View source for Unsolved:Faith healing

{{Short description|Prayer and gestures that are perceived to bring divine intervention in physical healing}}
[[File:Elias healing the son of the widow, engraving. Wellcome M0017808.jpg|thumb|The prophet Elijah praying for the recovery of the son of the widow of Zarephath, from the Bible's Books of Kings]]

{{Alternative medical systems|traditional}}

'''Faith healing''' is the practice of prayer and gestures (such as laying on of hands) that are believed by some to elicit [[Philosophy:Miracle|divine intervention]] in spiritual and physical healing, especially the Christian practice.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Faith healing|url=http://www.thearda.com/learningcenter/religiondictionary.asp#F|website=thearda.com|location=University Park, PA|publisher=Association of Religion Data Archives|access-date=2015-10-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101012004/http://www.thearda.com/learningcenter/religiondictionary.asp|archive-date=2016-01-01|url-status=live}} Citing {{cite encyclopedia|year=1995|editor1-last=Smith|editor1-first=Jonathan|editor2-last=Green|editor2-first=William Scott|title=The HarperCollins Dictionary of Religion|location=San Francisco, CA|publisher=HarperCollins|page=355}}</ref> Believers assert that the healing of disease and disability can be brought about by religious faith through prayer or other rituals that, according to adherents, can stimulate a [[Religion:Divine presence|divine presence]] and power. Religious belief in divine intervention does not depend on [[Empirical evidence|empirical evidence]] of an [[Medicine:Evidence-based medicine|evidence-based outcome]] achieved via faith healing.<ref name=Village/> Virtually all{{efn|name="All"|"Despite the lack of generally accepted demarcation criteria, we find remarkable agreement among virtually all philosophers and scientists that fields like astrology, creationism, homeopathy, dowsing, psychokinesis, faith healing, clairvoyance, or ufology are either pseudosciences or at least lack the epistemic warrant to be taken seriously." Martin Mahner, 2013.<ref name=Pigliucci-2013/>{{rp|30–31}}}} scientists and philosophers dismiss faith healing as [[Unsolved:Pseudoscience|pseudoscience]].<ref name=Pigliucci-2013>{{cite book|editor-last1=Pigliucci|editor-first1=Massimo|editor-last2=Boudry|editor-first2=Maarten|last=Mahner|first=Martin|title=Philosophy of pseudoscience reconsidering the demarcation problem|date=2013|publisher=University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago|isbn=978-0226051826|page=30|edition=Online-Ausg.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pc4OAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA30|access-date=18 April 2018|ref={{harvid|Pigliucci|Boudry|2013}}}}</ref><ref name="Hassani-2010">{{cite book|last1=Hassani|first1=Sadri|title=From Atoms to Galaxies: A Conceptual Physics Approach to Scientific Awareness|date=2010|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=978-1439882849|page=641|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eVzNBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA641|access-date=18 April 2018|language=en|quote=There are also activities that, although not classified (or claimed) as science, have implications that trespass into the scientific territories. Examples of this category of activities are the claim that we have been visited by aliens riding unidentified flying objects, all psychic phenomena, and faith healing. We study the nature of all these activities under the general heading of pseudoscience. …}}</ref><ref name="Contact">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6s4o07FwUNwC&q=%22most+scientists%22+faith+healing|title=Every Contact Leaves a Trace: Scientific Detection in the Twentieth Century|first=Zakaria|last=Erzinclioglu|page=60|publisher=Carlton Books|date=2000|quote=For example, most scientists dismiss the notion of faith-healing, a phenomenon for which there is a certain amount of evidence.|isbn=978-1842221617}}</ref><ref name="See-more-pseudo">See also:<p>{{cite book|last1=Pitt|first1=Joseph C.|last2=Pera|first2=Marcello|title=Rational Changes in Science: Essays on Scientific Reasoning|date=2012|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-9400937796|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JXWhBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA96|access-date=18 April 2018|language=en|quote=Such examples of pseudoscience as the theory of biorhythms, astrology, dianetics, creationism, faith healing may seem too obvious examples of pseudoscience for academic readers.}}</p><p>{{cite book|last1=Zerbe|first1=Michael J.|title=Composition and the Rhetoric of Science: Engaging the Dominant Discourse|date=2007|publisher=SIU Press|isbn=978-0809327409|page=86|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GahwviSqjC4C&pg=PA86|language=en|quote=[T]he authors of the 2002 National Science Foundation ''Science and Engineering Indicators'' devoted and entire section of their report to the concern that the public is increasingly trusting in pseudoscience such as astrology, UFOs and alien abduction, extrasensory perception, channeling the dead, faith healing, and psychic hotlines.}}</p><p>{{cite book|publisher=University Press of America|title=Critical Thinking: Step by Step|author=Robert Cogan|page=[https://archive.org/details/criticalthinking0000coga/page/217 217]|quote=Faith healing is probably the most dangerous pseudoscience.|url=https://archive.org/details/criticalthinking0000coga|url-access=registration|isbn=978-0761810674|year=1998}}</p><p>{{cite book|last1=Leonard|first1=Bill J.|last2=Crainshaw|first2=Jill Y.|author-link2=Jill Y. Crainshaw|title=Encyclopedia of Religious Controversies in the United States: A–L|date=2013|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1598848670|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vnWE00YVeJQC&pg=PA625|access-date=18 April 2018|language=en|quote=Certain approaches to faith healing are also widely considered to be pseudoscientific, including those of Christian Science, voodoo, and Spiritualism.}}</p></ref>

