Healing Videos

How many times have we read about the young boy diagnosed with terminal cancer, but who miraculously survives? Or what about the man who falls from a scaffolding at a construction site, but ends up walking out of the hospital two weeks later? To most of us, these are prime examples of miracles. There is just no earthly explanation for how these people could have survived, yet survive they did. If they were asked, their answers would confound even the most open-minded people. They would likely claim they were healed by faith, not science. This is the crux of spiritual and faith healing.

Mary Baker Eddy is the pre-eminent face of Spiritual and Faith healing. Born into a congregational church, as a young woman she rejected these teachings for ones that more closely aligned her faith in godly intervention. Her beliefs in this type of healing are best described in the following recall of events:

My mother, as she bathed my burning temples, bade me lean on God's love,
which would give me rest if I went to Him in prayer, as I was wont to do,
seeking His guidance. I prayed; and a soft glow of ineffable joy came over
me. The fever was gone and I rose and dressed myself in a normal condition
of health. Mother saw this and was glad. The physician marveled; and the
"horrible decree" of Predestination — as John Calvin rightly called his own
tenet — forever lost its power over me.

The result of Baker Eddy's beliefs later became known as Christian Science. The tenets of this religion are that human beings are shaped in the image of God and that the existence of physical illness is merely imagined. There are numerous documented events where one was seemingly healed by prayer. Some are diagnosed with cancer which later vanishes. Others suffer spinal cord injuries, believing they are permanently wheelchair-bound, but who eventually are able to walk. Medical science says there is no earthly explanation for these healings, yet they still occurred. A chasm between faith and science has become the ultimate result.

One cannot forget the 1984 case of eight-month old Natalie Rippberger from Santa Rosa, California. The child was diagnosed with viral meningitis, a condition which, when treated with antiviral medication, has a 92% cure rate. However, Rippberger's parents instead hired a practitioner of Christian Science, which denied Rippberger the treatment necessary to save her life. Natalie died of this disease two weeks after diagnosis. Her parents were later convicted of felony child endangerment. Others cases have made the headlines as well, such as Eben Tryon, a 10-year old boy from Norwood, MA. Tryon, the son of a Christian Scientist, complained of stomach pains, but was never examined by a physician. Ten days later, Tryon was dead. The diagnosis was untreated, severe juvenile diabetes. The prosecutor of Norwood County later opted not to file charges against the family. These events truly horrify those that believe religion has no place in being a substitution for necessary medical treatment.

On the other side of this debate are those that believe faith and prayer have the power to heal. There is the story of the 24-year old man diagnosed with a highly virulent strain of bone cancer. As related by his physician, Dr. Bob Paeglow, this young man believed a deep enough faith in God would ultimately cure his disease. Accordingly, shortly after surgery began to remove this tumor, the disease was nowhere to be found. Dr. Paeglow, a trained family practitioner claimed that he had nothing more to offer this young man in terms of medical science. All that he had left was prayer. Some would call this case a miracle. Others have no explanation - scientific or otherwise. This debate can best be quoted by Sir William Osler, a father of modern medicine: “Half of what I learned in medical school turned out to be false. The only problem is, I don’t know which half.”

Clearly there are those that believe in hard, scientific data. A disease process is best treated by drugs or surgery. Faith is there to provide a sense of comfort, but not as a panacea to the disease itself. Others believe we are created in God's image, and, as such, sickness is ultimately mere imagination. The young man with bone cancer would be the poster child for this. What is certain is that there is not likely to be a decision made for or against the belief that faith heals. There will likely only remain questions that simply have no real answers.