Exploring the concept of Christian Healing a beginning.

Some biblical verses: Ask, and it will be given to you; Matt 7.7 Matt 7.11

How much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

And do not seek what you are to eat and what your are to drink, nor be worried. ....your Father knows that you need them. Instead seek his Kingdom, and these things will be added to you. Lk 12.29-31 Your Kingdom come, your will be done. Matt 6.10

Random thoughts in no particular order:

No scientific study has conclusively proved that faith healing works. E.g. in cases of cancer or Aids. Some studies have been suggestive, but often they are open to criticism of their methodologies. As far as is known, there has never been a substantiated replacement of a missing limb or a resurrection in the modern era, stories out of Africa notwithstanding. Given the complexity of our bodies and their self-healing ability, many surprise healings can be considered cases of spontaneous remission. Most illnesses have a psychological component i.e. they can be called psychosomatic. Currently the influence of the mind in illnesses is considered much more pronounced that was thought a few years back. Unhappy people have more physical illnesses and diseases. The placebo effect is well known. A case of if you believe it works it will. There have also been studies, of what is called the nocebo effect. This is where patients are given discouraging information by their doctor and subsequently get worse. Many of Jesus healings can readily be considered as psychosomatic cases. By showing that they are important, God loves them and they are acceptable, they no longer need to resort, unconsciously, to a physical illness. Jesus healings are the offer of entry into the Kingdom: The start of closeness to God who makes a person whole in body, mind and spirit. We live in a fallen world which God is redeeming in his own way and in his own time. Therefore the poor and the ill will continue to be with us.

Salvation or rightness with God is more important than a physically perfect body. God may not physically heal an individual, a situation that we may find difficult to understand. But that does not mean He is not intimately involved in their life. In our contemporary world, much healing needs to be in terms of emotions, meaning and self-worth. The rates of psychiatric illness, feelings of alienation and meaninglessness witness to this fact. Pre-eminently, Jesus healings make the individual whole as well as re-integrate them into their family and social nexus. God heals through the NHS. Christian healings are always ambiguous. This is inevitable because we have to have faith, or rather trust, in God. We make our supplications known and trust that as our heavenly Father, he will answer us. If we always had a positive outcome after reciting a few prayers, this would amount to magic: A case of having a god who answers to our beck and call, and is always on tap. Jesus refuses to be a wonder-worker. No stones into bread. Matt 4.4. No sign to the Pharisees. Matt. 12.38. He tells Thomas that blessed are those who havent seen his wounds and resurrection. Jn 20.29. Trust is much more demanding. Healing doesnt have to be miraculous. Antibiotics in Africa may appear to people in the bush as miracles, but we know otherwise. Disciples have a duty to make the good news known and heal as well. (A double whammy?). Matt. 10. 7-8. If a member of the congregation is sick, the church elders should pray over them. James 5. 14. Healing is the Gospel in action. The deed alongside the word. All good gifts around us are sent from Heaven above. So thank the Lord, yes thank the Lord, For all His love. In most of the books on Christian healing that I have read, there is usually a section which tries to explain why some people are not healed. Correctly most books emphasise that its not a question of the depth of faith, either of the patient or of those praying. The list of healings below shows that, in some cases, faith was not an apparent factor in successful healing.

The Healings of Jesus Christ

Here below is a listing of the healings by Jesus Christ recorded in the four Gospels.

References to individuals who demonstrated faith in Jesus and received healing

Matthew Mark
Leper in Galilee Paralytic (palsy) at Capernaum Man with a withered hand in Galilee possibly Capernaum Women with issue of blood (haemorrhaging) healed at Capernaum during first preaching tour through Galilee Two blind men at Capernaum (on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee) Man born blind who was outside the Temple at Jerusalem 17:1119 17:1519 18:3543 10:4652 20:29-34 8:1-4 9:2-8 12:10-13 9:20-22 9:27-31 9:112; 35-37 1:40-45 2:3-12 3:1-7 5:24-34

