Faith healing

From RationalWiki

Faith healing (also commonly associated with the Christian Science denomination) is a form of medical woo that attempts to cure a wide range of ailments through prayer (see intercessory prayer) and other supernatural means. Essentially, this method of "healing" uses God as a panacea for all diseases and injuries that could ever affect anybody. Appropriately, faith healing (or any similar method) has never been shown to be effective in a scientific study.

Faith healing is most closely linked to the televangelist who often use it to fleece millions of dollars from vulnerable people. Almost all of the major televangelist make faith healing a major component of their "services." Pat Robertson talks to God on his show the 700 Club and announces miraculous and spontaneous healings right before asking for donations. Benny Hinn's whole ministry is based around his "miraculous" healings with full blown stage shows where he brings up sick people and pushes them to the ground, screaming "be healed." Hinn also offers the chance to the television audience by placing his hands up in front of the camera and asking people to touch your hands to the screen and you will be healed. Peter Popoff had a neat trick of being able to announce the address of his victims patients gullible peons victims before "healing" them. He was able to milk millions from his followers untill James Randi revealed that Popoff was using closed circuit radios to communicate with his wife instead of god. ^[1].

[edit] Faith Healing in Christianity

Christianity is by and large the religion most often associated with faith healing, to the extent that an entire denomination (the Christian Science denomination) is devoted to the idea of faith healing.

[edit] Theological Justifications

Christian Scientists believe that faith healing was proven when Jesus healed a sick woman by faith alone.^[2] They also believe that the material world is an illusion, and that this will ultimately lead to a true spiritual understanding of God, and that fear, ignorance, and sin are the causes of all illness.

[edit] Scientific studies proving the effect of faith healing

[edit] Does it work?

It may be possible that faith healing works as a placebo (much like homeopathy), causing the patient to truly believe that they are being healed.

[edit] Dangers of faith healing

Faith healing may seem like a joke when televangelists practice it on their television shows, like when a wheelchair-bound man can all of a sudden walk, but it can be deadly when taken seriously. Take this example of an 11-year old girl who died after her parents refused to provide her medical treatment for her (treatable) form of a diabetes-related illness.

[edit] Faith Healing and Alternative Medicine

Faith healing is also dotted across the landscape of alternative medicine with things like psychotic surgery and Ayurvedic medicine. Occasionally faith healing pops up in the peer-reviewed literature usually focused around whether intercessory prayer for a patient can improve their health or recovery. While a few studies have shown an effect^[3][4], these studies have come under extensive criticism and most studies have shown a null effect or even that prayer can be detrimental!^[5][6]

[edit] Footnotes