biorhythms astrology dianetics creationism faith healing may seem too obvious examples of pseudoscience for academic readers Zerbe Michael J 2007 Composition and the Rhetoric of Science Engaging the Dominant Discourse SIU Press p 86 ISBN 978 0809327409 T he authors of the 2002 National Science Foundation Science and Engineering Indicators devoted and entire section of their report to the concern that the public is increasingly trusting in pseudoscience such as astrology UFOs and alien abduction extrasensory perception channeling the dead faith healing and psychic hotlines Robert Cogan 1998 Critical Thinking Step by Step University Press of America p 217 ISBN 978 0761810674 Faith healing is probably the most dangerous pseudoscience Leonard Bill J Crainshaw Jill Y 2013 Encyclopedia of Religious Controversies in the United States A L ABC CLIO ISBN 978 1598848670 Retrieved 18 April 2018 Certain approaches to faith healing are also widely considered to be pseudoscientific including those of Christian Science voodoo and Spiritualism a b c d Barrett Stephen December 27 2009 Some Thoughts about Faith Healing Quackwatch Archived from the original on 2014 02 09 Retrieved 2014 01 23 a b c d e f Faith Healing American Cancer Society 2013 01 17 Archived from the original on 2013 04 27 Kalb Claudia 2003 11 09 Faith amp Healing Newsweek 142 19 44 50 53 54 56 PMID 16124185 Walker Barbara McClenon James 1995 6 Out of the Ordinary Folklore and the supernatural Utah State University Press pp 107 121 ISBN 978 0874211962 Retrieved May 19 2015 Supernatural experiences provide a foundation for spiritual healing The concept supernatural is culturally specific since some societies regard all perceptions as natural yet certain events such as apparitions out of body and near death experiences extrasensory perceptions precognitive dreams and contact with the dead promote faith in extraordinary forces Supernatural experiences can be defined as those sensations directly supporting occult beliefs Supernatural experiences are important because they provide an impetus for ideologies supporting occult healing practices the primary means of medical treatment throughout antiquity Martin M 1994 Pseudoscience the paranormal and science education PDF Science and Education 3 4 357 371 Bibcode 1994Sc amp Ed 3 357M doi 10 1007 BF00488452 S2CID 22730647 Archived from the original PDF on 2019 07 13 Retrieved 2014 09 24 Cures allegedly brought about by religious faith are in turn considered to be paranormal phenomena but the related religious practices and beliefs are not pseudoscientific since they usually have no scientific pretensions Lesser R Paisner M March April 1985 Magical thinking in Formal Operational adults Human Development 28 2 57 70 doi 10 1159 000272942 a b Asser Seth M Swan Rita April 1998 Child fatalities from religion motivated medical neglect PDF Pediatrics 101 4 625 629 doi 10 1542 peds 101 4 625 PMID 9521945 S2CID 169037 Archived PDF from the original on 2012 04 17 Retrieved 2007 11 19 a b Simpson William F 1989 Comparative longevity in a college cohort of Christian Scientists JAMA 262 12 1657 1658 doi 10 1001 jama 1989 03430120111031 PMID 2769921 Cherry Reginald B 1999 1998 The Bible Cure reprint ed HarperOne ISBN 978 0062516152 page needed Citing John 9 1 7 and Mark 10 46 52 Bosworth 2001 p 32 Graves Wilfred Jr 2011 In Pursuit of Wholeness Experiencing God s Salvation for the Total Person Shippensburg PA Destiny Image p 52 ISBN 978 0768437942 a b c Keefauver Larry June 17 2009 The myths of faith healing Charisma Archived from the original on 2009 05 11 Ehrman B D 2016 The New Testament a historical introduction to the early Christian writings 6th ed New York Oxford University Press 251 253 ISBN missing Booth Craig W December 16 2003 Faith Healing God s Compassion God s Power and God s Sovereignty Is a Christian permitted to seek medical assistance and to use medicine thefaithfulword org Retrieved 2007 05 01 Bosworth 2001 p 61 Bosworth 2001 page needed