Faith healing, True or false?

[YO-ELEVEN-11]

People talk about the act of being healed by faith. The act itslef involves someone with a "special" "spiritual connection, to GOD of Jesus, putting thier hands on the part of the body that is "sick" and healing that person of a particular disease or ailgment.

I have seen many people on TV who claim to heal people and also claim that it is through the power of GOD or Jesus that they are able to have the ability to "heal" people. Somtimes when I watch these programs, it almost seems comical the way the people "pass out" after the person with the special "spiritual power "lays hands" on them. I would not think twice about what I see on TV if I had not met people in person who have actually claimed that it works. I have some friends that say their mother was healed with this method.

Personally, I find this phenomena very curious.

I want to know if anyone in this forum has personally experienced this type of healing or know of some who has?

Any other thoughts on this subject matter are welcome.

[YO-ELEVEN-11]

LOL, I guess faith healing is not a popular subject in here.

[sara[h]ng]

:P

I'll bite.

I think the TV evangelist types that do that are full of it. I think it's pretty obvious that they are in it for the money and that it's a whole lot of quackery.

As for faith/miraculous healings, I have heard that in 3rd world places, they do still happen. People get better from horrid things because.. why? Because their immune system is freakish and they managed to fight it off? Because some kind of treatment they used actually worked? Because some things just go away on their own anyway? Maybe. But maybe not, too. And why just third world? Well, we really aren't in a position in 'advanced' cultures to see/need/acknowledge that kind of thing, for several reasons.

I'm not really prepared to debate this, but it is an interesting topic, and I thought I'd add my two cents.

Sarah

[YO-ELEVEN-11]

No debate here, just wanted opinions or thogughts on this subject.

[manephelien]

There is such a thing as the placebo effect. It's said that about 30% of all medical healing happens because people believe it will. I get frequent headaches, and after I take an ibuprofen pill, I usually feel better in about five minutes, even if the medicine doesn't start working until about 30 minutes after taking it.

I don't believe faith healing can help if the patient thinks it's all a load of bunkum, but if he or she believes in the process it can help at least a bit. Faith healing also works in reverse, healthy people have been known to waste away because they believe they've been hexed or cursed, without any cause acceptable to Western medicine.

[wil]

My two cents...

The placebo effect is faith healing...ie if your belief is strong enough and focused enough it will affect your healing....whether you believe in yourself, some crystal, a talisiman or believe all it will take is touching the hem...

As for the all of the TV stuff, there are always people to take advantage of others beliefs.

[sara[h]ng]

So.. what exactly IS this placebo effect? I mean, doctors recognize that it exists, that there is some force in the body that is inclined towards healing, with some variation... Why is the variation there?

How far can it go? Someone responding to a sugar pill in a Paxil study is different than suddenly losing your cataracts because you touched a man's clothing. Isn't it?

[Faithfulservant]

Im a believer in faith healing... Im not about to get into it here but God has used me to that effect and it glorifies God and edifies the body of Christ when done the way God intended it to

[Paladin]

Interestingly enough there is also the "nocebo" effect though it hasn't gotten the same kind of press obviously. Quite simply if you believe something will make you sick or injure you it will.
Now, that being said, there is the work of such greats as Phineas Parkhurst Quimby, the teacher of Mary Baker Eddy. Ernest Holmes who wrote" the Science of Mind" (pre L Ron Hubbard days) there was Hopkins, Goldsmith and many others who wrote about healing and using the mind to influence our earthly experience.Religious Science has much to say on the subject as well.
Much of this is Christian based though some is much more Metaphysics than any one religion. Right now, there is a movie out called "The Secret" which takes up the study of the Law of Attraction.

Peace

[JosephM]

Originally Posted by YO-ELEVEN-11

People talk about the act of being healed by faith. The act itslef involves someone with a "special" "spiritual connection, to GOD of Jesus, putting thier hands on the part of the body that is "sick" and healing that person of a particular disease or ailgment.
(snip)
Personally, I find this phenomena very curious.

I want to know if anyone in this forum has personally experienced this type of healing or know of some who has?

Any other thoughts on this subject matter are welcome.

Greetings YO-ELEVEN-11,

Yes, Have personally experienced this type of healing and know of many people who also have been the recipients. I worked with a TV evangelist that did this as a common occurance and some I have personally verified. Yet one may never believe it is real until it happens to you.

The gift of healing is a gift available to all believers who recognize the authority given them by the spirit of God. When you are used of God in the healing of another you will not need any proof of it being true. It is like the new birth experience. You can't prove it to anyone but when it happens to you, you will no longer doubt its reality and its effects will be visible as a change.

Just some thoughts to consider.

Love in christ,
JM

[arthra]

Healing can come through many ways and is not restricted to one manner or form.... there are those who earn their livings convincing others they can heal and may convince a few they can do this but I think for true healing to occur it must be a deep spiritual healing and not simply a physical healing...so what is so great if one is healed say of a physical ailment or problem if their heart remains untouched?

Also I believe people can make themselves "sick" and be affected by negative emotions of those around them.. that is they can begin to believe they are worthless and will never achieve anything and are better off dead, etc.

- Art

[Faithfulservant]

I had a realization...in regards to the placebo theory for the results of faith healing.. I have seen non-believers be healed by faith...even someone elses faith... these were doubters once upon a time but no longer.

[manephelien]

I've heard something similar about prayer. Apparently praying helps heal people, even if the patient doesn't believe in prayer. I wish I could find a link to the study, which is a few years old. It'd be interesting to see what methods they used to research it, as unfortunately the results of sociological studies tend to be heavily biased towards the opinion of the researchers.

When I read it, though, it did convince me enough that I'd never object to anyone praying for me to get better if I'm sick, even though I'm a secular humanist and not a believer in any deity.

[Prober]

Originally Posted by Faithfulservant

I had a realization...in regards to the placebo theory for the results of faith healing.. I have seen non-believers be healed by faith...even someone elses faith... these were doubters once upon a time but no longer.

I've heard it said that miracles are one of God's ways of reaching out to unbelievers.

[Virtual_Cliff]

Originally Posted by Faithfulservant

I had a realization...in regards to the placebo theory for the results of faith healing.. I have seen non-believers be healed by faith...even someone elses faith... these were doubters once upon a time but no longer.

This happened to the wife of the old vicar where I used to live. In her youth she had a severe and debilitating back pain, and found herself, rather against her wishes, at a healing service. She was dreading being made into a "healing victim". When the healer identified her to be healed she didn't want to do it, and only complied to avoid embarrassing her husband. She never wanted or expected anything to happen, which made it all the harder for her when the pain immediately disappeared and never came back.

Even now, many years later, she still doesn't like to tell this story. But she was healed, and that's a fact.