Claims that "a myriad of techniques" such as [[Unsolved:Prayer|prayer]], divine intervention, or the ministrations of an individual healer can cure illness have been popular throughout history.<ref name= "Barrett2009">{{cite web |first= Stephen |last= Barrett |title= Some Thoughts about Faith Healing |date= December 27, 2009 |url= http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/faith.html |publisher= [[Organization:Quackwatch|Quackwatch]] |access-date= 2014-01-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140209040254/http://quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/faith.html|archive-date=2014-02-09|url-status=live}}</ref> There have been claims that faith can cure [[Medicine:Visual impairment|blindness]], [[Medicine:Hearing loss|deafness]], [[Medicine:Cancer|cancer]], HIV/AIDS, [[Medicine:Developmental disorder|developmental disorder]]s, [[Medicine:Anemia|anemia]], [[Medicine:Arthritis|arthritis]], [[Medicine:Corn|corns]], [[Medicine:Speech disorder|defective speech]], multiple sclerosis, skin rashes, total body [[Engineering:Paralysis|paralysis]], and various injuries.<ref name="ACS" /> Recoveries have been attributed to many techniques commonly classified as faith healing. It can involve prayer, a visit to a religious shrine, or simply a strong belief in a supreme being.<ref name=ACS>{{cite web|title=Faith Healing|publisher=American Cancer Society|date=2013-01-17|url= http://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatmentsandsideeffects/complementaryandalternativemedicine/herbsvitaminsandminerals/faith-healing|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130427120554/http://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatmentsandsideeffects/complementaryandalternativemedicine/herbsvitaminsandminerals/faith-healing|archive-date=2013-04-27|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Many people interpret the [[Religion:Bible|Bible]], especially the [[Religion:New Testament|New Testament]], as teaching belief in, and the practice of, faith healing. According to a 2004 ''Newsweek'' poll, 72 percent of Americans said they believe that praying to God can cure someone, even if science says the person has an incurable disease.<ref name="Kalb2004">{{cite journal|last=Kalb|first=Claudia|date=2003-11-09|title=Faith & Healing|journal=Newsweek|volume=142|issue=19|pages=44–50, 53–54, 56|pmid=16124185|url=https://www.newsweek.com/faith-healing-133365}}</ref> Unlike faith healing, advocates of spiritual healing make no attempt to seek divine intervention, instead believing in [[Philosophy:Divinity|divine]] energy. The increased interest in [[Medicine:Alternative medicine|alternative medicine]] at the end of the 20th century has given rise to a parallel interest among sociologists in the relationship of religion to health.<ref name=Village>{{cite journal |last= Village |first= Andrew |title= Dimensions of belief about miraculous healing |journal= Mental Health, Religion & Culture |year= 2005 |volume= 8 |issue= 2 |pages= 97–107 |doi= 10.1080/1367467042000240374|s2cid= 15727398 }}</ref>

