Related Topics

 Auto-suggestion; Hypnosis; Hysteria; Suggestion
FAITH HEALING
Faith-healing, sometimes called spiritual healing, is a form of treatment based on the doctrine that pain and disease actually exist but may be alleviated and dispelled by the intervention of divinely inspired power. The tradition of faith healing dates from the earliest days and was indoctrinated by Jesus Christ. Faith may be defined as a feeling or emotion of confidence reinforced by pleasurable anticipation of the attainment of a desired goal. It may be induced and greatly augmented by suggestion (q.v.), and is an essential factor in all healing. Drugs in many cases act simply through suggestion, that is, through their power to instil a conviction of their efficacy, or, in other words, to inspire faith and the physician's assuranee that the treatment he or she recommends will soon give relief, and goes a long way towards bringing about the desired result. This is a generally unrecognized fact.

The term "faith healing' is sometimes used in reference to the belief of many Christians who hold that God heals people through the power of the Holy Spirit, often involving the "laying on of hands". In the four gospels in the Christian Bible, Jesus both performs healings through divine power and indirectly acknowledged the role of the priest-physician, for example when he said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick". Jesus endorsed the use of the medical assistance of the time (medicines of herbs, oil and wine) when he praised the Good Samaritan for acting as a physician, telling his disciples to go and do the same thing that the Samaritan did in that Biblical story. The healing in the gospels is referred to as a sign to prove his divinity and to foster belief in himself as the Christ. In those cases where religious emotion is called into play, especially where large assemblies and strong mass suggestion are found, as at revival meetings and pilgrimages, the results are frequently spectacular.

Cases of genuine cure ascribed to faith healing fall into two categories.

In the first the sick are brought into direct relation with an authoritative personality, known as a healer, priest or physician, who, by means of some ritual or some appeal to the emotions, gives effect to the gifts he claims to possess or the power he believes delegated to him. For success in this method it is essential that the healer should have a personality marked by some degree of ethical or moral superiority. In some cases the sick regard the healer, or he/she may so regard himself, as an instrument for the manifestation of occult, mystic or divine power.

In the second category the healer is one unseen, e.g. angels or saints, who heals in response to direct intercession by prayer or through the medium of shrines, waters, amulets, etc.

In some cases direct spiritual communion with the healer is professed. Under the influence of such powerful direct suggestion cures are frequently obtained, but they are claimed by modern psychiatry only to be cures of hysterical disturbances, not of organic disease. The symptoms of hysteria (q.v.) are infinitely varied and include defects of sight and hearing, loss of voice (mutism), anaesthesia (lack of sensation in certain areas of the body), and paralysis. The causative factor is psychological and the symptoms represent the fulfilment in a disguised and distorted form of unconscious wishes. Bedridden patients who are cured by faith and those who recover from apparent advanced chronic illnesses are unquestionably cases of hysteria.

Despite the claims to cures by hysteria, faith-healing effects on genuine occasions, favorable changes in the nervous system, both central and autonomic, which steers the immune system towards healing are known. The immune system is dramatically affected by the steering currents of the nervous system. The same can be said for the hormones of the endocrine glands. Thus when the recipient surrenders faith to the almighty, our Lord Jesus Christ, the influx of energy permeates the nervous system and effectuates true cure.

 
 
    
  ©SMOKH - 2007 Warning & Disclaimer
By accessing this website, users agree to be bound by all of the terms and conditions of the guidelines set out in the below Warning & Disclaimer. 		   

 

This religious website is made available for Ministers of our Faith, and disclaims any responsibility for the accuracy of the content. Visitors assume the all risk of viewing, reading, using, or relying upon this information. Unless you have otherwise formed an express contract to the contrary with the website, you have no right to rely on any information contained herein as accurate. The website makes no such warranty. This website information (and any accompanying publications) is for informational purposes to heighten awareness of potential health care alternatives, does not guarantee a cure for disease, and is not intended to replace the attention or advice of a physician or other health care professional. Anyone who wishes to embark on any dietary, drug, exercise, supplement or lifestyle change intended to prevent or treat a specific disease or condition should first seek clearance from a qualified health practitioner. The information made available on this site and through its publications should not be taken as a substitute for the medical advice of physicians and should not be considered as medical advice. As many issues brought forth on the website are subject to change as new data emerges, this information must be considered dated, and the publisher disclaims responsibility if the material has been supplanted. None of the treatment regimes discussed can guarantee a cure for a disease.