Luke
5:12-15 5:17-26 6:6-11 8:42-48

John

Ten lepers between Samaria and Galilee Samaritan leper Blind Man Approaching Jericho Blind Bartimeaus at Jericho Two Blind Men Departing Jericho

References to individuals who demonstrated faith in Jesus and obtained healing for others
Matthew Nobleman for his son at Cana of Galilee Roman centurion for servant who was paralyzed at Capernaum 8:5-13 Friends of the paralytic (palsy) at Capernaum Jairus (father) for daughter near death who actually died at Capernaum Gentile woman for her demoniac daughter in the region of Tyre and Sidon 9:2 9:18-19; 23-26 2:3-5 Mark Luke Map 7:2-10 5:17-20 John 4:46-54

5:22-24; 8:40-42; 35-43 49-56

15:21-28 7:24-30 3

Father for epileptic son after Jesus and disciples came down from the mountain near Caesarea-Philippi (Mark 8:27) Martha for brother Lazarus at Bethany near Jerusalem Mary for brother Lazarus

17:14-21 9:17-29 9:37-42 11:19-28; 39-40 11:28-33

Healing that Jesus performed without requiring faith or a faith statement

Matthew Peter's Mother-in-Law (fever) in Capernaum Dead son of the widow of Nain A few persons healed in Nazareth, due to unbelief The man with dropsy (oedema/CHF), healed by Jesus as he journeyed to Jerusalem (Luke 13:22). Servant's ear (see Malchus John 18:10) 8:14-15 Map 13:58 6:5 14:1-4 22:50-51 Mark 1:29-31 Luke 4:38-39 7:11-16 John

Unique healing methods of Jesus

Matthew Man born blind Blind man at Bethsaida Deaf Man with speech impediment from the region of the Ten Cities (Decapolis) People touching Jesus were being healed 14:34-36 8:2225 7:3137 3:10 6:19 6:5356 Mark Luke John 9:6

Demonic spirits may be responsible for some infirmities

Matthew Mark Demoniac in synagogue at Capernaum One or Two demoniacs at a tomb near Gadara or Gerasa. The Gergesenes or Gadarenes lived in the region of land on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. Gadra and Gerasa were two of the ten cities of the Roman Decapolis. The region of the Decapolis is now located in modern-day Jordan. Mute Man Oppressed by a Demon Gentile woman with a demoniac daughter in the region of Tyre and Sidon Epileptic boy Blind, deaf demoniac Woman with a spirit of infirmity in Galilee Certain Women and Mary Magdalene healed of evil spirits and infirmities Peter's Mother-in-Law Acts 5:16 Luke 6:18 16:9 1:2328 Luke 4:3137 John

8:28-34

5:115

8:2639

9:32-34 15:21-28 17:14-21 12:22-24 7:2430 9:1729

11:1416

9:3742

13:1113 8:2 4:3839 Luke 7:21 Acts 19:12

General Statements

20 References to mass healings by Jesus

Matthew First Galilean Preaching Tour Healing at Evening Second Galilean Preaching Tour After Returning to Galilee from Judea Desert Place, Third Galilean Preaching Tour Land of Gennesaret (touching hem of his garment) Mountain Near Sea of Galilee Great Multitudes in Judea 4:23-25 8:16 9:35-38 12:15 14:14 14:34-36 15:29-31 19:1-2 5 6:53-56 Mark 3:9-12 1:32-34 Luke 5:15 4:40 6:17-19 7:21 9:11 John

At the Temple At Jesus' Death on The Cross Jesus Miracles too Numerous to Record

21:14-15 27:52-53 John 20:30 21:25

Healings by the Disciples

Lame man at the Gate Beautiful Sick in the streets Stephen's great wonders and miracles Philip's miracles at Samaria Aeneas, who had been bedridden eight years and was paralyzed Raising Dorcas from the dead Brother Ananias lays hands on Saul of Tarsus Signs and wonders at Iconium Crippled man at Lystra Miracles and wonders by Barnabas and Paul Unusual miracles by the hands of Paul Restoring life to Eutychus Healing of Publius' Father Other sick people on the Island of Melita were healed Acts 3:1-16 Acts 5:15 Acts 6:8 Acts 8:5-8 Acts 9:33-34 Acts 9:36 Acts 9:17-18 Acts 14:3 Acts 14:8 Acts 15:12, Romans 15:19 Acts 19:11-12 Acts 20:9-12 Acts 28:7-8 Acts 28:9

"Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and report to John what you hear and see: the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the Gospel preached to them." [Matthew 11:4-5].