Faith healing can be classified as a [[Philosophy:Spirituality|spiritual]], [[Philosophy:Supernatural|supernatural]],<ref name="OutOfOrdinary1995">{{cite book |last1=Walker |first1=Barbara |last2=McClenon |first2=James |year= 1995 |title=Out of the Ordinary: Folklore and the supernatural |chapter-url=http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1079&context=usupress_pubs |publisher=Utah State University Press |isbn=978-0874211962 |access-date=May 19, 2015 |chapter=6 |pages=107–121 |quote=Supernatural experiences provide a foundation for spiritual healing. The concept supernatural is culturally specific, since some societies regard all perceptions as natural; yet certain events-such as apparitions, out-of-body and near-death experiences, extrasensory perceptions, precognitive dreams, and contact with the dead-promote faith in extraordinary forces. Supernatural experiences can be defined as those sensations directly supporting occult beliefs. Supernatural experiences are important because they provide an impetus for ideologies supporting occult healing practices, the primary means of medical treatment throughout antiquity. }}</ref> or [[Unsolved:Paranormal|paranormal]] topic,<ref name="Martin1994">{{cite journal |last1= Martin |first1= M |title= Pseudoscience, the paranormal, and science education |url= http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/c/a/caw43/behrendwriting/Martin,%20Michael.pdf |journal= Science and Education |volume= 3 |issue= 4 |year= 1994 |pages= 357–371 |doi= 10.1007/BF00488452 |quote= Cures allegedly brought about by religious faith are, in turn, considered to be paranormal phenomena but the related religious practices and beliefs are not pseudoscientific since they usually have no scientific pretensions. |bibcode= 1994Sc&Ed...3..357M |s2cid= 22730647 |access-date= 2014-09-24 |archive-date= 2019-07-13 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190713124733/http://personal.psu.edu/faculty/c/a/caw43/behrendwriting/Martin,%20Michael.pdf |url-status= dead }}</ref> and, in some cases, belief in faith healing can be classified as [[Philosophy:Magical thinking|magical thinking]].<ref name= "Lesser1985">{{cite journal |last1= Lesser |first1= R |last2= Paisner |first2= M |date= March–April 1985 |title= Magical thinking in Formal Operational adults |journal= Human Development |volume= 28 |issue= 2 |pages= 57–70 |doi= 10.1159/000272942}}</ref> The American Cancer Society states "available scientific evidence does not support claims that faith healing can actually cure physical ailments".<ref name=ACS/> "Death, disability, and other unwanted outcomes have occurred when faith healing was elected instead of medical care for serious injuries or illnesses."<ref name=ACS/> When parents have practiced faith healing rather than medical care, many children have died that otherwise would have been expected to live.<ref name="AsserSwan1998">{{cite journal|last1=Asser|first1=Seth M.|last2=Swan|first2=Rita|date=April 1998|title=Child fatalities from religion-motivated medical neglect|journal=Pediatrics|volume=101|issue=4|pages=625–629|pmid=9521945|doi=10.1542/peds.101.4.625|s2cid=169037|url=http://childrenshealthcare.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Pediatricsarticle.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120417125532/http://childrenshealthcare.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Pediatricsarticle.pdf |archive-date=2012-04-17 |url-status=live|access-date=2007-11-19}}</ref> Similar results are found in adults.<ref name='JAMA longevity'>{{Cite journal |title= Comparative longevity in a college cohort of Christian Scientists |journal= JAMA |year= 1989 |first= William F.|last= Simpson |volume= 262 |issue= 12 |pages= 1657–1658 |pmid= 2769921 |doi= 10.1001/jama.1989.03430120111031}}</ref>

==In various belief systems==

===Christianity===

====Overview====
[[File:FvfFaithhealing6177 15.JPG|thumb|Faith healing by Fernando Suarez, Philippines]]
Regarded as a Christian belief that God heals people through the power of the [[Religion:Holy Spirit|Holy Spirit]], faith healing often involves the laying on of hands. It is also called supernatural healing, divine healing, and [[Philosophy:Miracle|miracle]] healing, among other things. Healing in the Bible is often associated with the ministry of specific individuals including Elijah, [[Biography:Jesus|Jesus]] and Paul.<ref name="Village" />

Christian physician Reginald B. Cherry views faith healing as a pathway of healing in which God uses both the natural and the supernatural to heal.<ref name="Cherry">{{cite book |first= Reginald B. |last= Cherry |title= The Bible Cure |publisher= HarperOne |year= 1999 |orig-year= 1998 |edition= reprint |isbn= 978-0062516152}}{{Page needed|date=January 2014}} Citing: {{Bibleref2|John|9:1–7}} and {{Bibleref2|Mark|10:46–52}}.</ref> Being healed has been described as a privilege of accepting Christ's redemption on the cross.{{sfn|Bosworth|2001|p=32}} Pentecostal writer Wilfred Graves Jr. views the healing of the body as a physical expression of [[Religion:Salvation|salvation]].<ref>{{cite book |first= Wilfred Jr. |last= Graves |title= In Pursuit of Wholeness: Experiencing God's Salvation for the Total Person |page= 52 |location= Shippensburg, PA |publisher= Destiny Image |isbn= 978-0768437942|year= 2011 }}</ref> {{Bibleref2|Matthew|8:17|NIV}}, after describing Jesus exorcising at sunset and healing all of the sick who were brought to him, quotes these miracles as a fulfillment of the prophecy in {{bibleref2|Isaiah|53:5|NIV}}: "He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases".