Ehrman B D 2016 The New Testament a historical introduction to the early Christian writings 6th ed New York Oxford University Press 171 172 ISBN 978 0199757534 Crossan J D 1994 Jesus a revolutionary biography New York HarperOne 119 123 ISBN 978 0061800351 Matthew 8 4 9 30 Mark 5 43 7 24 7 36 8 30 9 9 Luke 5 14 Harris S L 2015 The New Testament a student s introduction 8th ed New York McGraw Hill Education 345 ISBN missing Price Charles P 2009 Faith Healing Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia Archived from the original on 2009 11 01 Pilch J J 2004 Visions and healing in the Acts of the Apostles how the early believers experienced God Collegeville MN Liturgical Press 40 ISBN 978 0814627976 Harris S L 2015 The New Testament a student s introduction 8th ed New York McGraw Hill Education 292 293 ISBN 978 0078119132 Brown Raymond E et al 1990 78 20 81 106 112 113 117 The New Jerome Biblical Commentary Englewood Cliffs NJ Prentice Hall ISBN 978 0136149347 Darling Frank C 1989 Biblical Healing Hebrew and Christian roots Boulder Colorado Vista Publications pp 95 182 ISBN 978 0962250408 a b Catholic Church Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith 2000 09 14 Instruction on prayers for healing vatican va Vatican City Archived from the original on 2001 01 24 a b c d e Catholic Church United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Doctrine 2009 03 25 Guidelines for evaluating Reiki as an alternative therapy PDF usccb org Washington DC United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Archived from the original PDF on 2014 05 08 Retrieved 2015 11 04 Ascoli Micol 2009 Psychotherapy or religious healing the therapeutic cult of charismatic Catholics in Italy In Incayawar Mario Wintrob Ronald Bouchard Lise eds Psychiatrist and traditional healers unwitting partners in global mental health WPA series evidence and experience in psychiatry Hoboken NJ J Wiley amp Sons pp 229 236 doi 10 1002 9780470741054 ch18 ISBN 978 0470741054 a b c One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain Walsh James J 1911 Psychotherapy In Herbermann Charles ed Catholic Encyclopedia Vol 12 New York Robert Appleton Company a b Scanlon Leslie June 2009 It s a miracle U S Catholic Vol 74 no 6 p 12 Vatican tightens rules on miracles and money in sainthood cases Crux 2016 09 23 Archived from the original on 2017 04 27 Retrieved 2017 04 26 Pinches Charles 2007 Miracles A Christian theological overview Southern Medical Journal 100 12 1236 1242 doi 10 1097 SMJ 0b013e31815843cd PMID 18090969 S2CID 33420931 One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain Bertrin Georges 1910 Notre Dame de Lourdes In Herbermann Charles ed Catholic Encyclopedia Vol 9 New York Robert Appleton Company How Lourdes cures are recognized as miraculous ZENIT Daily Dispatch Zenit News Agency February 11 2004 Archived from the original on 2007 11 21 Retrieved 2007 12 14 via ewtn com Citing Associazione Medici Cattolici Italiani Sezione di Milano ed 2004 Il medico di fronte al miracolo Il medico di fronte al miracolo Convegno promosso dall A M C I tenuto a Milano il 23 novembre 2002 in Italian Cinisello Balsamo IT Edizioni Paoline ISBN 978 8821550607 Bertrin Georges 1908 Lourdes a history of its apparitions and cures Translated by Agnes Mary Rowland Gibbs New York u a Benziger Brothers hdl 2027 nnc1 0020343540 OCLC 679304003 Cecil M Robeck Jr Amos Yong The Cambridge Companion to Pentecostalism Cambridge University Press UK 2014 p 138 Beatrice Mohr et Isabelle Nussbaum Rock miracles amp Saint Esprit rts ch Switzerland April 21 2011 Randall Herbert Balmer Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism Revised and expanded edition Baylor University Press US 2004 p 212 Sebastien Fath Du ghetto au reseau Le protestantisme evangelique en France 1800 2005 Edition Labor et Fides Geneve 2005 p 28 Synan Vinson 14 June 2009 The Origins of the Pentecostal Movement Holy Spirit Research Center Oral Roberts University Posner Sarah Conason Joe 