FAITH HEALING WINSTON.GANA.VALERIE.AGNES.DESSY.AMELIA.NATASHA.
NOVEMBER 2013 VOL. #1 ISSUE 1
Throughout the history, the notion that prayer, divine
intervention or the ministrations of an individual
healer can cure illness has been popular. Partly due to
the emerging of the so-called ‘televangelists’, people
from around the world have (allegedly) testified about
the effectiveness of such practice. There have been
numerous reports, from how lumps immediately
subsided after the priest had laid his hands, or a
paralyzed person regaining her ability to walk all of a
sudden, until cancer mysteriously disappearing, to the
doctor’s amazement.
But to some people, this matter is always baffling:
How does this work? Is there any guarantee that it
will? If it does not, to whom are we pointing our
fingers—is it to God, for not fulfilling his promises, or
to our own self, for not believing enough?
Our group contributors have tried to provide a
balanced arguments, between trusting the inerrancy of
the Word of God and rational way of thinking. There
is no way we can absolutely sure about one thing, but
to the extent that a bunch of flawed human beings
may try to understand their God –we gave it a shot.
But Jesus on hearing this answered him, “Do not fear; only believe, and she will
be well.” – Luke 8:50
FAITH
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen.(Heb 11:1)
HEALING
to cause a wound, injury, or person to become
sound or healthy again
alleviate a person's distress or anguish (Oxford
Dictionary)
FAITH HEALING
Faith healing is the belief of some Christians that
God heals people through the power of the Holy
Spirit, often involving the laying on of hands.
CONCEDING THE RESULTS
Trying to find a story about faith healing in the scriptures is not
really an arduous task—there are many examples we can find,
especially during the life and times of Jesus Christ. One often-
quoted narrative is about a woman who had been flowing blood
for twelve years and then healed by Jesus (“But Jesus, turning
and seeing her, said, Daughter, take heart; your faith has made
you well. And the woman was made well from that hour.”-
Matthew 9:20). This may well serve as a proof that God has
promised one thing: believe, and you shall be cured.
HOW ABOUT NOW?
Cyst in Baby
“A Five month old baby was diagnosed with a cyst in
her neck. There was a hole where the cyst was
draining. The parents brought her for prayer. Pastor
Bill laid hands on the baby during a Sunday Morning
Service. On Monday morning, the hole in the neck
was closed up and healed over. Glory to God!”
Blocked Artery
“In our Duluth Church, a man came for prayer. He
was about to schedule a surgery because of a blocked
artery. He felt a strong presence of the Holy Spirit,
and he believed he was healed. Now, his doctor has
confirmed that the blockage is gone. The surgery will
not take place!”
There are hundreds upon thousands of similar stories—cancer,
blindness, deafness, infertility, even HIV/AIDS were reported
to be cured through faith healing.
Faith and prayer seem to be the only requirements, but then
comes the next problem, because the question does not merely
stop at ‘do you have faith?’—if so, those who claimed to have
been praying for years *should* have been healed.
Rather, it’s “Do you have the faith?”
FAITH HEALING: WHEN IT WORKS.
“Do you have the faith?”
CRITICIZING THE PRACTICE
For every argument, there is a counter.
If we were to tally the number of faith healing attempts
that did not work—maybe even put it side by side with
those who did, a lot of believers would be surprised.
Herbert Schaible, 45, and his wife Catherine, 44, were
charged with third-degree murder earlier this week after
their seven-month-old son Brandon died of bacterial
pneumonia in April. Basic medical care could have
prevented his death, but instead the Schaibles chose to
pray. ‘We tried to fight the devil, but in the end the
devil won,' they told homicide detectives at the time.
One case seems to be chilling enough to make us
question the whole thing: where do we draw the line
between the faith that God asks for—the one that is
doubtless and not wavering—and just pure ignorance
on the believer’s part?
When we seek medical treatment, does that mean that
we are part of the skeptics, questioning God’s ability in
healing us, thus ultimately doubting his omnipotence?
Or should we abandon faith altogether, stop praying for
our health and instead depend fully on man-made
medications and trusting our lives completely in the
hands of the doctors—not God’s?
AND LET’S NOT FORGET
Scammers, people who take advantage of the
believers’ desperation, make faith healing part
of the problem, not the solution.
FAITH HEALING: WHEN IT GOES AWRY.
WHAT WE DO KNOW IN SPITE OF ALL THE CONFUSION
It is entirely within biblical principles and common sense to seek
competent medical help and still rely on God for healing at the
same time; healing through faith in God and the modern health
sciences is not a contradiction or a combination of opposites; what
God can do for man as a special blessing should work together
with what man can do technologically for himself.
OUR STANCE
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