Even those Christian writers who believe in faith healing do not all believe that one's faith presently brings about the desired healing. "[Y]our faith does not effect your healing now. When you are healed rests entirely on what the sovereign purposes of the Healer are."<ref name="Charisma1">{{cite news |first= Larry |last= Keefauver |title= The myths of faith healing |date= June 17, 2009 |url= http://www.charismamag.com/index.php/charisma-channels/spiritled-living/20588-the-myths-of-faith-healing |magazine= Charisma |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090511085525/http://www.charismamag.com/index.php/charisma-channels/spiritled-living/20588-the-myths-of-faith-healing |archive-date= 2009-05-11|url-status=dead}}</ref> Larry Keefauver cautions against allowing enthusiasm for faith healing to stir up false hopes. "Just believing hard enough, long enough or strong enough will not strengthen you or prompt your healing. Doing mental gymnastics to 'hold on to your miracle' will not cause your healing to manifest now."<ref name="Charisma1" /> Those who actively lay hands on others and pray with them to be healed are usually aware that healing may not always follow immediately. Proponents of faith healing say it may come later, and it may not come in this life. "The truth is that your healing may manifest in eternity, not in time".<ref name="Charisma1" />

====New Testament====
{{Religious text primary|section|date=September 2015}}
Parts of the four canonical gospels in the [[Religion:New Testament|New Testament]] say that [[Biography:Jesus|Jesus]] cured physical ailments well outside the capacity of first-century medicine. Jesus' healing acts are considered miraculous and spectacular due to the results being impossible or statistically improbable.<ref>Ehrman, B. D. (2016). ''The New Testament: a historical introduction to the early Christian writings'' (6th ed.) New York: Oxford University Press. 251–253. {{ISBN?}}
</ref> One example is the case of "a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was not better but rather grew worse".<ref>{{bibleverse|Mark|5:26–27}}</ref> After healing her, Jesus tells her "Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace! Be cured from your illness".<ref>{{bibleverse|Mark|5:34|GW}}</ref> At least two other times Jesus credited the sufferer's faith as the means of being healed: {{Bibleref2|Mark|10:52}} and {{bibleref2|Luke|19:10}}.

Jesus endorsed the use of the medical assistance of the time (medicines of oil and wine) when he told the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37), who "bound up [an injured man's] wounds, pouring on oil and wine" (verse 34) as a physician would. Jesus then told the doubting teacher of the law (who had elicited this parable by his self-justifying question, "And who is my neighbor?" in verse 29) to "go, and do likewise" in loving others with whom he would never ordinarily associate (verse 37).<ref>{{cite web |url= http://thefaithfulword.org/faithhealing.html |title= Faith Healing – God's Compassion, God's Power, and God's Sovereignty: Is a Christian permitted to seek medical assistance and to use medicine? |date= December 16, 2003 |first= Craig W. |last= Booth |access-date= 2007-05-01 |work= thefaithfulword.org}}</ref>

The healing in the gospels is referred to as a "sign"<ref>{{bibleverse|John|6:2}}</ref> to prove Jesus' divinity and to foster belief in him as the Christ.<ref>{{bibleverse|John|4:48}}</ref> However, when asked for other types of miracles, Jesus refused some<ref>{{bibleverse|Matthew|12:38–42}}</ref> but granted others<ref>{{bibleverse|Luke|9:38–43}}</ref> in consideration of the motive of the request. Some theologians' understanding is that Jesus healed ''all'' who were present every single time.{{sfn|Bosworth|2001|p=61}} Sometimes he determines whether they had faith that he would heal them.{{sfn|Bosworth|2001|loc={{Page needed|date=January 2014}}}} Four of the seven miraculous signs performed in the Fourth Gospel that indicated he was sent from God were acts of healing or resurrection. He heals the Capernaum official's son, heals a paralytic by the pool in Bethsaida, healing a man born blind, and resurrecting Lazarus of Bethany.<ref>Ehrman, B. D. (2016). ''The New Testament: a historical introduction to the early Christian writings'' (6th ed.) New York: [[Organization:Oxford University Press|Oxford University Press]]. 171–172. {{ISBN|978-0199757534}}</ref>

Jesus told his followers to heal the sick<ref>Crossan, J. D. (1994). ''Jesus: a revolutionary biography''. New York: HarperOne. 119–123. {{ISBN|978-0061800351}}</ref> and stated that signs such as healing are evidence of faith. Jesus also told his followers to "cure sick people, raise up dead persons, make lepers clean, expel demons. You received free, give free".<ref>{{bibleverse|Matthew|10:8}}, {{bibleverse|Mark|16:17–18}}</ref>