2008 God s Profits Faith Fraud and the Republican Crusade for Values Voters Polipoint Press p 67 ISBN 978 0979482212 Anderson Allan 2004 An introduction to Pentecostalism global charismatic Christianity Cambridge u a Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 0521532808 Harrell David E 1975 All things are possible the healing and charismatic revivals in modern America Bloomington IN Indiana University Press ISBN 978 0253100900 Sheryl J Greg 2013 The Legend of William Branham PDF The Quarterly Journal 33 3 ISSN 1083 6853 Sims 1996 p 195 Oral Roberts Pentecostal Evangelist Dies at 91 Obituary Obit NYTimes com Jones Charles January 21 1958 I ve no secrets to hide says evangelist Roberts The Miami News p 5A Retrieved 2014 01 23 permanent dead link 7 000 in evangelistic tent sing when lights go out Pittsburgh Post Gazette August 24 1953 p 7 Retrieved 2014 01 23 a b Faith healer cleared of illegal practice The Washington Post Associated Press February 21 1956 p 3 Archived from the original on 2014 02 02 Retrieved 2007 11 12 via ProQuest Evangelist death laid to alcohol Chronicle Telegram Elyria OH June 25 1970 Archived from the original on August 15 2016 Retrieved 2007 05 17 a b c Randi 1989 p 10 Nickell Joe May June 2002 Benny Hinn Healer or hypnotist Skeptical Inquirer Vol 26 no 3 Committee for Skeptical Inquiry Archived from the original on 2013 10 30 Retrieved 2014 01 23 Eddy Mary Baker 1910 1875 Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures pp 1 17 ISBN 978 0879524371 Carroll Robert Todd 2014 Faith Healing The Skeptic s Dictionary online ed Bergman Gerald October 2001 The Christian Science holocaust The New England Journal of Skepticism Vol 4 no 4 New England Skeptical Society Eddy Mary Baker 1925 Prose Works other than Science and Health 1st Church of Christ Scientist p 33 Peel Robert 1988 Health and medicine in the Christian Science tradition NY Crossroad p 2 ISBN 978 0824508951 Directory of practitioners The First Church of Christ Scientist a b Matlins Stuart 2003 How to Be a Perfect Stranger The Essential Religious Etiquette Handbook Skylight Paths Publishing pp 70 76 ISBN 978 1594731402 JSH Online The First Church of Christ Scientist Miller Brandon J September 2001 I needed a blessing Latter day Saint Voices The Ensign of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints Ensign pp 64 68 Ribeiro Sergio January 2004 He restoreth my soul Latter day Saint Voices Ensign pp 70 73 Heal Simon April 2010 Call an ambulance Latter day Saint Voices Ensign pp 60 63 Penate de Guerra Magdalena September 2005 We rejoiced in her healing Latter day Saint Voices Ensign pp 66 69 Joseph Smith Healings and miracles fairmormon org FairMormon May 23 2010 Archived from the original on 2010 02 01 Retrieved 2010 09 20 Joseph Smith Prophet of God Josephsmith net The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints LDS full citation needed Young Brigham 1997 Chapter 34 Strengthening the Saints Through the Gifts of the Spirit pp 251 259 a b Young Brigham 1997 Ch 34 pp 251 259 Citing Young Brigham 1941 p 163 Young Brigham 1997 Ch 34 pp 251 259 Citing Young Brigham 1941 p 162 Encyclopedia of Love in World Religions Volume 1 ABC CLIO p 42 Visit of Aussie based Buddhist Master draws controversy The Star Retrieved 1 August 2020 Cooper Paulette The Scandal of Scientology a b Popular Delusions III Faith Healing 26 September 2006 Retrieved 30 April 2018 Naturally this result has provoked bitter complaints from many believers who assert that God should not be put to the test In response to the MANTRA study an English bishop said Prayer is not a penny in the slot machine You can t just put in a coin and get out a chocolate bar Similarly in a New York Times article on prayer studies from October 10 2004 Rev Raymond J Lawrence Jr of New York Presbyterian Hospital is quoted as saying There s no way to put God to the test and that s exactly what you re doing when you design a study to see if God answers your prayers This whole exercise