According to the American Cancer Society: Available scientific evidence does not support claims that faith healing can cure cancer or any other disease. Even the "miraculous" cures at the French shrine of Lourdes, after careful study by the Catholic Church, do not outnumber the historical percentage of spontaneous remissions seen among people with cancer. 6

However, faith healing may promote peace of mind, reduce stress, relieve pain and anxiety, and strengthen the will to live.

The Concept of Prayer by D Z Phillips offers some useful insights into prayer, and therefore of healing.
To understand what prayer and healing is, one must refer to the religious community from which prayer derives its meaning. I.e. Its religious beliefs and practices. The will of God can be contemplated, accepted or rejected, but it cannot be used. One cannot bargain with God. One will never understand what is meant by talking to God unless this is understood. One can begin to understand prayer by noting that God does not come to know anything, so prayer cannot be informative. Although God does not come to know anything when one tells ones concerns to Him, the person who prays comes to know something about himself which he did not know before. The recognition of his limitations as a person is closely related to seeing his life as a gift, seeing his life as given. The given includes both the good and evil in his life, and it is to this whole life that love of God brings salvation from despair: the peace of God which passeth understanding. The understanding which is given by God in religious contemplation cannot be equated with intellectual understanding. The way things go is beyond ones control, so to ask the question, Why, is to ask a question which has no explanatory answer. Meaningfulness of a believers life does not depend on good things happening to him. It is a result not of moral endeavour but contemplation. The believer cannot expect one thing rather than another in the world of events. Prayers of thanksgiving are the religious answer to the way things go, the recognition of the dependence of all things on God. Petitionary prayer, asking for favours, is often close to incantation and spells. If prayer is not to be regarded as superstition, it cannot be thought of as an attempt to influence God. The prayer of petition is best understood, not as an attempt at influencing the way things go, but as an expression of, and a request for, devotion to God through the way things go.

Prayer can have physical effects, e.g. healing, but the meaning of prayer does not stand or fall with its therapeutic success or failure. When the believer prays a petitionary prayer for something, they are not so much asking God to bring this about, but in a way telling Him of the strength of their desires. They realize that things may not go as they wish, but they are asking to be able to go on living whatever happens. In prayers of confession and petition the believer is trying to find a meaning and a hope that will deliver him from the elements in his life which threaten to destroy it: in the first case, his guilt, and in the second, his desires. All petitionary prayer ends with, But thy will not mine... Gods goodness does not entail good things happening to those who believe in Him. The way things go does not depend on ones deserts. Praying to a God for whom all things are possible, is to love God in whatever is the case. One of the difficulties with miracles is that the significance of many reported miracles is lost to us. We have lost the link between the miracle and the living religious community in which it was performed. The significance, the truth, of a miracle is decided by the religious community. When a community has retained a belief in the miraculous, what a miracle means is self-evident. In New Testament times, the question was not about the reality of miracles, but about whether specific miracles were of divine origin. What is held to be religiously significant by the religious community determines what is and what is not a miracle. Miracles are not evidence of religious truth, but expressions of religious truth. Gods answers in prayers cannot be anything an individual chooses to mention, since in order to be understood as Gods answer, it must be compatible with general nature of God in that religious tradition. The will of God is something that can be sought and discussed. Even so, what could and what could not be the will of God is determined by the religious community. One cannot pray to know Gods will unless a variety of options are already known. I.e. The communal concepts of God, which the believer holds, will determine the broad limits of what the will of God could or could not be.