Jesus sternly ordered many who received healing from him: "Do not tell anyone!"<ref>{{Bibleref2|Matthew|8:4}}; {{Bibleref2-nb|Matthew|9:30}}; {{Bibleref2|Mark|5:43}}, {{Bibleref2-nb|Mark|7:24}}, {{Bibleref2-nb|Mark|7:36}}, {{Bibleref2-nb|Mark|8:30}}, {{Bibleref2-nb|Mark|9:9}}; {{Bibleref2|Luke|5:14}}</ref> Jesus did not approve of anyone asking for a sign just for the spectacle of it, describing such as coming from a "wicked and adulterous generation".<ref>{{bibleverse|Matthew|12:38–39}}</ref>

The apostle Paul believed healing is one of the special gifts of the [[Religion:Holy Spirit|Holy Spirit]],<ref>{{bibleverse|1Cor|12:9||1 Corinthians 12:9}}</ref><ref>Harris, S. L. (2015). ''The New Testament: a student's introduction'' (8th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Education. 345. {{ISBN?}}</ref> and that the possibility exists that certain persons may possess this gift to an extraordinarily high degree.<ref>{{cite book |last= Price |first= Charles P. |chapter-url= http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761560864/Faith_Healing.html |chapter= Faith Healing |title= Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia. |year= 2009 |archive-url= https://www.webcitation.org/5kwpJ3YJj?url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761560864/Faith_Healing.html |archive-date= 2009-11-01}}</ref>

In the New Testament Epistle of James,<ref>{{bibleverse|James|5:14||5:14}}</ref> the faithful are told that to be healed, those who are sick should call upon the elders of the church to pray over [them] and anoint [them] with oil in the name of the Lord.

The New Testament says that during Jesus' ministry and after his [[Religion:Resurrection of Jesus|Resurrection]], the [[Religion:Apostles in the New Testament|apostles]] healed the sick and cast out demons, made lame men walk, raised the dead and performed other miracles. Apostles were holy men who had direct access to God and could channel his power to help and heal people.<ref>Pilch, J. J. (2004). ''Visions and healing in the Acts of the Apostles: how the early believers experienced God''. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press. 40. {{ISBN|978-0814627976}}</ref> For example, Saint Peter healed a disabled man.<ref>Harris, S. L. (2015). The New Testament: a student's introduction (8th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Education. 292–293. {{ISBN|978-0078119132}}</ref><ref>{{bibleverse|Luke|3:1–10}}</ref>

Jesus used miracles to convince people that he was inaugurating the [[Religion:Messianic Age|Messianic Age]], as in Mt 12.28. Scholars have described Jesus' miracles as establishing the kingdom during his lifetime.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The New Jerome Biblical Commentary|last=Brown|display-authors=0|first=Raymond E.|publisher=Prentice Hall|year=1990|isbn=978-0136149347|location=Englewood Cliffs, NJ |chapter=78:20; 81:106, 112–113, 117}}</ref>

====Early Christian church====
Accounts or references to healing appear in the writings of many Ante Nicene Fathers, although many of these mentions are very general and do not include specifics.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Darling |first1=Frank C |title=Biblical Healing: Hebrew and Christian roots|date=1989 |publisher=Vista Publications |location=Boulder, Colorado |pages=95–182 |isbn=978-0962250408 |url=https://archive.org/details/biblicalhealingh00darl/mode/2up}}</ref>

====Catholicism====
The Roman Catholic Church recognizes two "not mutually exclusive" kinds of healing,<ref name="CDF2000">{{cite web|author=Catholic Church. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith|date=2000-09-14|title=Instruction on prayers for healing|website=vatican.va|location=Vatican City|url=https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20001123_istruzione_en.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010124043700/https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20001123_istruzione_en.html|archive-date=2001-01-24|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|at=I,3}}<ref name="USCCB2009">{{cite web|author=Catholic Church. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Committee on Doctrine|date=2009-03-25|title=Guidelines for evaluating Reiki as an alternative therapy|website=usccb.org|location=Washington, DC|publisher=United States Conference of Catholic Bishops|url=http://www.usccb.org/about/doctrine/publications/upload/evaluation-guidelines-finaltext-2009-03.pdf|access-date=2015-11-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140508224046/http://www.usccb.org/about/doctrine/publications/upload/evaluation-guidelines-finaltext-2009-03.pdf|archive-date=2014-05-08|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{rp|at=nn2–3}} one justified by science and one justified by faith:
* healing by human "natural means {{interp|...}} through the practice of medicine" which emphasizes that the theological virtue of "[[Philosophy:Charity (virtue)|charity]] demands that we not neglect natural means of healing people who are ill" and the cardinal virtue of [[Philosophy:Prudence|prudence]] forewarns not "to employ a technique that has no scientific support (or even plausibility)"<ref name="USCCB2009"/>{{rp|at=nn2–3, 6, 10}}
* healing by divine grace "interceded on behalf of the sick through the invocation of the name of the Lord Jesus, asking for healing through the power of the Holy Spirit, whether in the form of the sacramental [[Unsolved:Christian laying on of hands|laying on of hands]] and anointing with oil or of simple prayers for healing, which often include an [[Religion:Intercession of saints|appeal to the saints for their aid]]"<ref name="USCCB2009"/>{{rp|at=n2}}