cheapens religion and promotes an infantile theology that God is out there ready to miraculously defy the laws of nature in answer to a prayer Martin Michael 1994 Pseudoscience the Paranormal and Science Education PDF Science amp Education 3 4 364 Bibcode 1994Sc amp Ed 3 357M doi 10 1007 BF00488452 S2CID 22730647 Archived from the original PDF on 13 July 2019 Retrieved 30 March 2018 Cures allegedly brought about by religious faith are in turn considered to be paranormal phenomena but the related religious practices and beliefs are not pseudoscientific since they usually have no scientific pretensions Gould Stephen Jay March 1997 Non overlapping magisteria Natural History Vol 106 pp 16 22 Re published in Gould Stephen Jay 1998 Non overlapping magisteria Leonardo s Mountain of Clams and the Diet of Worms New York New Harmony pp 269 283 Archived from the original on 2017 01 04 Retrieved 2008 01 30 a b Flamm Bruce September October 2004 The Columbia University miracle study Flawed and fraud Skeptical Inquirer Committee for Skeptical Inquiry Archived from the original on 2009 11 06 Wendler David 2017 The Ethics of Clinical Research The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Winter 2017 ed Metaphysics Research Lab Stanford University a b Roberts Leanne Ahmed Irshad Davison Andrew 15 April 2009 Intercessory prayer for the alleviation of ill health Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2009 2 CD000368 doi 10 1002 14651858 CD000368 pub3 PMC 7034220 PMID 19370557 Rose Louis 1954 Some aspects of paranormal healing The British Medical Journal 2 4900 1329 1332 doi 10 1136 bmj 2 4900 1329 PMC 2080217 PMID 13209112 About GMRI Global Medical Research Institute Global Medical Research Institute Applying rigorous methods of evidence based medicine to study Christian Spiritual Healing practices Retrieved 12 June 2020 Jo Marchant Heal Thyself New Scientist 27 August 2011 pp 33 36 Crossan John Dominic Watts Richard G eds 1999 c 1996 Who is Jesus Answers to Your Questions About the Historical Jesus reprint ed Louisville KY Westminster John Knox p 64 ISBN 978 0664258429 a b Complementary and Alternative Therapies for Cancer Patients Faith Healing UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center UC San Diego Health System University of California San Diego Archived from the original on 2008 10 06 Retrieved 2008 01 17 Carroll Robert Todd January 8 2014 Faith Healing The Skeptic s Dictionary a b Park Robert L 2000 Voodoo Science The Road from Foolishness to Fraud New York Oxford University Press pp 50 51 ISBN 978 0195135152 Humphrey Nicholas 2002 Chapter 19 Great Expectations The Evolutionary Psychology of Faith Healing and the Placebo Effect PDF The Mind Made Flesh Essays from the Frontiers of Psychology and Evolution Oxford University Press pp 255 285 ISBN 978 0192802279 Archived PDF from the original on 2005 05 29 a b H 185 987 Prayer Fees Reimbursed As Medical Expenses American Medical Association Retrieved 2008 01 17 dead link Scientific apriori s against the paranormal Archived 2009 06 19 at the Wayback Machine by Prof Etienne Vermeersch Vermeersch E Het paranormale ter discussie Studiumgenerale nr 9107 Utrecht University 1992 pp 81 93 English title The paranormal questioned Vermeersch E Epistemologische Inleiding tot een Wetenschap van de Mens Brugge De Tempel 1966 Flamm Bruce L 2004 Inherent Dangers of Faith Healing Studies Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine 8 2 Archived from the original on 2007 08 16 Retrieved 2008 01 17 a b c Randi 1989 p 141 Lane Liz November 25 2011 Church tells HIV patients to stop treatment Sky News Archived from the original on November 26 2011 Robert Cogan 1998 Critical Thinking Step by Step University Press of America p 217 ISBN 978 0761810674 Saucy Robert L 1996 Grudem Wayne ed Are Miraculous Gifts for Today ISBN 978 0310201557 full citation needed D A Carson Biographical Sketch Monergism com Portland OR Christian Publication Resource Foundation Retrieved 2014 