In 2000, the [[Religion:Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith|Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith]] issued "Instruction on prayers for healing" with specific norms about prayer meetings for obtaining healing,<ref name="CDF2000"/> which presents the Catholic Church's doctrines of sickness and healing.<ref name="Ascoli2009">{{cite book|last=Ascoli|first=Micol|year=2009|chapter=Psychotherapy or religious healing? : the 'therapeutic' cult of charismatic Catholics in Italy|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Su9Zhe3HglsC&pg=PA229|editor1-last=Incayawar|editor1-first=Mario|editor2-last=Wintrob|editor2-first=Ronald|editor3-last=Bouchard|editor3-first=Lise|title=Psychiatrist and traditional healers : unwitting partners in global mental health|pages=229–236|series=WPA series, evidence and experience in psychiatry|location=Hoboken, NJ|publisher=J. Wiley & Sons|doi=10.1002/9780470741054.ch18|isbn=978-0470741054}}</ref>{{rp|page=230}}{{explain|date=July 2021}}

It accepts "that there may be means of natural healing that have not yet been understood or recognized by science",<ref name="USCCB2009"/>{{rp|at=n6}}{{efn|According to a ''[[Catholic Encyclopedia]]'' article about [[Medicine:Psychotherapy|psychotherapy]] from 1911, the application of scientific principles has probably been the responsible cause of more faith cures than anything else. Faith in a scientific discovery acts through the mind of a patient to bring about an improvement of symptoms, if not a cure of the disease. The patients who are cured usually suffer from<!-- !  check for tone !--> [[Medicine:Chronic condition|chronic condition]]s, they either have only a [[Philosophy:Persuasion|persuasion]] that they are ill or have some physical ailment, but the patients inhibit through {{linktext|solicitude}} and worry the natural forces that would bring about a cure. This inhibition cannot be lifted until the mind is relieved by confidence in a remedy or scientific discovery that gives them a conviction of cure.<ref name="Walsh1911"/>}} but it rejects superstitious practices which are neither compatible with Christian teaching nor compatible with scientific evidence.<ref name="USCCB2009"/>{{rp|at=nn11–12}}

Faith healing is reported by [[Organization:Catholic Church|Catholics]] as the result of intercessory prayer to a [[Religion:Saint|saint]] or to a person with the [[Religion:Gifts of healing|gift of healing]]. According to ''U.S. Catholic'' magazine, "Even in this skeptical, postmodern, scientific age{{snd}}miracles really are possible." According to a ''Newsweek'' poll, three-fourths of American Catholics say they pray for "miracles" of some sort.<ref name=Scanlon>{{cite news |first= Leslie |last= Scanlon |title= It's a miracle! |magazine= U.S. Catholic |date= June 2009 |volume= 74 |issue= 6 |page= 12 |url= http://www.uscatholic.org/church/2009/05/its-miracle}}</ref>

According to John Cavadini, when healing is granted, "The miracle is not primarily for the person healed, but for all people, as a sign of God's work in the ultimate healing called 'salvation', or a sign of the kingdom that is coming." Some might view their own healing as a sign they are particularly worthy or holy, while others do not deserve it.<ref name=Scanlon/>

The Catholic Church has a special Congregation dedicated to the careful investigation of the validity of alleged miracles attributed to prospective saints. Pope Francis tightened the rules on money and miracles in the canonization process.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2016/09/23/vatican-tightens-rules-miracles-money-sainthood-cases/|title=Vatican tightens rules on miracles and money in sainthood cases|date=2016-09-23|work=Crux|access-date=2017-04-26|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170427101140/https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2016/09/23/vatican-tightens-rules-miracles-money-sainthood-cases/|archive-date=2017-04-27|url-status=dead}}</ref> Since Catholic Christians believe the lives of canonized saints in the Church will reflect Christ's, many have come to expect healing miracles. While the popular conception of a miracle can be wide-ranging, the Catholic Church has a specific definition for the kind of miracle formally recognized in a canonization process.<ref name=Pinches>{{cite journal |last= Pinches |first= Charles |title= Miracles: A Christian theological overview |journal= Southern Medical Journal |year= 2007 |volume= 100 |issue= 12 |pages= 1236–1242 |pmid= 18090969 |doi= 10.1097/SMJ.0b013e31815843cd |s2cid= 33420931 }}</ref>