01 23 a b Carson 1987 p 156 Carson 1987 pp 174 175 Gaffin 1979 page needed Gaffin 1979 pp 113 114 Gaffin 1979 p 114 Some Thoughts about Faith Healing www quackwatch com 27 December 2009 Retrieved 2016 04 07 a b c d Faith healer dies Victim of bulbar polio Daily Courier Yavapai County AZ December 18 1956 Archived from the original on January 29 2013 Retrieved 2007 11 12 a b c Faith healer dies of polio The Salina Journal Salina KS December 17 1956 p 5 Davis Mike February 8 1956 Lost faith Mother s story of healer The Miami Daily News Miami FL p 7A Retrieved 2014 01 23 permanent dead link Roberts Jack January 19 1958 10 000 dares Oral Roberts to prove faith healing The Miami News Miami FL Retrieved 2014 01 23 permanent dead link The Week In Religion Walla Walla Union Bulletin July 1 1956 full citation needed Charges against Texas faith healer dismissed St Petersburg Times St Petersburg FL February 21 1956 p 9 Retrieved 2014 01 23 permanent dead link Faith healer Jack Coe dies Corpus Christi Times Corpus Christi TX December 17 1956 Retrieved 2007 11 12 Jack Coe evangelist dies of polio The Washington Post December 17 1956 Archived from the original on 2009 08 26 Retrieved 2007 11 12 Jack Coe is dead at 38 Texas evangelist succumbs to bulbar polio The New York Times December 17 1956 Retrieved 2007 11 12 Derren Brown Miracles For Sale was deceptively entertaining polio Metro April 25 2011 Archived from the original on February 15 2013 Merrick Janna C 2003 Spiritual healing sick kids and the law Inequities in the American healthcare system American Journal of Law amp Medicine 29 2 3 269 299 doi 10 1017 S0098858800002847 PMID 12961808 S2CID 27122896 Definitions of Child Abuse and Neglect PDF Child Welfare Information Gateway Children s Bureau Administration for Children and Families U S Dept of Health and Human Services April 2007 Archived from the original PDF on 2007 10 11 Retrieved 2009 02 27 Child Abuse in Idaho Deadly amp Legal Living on a Prayer Why Does God Kill So Many Children in Idaho Parental rights bill sparks lengthy testimony US prayer cure couple lose appeal over child s death BBC News July 3 2013 Bibliography EditBeyer Jurgen 2013 Wunderheilung In Enzyklopadie des Marchens Handworterbuch zur historischen und vergleichenden Erzahlforschung vol 14 Berlin amp Boston Walter de Gruyter coll 1043 1050 Bosworth Fred F 2001 First published 1924 Christ the healer sermons on divine healing Grand Rapids MI Revell ISBN 978 0800757397 Carson Don 1987 Showing the Spirit A Theological Exposition of 1 Corinthians 12 14 Grand Rapids MI Baker Book House ISBN 978 0801025211 Eddy Mary Baker 1910 1875 Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures Concord Express online ed sentinel christianscience com Gaffin Richard 1979 Perspectives on Pentecost New Testament Teaching on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit Phillipsburg NJ Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing ISBN 978 0875522692 Hall Harriet 19 November 2013 Faith Healing Religious Freedom vs Child Protection Science Based Medicine Retrieved 24 October 2016 Nolen William 1975 Healing A Doctor in Search of a Miracle Random House ISBN 978 0394490953 Randi James 1989 The Faith Healers Prometheus Books ISBN 978 0879755355 Thomas Northcote Whitbridge 1911 Faith healing In Chisholm Hugh ed Encyclopaedia Britannica 11th ed Cambridge University Press Sims Patsy 1996 Can Somebody Shout Amen Inside the Tents and Tabernacles of American Revivalists University Press of Kentucky ISBN 978 0813108865 Young Brigham 1941 Discourses of Brigham Young Selected by Widtsoe John A Young Brigham 1997 Teachings of Presidents of the Church Brigham Young churchofjesuschrist org online ed The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints LDS pp 251 9 External links Edit Media related to Faith healing at Wikimedia Commons Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Faith healing amp oldid 1152340564, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.