According to ''Catholic Encyclopedia'', it is often said that cures at shrines and during [[Religion:Christian pilgrimage|Christian pilgrimage]]s are mainly due to psychotherapy{{snd}}partly to confident trust in [[Philosophy:Divine providence|Divine providence]], and partly to the strong expectancy of cure that comes over suggestible persons at these times and places.<ref name="Walsh1911">{{Catholic|inline=1|title=Psychotherapy|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12549a.htm|first=James J.|last=Walsh|volume=12}}</ref>{{efn|A pre-1911 analysis of the records of cures shows that the majority of accepted cures have been in patients suffering from<!-- !  check for tone !--> demonstrable physical conditions.<ref name="Walsh1911"/>}}

Among the best-known accounts by Catholics of faith healings are those attributed to the miraculous intercession of the apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary known as Our Lady of Lourdes at the [[Unsolved:Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes|Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes]] in {{wipe|France}} and the remissions of life-threatening disease claimed by those who have applied for aid to Saint Jude, who is known as the "patron saint of lost causes".
 <ref name="Bertrin1910">{{Catholic|inline=1|title=Notre-Dame de Lourdes|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09389b.htm|first=Georges|last=Bertrin|volume=9}}</ref>

{{As of|2004}}, Catholic medics have asserted that there have been 67 miracles and 7,000 unexplainable medical cures at Lourdes since 1858.<ref name="zenit">{{cite web |url= http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/ZLURDCUR.HTM |title= How Lourdes cures are recognized as miraculous |date= February 11, 2004 |work= ZENIT Daily Dispatch |publisher= Zenit News Agency |access-date= 2007-12-14 |via= ewtn.com |archive-date= 2007-11-21 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071121192519/http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/ZLURDCUR.HTM |url-status= dead }} Citing {{cite conference|editor=Associazione Medici Cattolici Italiani. Sezione di Milano|year=2004|book-title=Il medico di fronte al miracolo|conference=Convegno promosso dall'A.M.C.I. tenuto a Milano il 23 novembre 2002|language=it|location=Cinisello Balsamo, IT|publisher=Edizioni Paoline|isbn=978-8821550607|title=Il medico di fronte al miracolo}}</ref> In a 1908 book, it says these cures were subjected to intense medical scrutiny and were only recognized as authentic spiritual cures after a commission of doctors and scientists, called the Lourdes Medical Bureau, had ruled out any physical mechanism for the patient's recovery.<ref name="Bertrin1908">{{cite book|last=Bertrin|first=Georges|year=1908|title=Lourdes: a history of its apparitions and cures|others=Translated by Agnes Mary Rowland Gibbs|location=New York [u.a.]|publisher=Benziger Brothers|oclc=679304003|hdl=2027/nnc1.0020343540}}</ref>

==== Evangelicalism ====
[[File:Laying on of hands, Dr. Ebenezer Markwei.jpg|280px|thumb|right|Laying on of hands for healing in Living Streams International Church, [[Place:Accra|Accra]], Ghana, 2018]]
In some Pentecostal and Charismatic Evangelical churches, a special place is thus reserved for faith healings with laying on of hands during [[Religion:Worship service (evangelicalism)|worship services]] or for campaigns evangelization.<ref>Cecil M. Robeck, Jr, Amos Yong, ''The Cambridge Companion to Pentecostalism'', Cambridge University Press, UK, 2014, p. 138</ref><ref>Béatrice Mohr et Isabelle Nussbaum,
[https://pages.rts.ch/emissions/temps-present/religion/3032510-rock-miracles-saint-esprit.html?anchor=3095947#3095947 Rock, miracles & Saint-Esprit], rts.ch, Switzerland, April 21, 2011</ref> Faith healing or divine healing is considered to be an inheritance of [[Biography:Jesus|Jesus]] acquired by his death and resurrection.<ref>Randall Herbert Balmer, ''Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism: Revised and expanded edition'', Baylor University Press, US, 2004, p. 212</ref> [[Religion:Biblical inerrancy|Biblical inerrancy]] ensures that the [[Philosophy:Miracle|miracle]]s and healings described in the [[Religion:Bible|Bible]] are still relevant and may be present in the life of the believer.<ref>Sébastien Fath, ''Du ghetto au réseau: Le protestantisme évangélique en France, 1800–2005'', Édition Labor et Fides, Genève, 2005, p. 28</ref>

At the beginning of the 20th century, the new [[Religion:Pentecostalism|Pentecostal]] movement drew participants from the [[Religion:Holiness movement|Holiness movement]] and other movements in America that already believed in divine healing. By the 1930s, several faith healers drew large crowds and established worldwide followings.

The first Pentecostals in the modern sense appeared in Topeka, Kansas, in a Bible school conducted by Charles Fox Parham, a holiness teacher and former Methodist pastor. Pentecostalism achieved worldwide attention in 1906 through the Azusa Street Revival in {{wipe|Los Angeles}} led by William Joseph Seymour.<ref>{{cite web |last= Synan |first= Vinson |title= The Origins of the Pentecostal Movement |url= http://webapps.oru.edu/new_php/library/holyspirit/pentorg1.html |publisher= Holy Spirit Research Center, Oral Roberts University |date= 14 June 2009}}</ref>

Smith Wigglesworth was also a well-known figure in the early part of the 20th century. A former English plumber turned [[Religion:Evangelism|evangelist]] who lived simply and read nothing but the Bible from the time his wife taught him to read, Wigglesworth traveled around the world preaching about Jesus and performing faith healings. Wigglesworth claimed to raise several people from the dead in Jesus' name in his meetings.<ref>{{cite book |first1= Sarah |last1= Posner |first2= Joe |last2= Conason |title= God's Profits: Faith, Fraud, and the Republican Crusade for Values Voters |publisher= Polipoint Press |year= 2008 |isbn= 978-0979482212 |page= [https://archive.org/details/godsprofitsfaith0000posn/page/67 67] |url= https://archive.org/details/godsprofitsfaith0000posn/page/67 }}</ref>

During the 1920s and 1930s, Aimee Semple McPherson was a controversial faith healer of growing popularity during the [[Finance:Great Depression|Great Depression]]. Subsequently, William M. Branham has been credited as the initiator of the post-World War II healing revivals.<ref name="Anderson2004">{{cite book|last=Anderson|first= Allan|year=2004|title=An introduction to Pentecostalism: global charismatic Christianity|location=Cambridge [u.a.]|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0521532808|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IPbPTOi0Rk4C}}</ref>{{rp|page=58}}<ref name="Harrell1975">{{cite book|last=Harrell|first=David E.|year=1975|title=All things are possible: the healing and charismatic revivals in modern America|location=Bloomington, IN|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=978-0253100900|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ks-Sa1mSnI8C&pg=PA25}}</ref>{{rp|page=25}} The healing revival he began led many to emulate his style and spawned a generation of faith healers. Because of this, Branham has been recognized as the "father of modern faith healers".<ref>{{cite journal
| last = Sheryl
| first = J. Greg
| title = The Legend of William Branham
| journal = The Quarterly Journal
| volume = 33
| issue = 3
| year = 2013
| issn = 1083-6853
| url = http://www.pfo.org/33-3%20SAMPLE.pdf
}}</ref> According to writer and researcher Patsy Sims, "the power of a Branham service and his stage presence remains a legend unparalleled in the history of the Charismatic movement".{{sfn|Sims|1996|p=195}} By the late 1940s, Oral Roberts, who was associated with and promoted by Branham's ''Voice of Healing'' magazine also became well known, and he continued with faith healing until the 1980s.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/16/us/16roberts.html Oral Roberts, Pentecostal Evangelist, Dies at 91 – Obituary (Obit) – NYTimes.com]</ref> Roberts discounted faith healing in the late 1950s, stating, "I never was a faith healer and I was never raised that way. My parents believed very strongly in medical science and we have a doctor who takes care of our children when they get sick. I cannot heal anyone – God does that."<ref>{{cite news |last= Jones |first= Charles |title= {{thinsp}}'I've no secrets to hide', says evangelist Roberts |url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2206&dat=19580121&id=47wyAAAAIBAJ&pg=2072,2065389 |date= January 21, 1958 |newspaper= The Miami News |page= 5A |access-date= 2014-01-23 }}{{Dead link|date=December 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> A friend of Roberts was Kathryn Kuhlman, another popular faith healer, who gained fame in the 1950s and had a television program on CBS. Also in this era, Jack Coe<ref>{{cite news |title= 7,000 in evangelistic tent sing when lights go out |url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1129&dat=19530824&id=FchRAAAAIBAJ&pg=3067,5160164 |date= August 24, 1953 |newspaper= Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |page= 7 |access-date= 2014-01-23}}</ref><ref name= "WashPost1956">{{cite news |url= https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost_historical/doc/148828440.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=historic&date=FEB%2021,%201956&author=&pub=The%20Washington%20Post&edition=&startpage=&desc=%27Faith%20Healer%27%20Cleared%20Of%20Illegal%20Practice |title= 'Faith healer' cleared of illegal practice |newspaper= {{wipe|The Washington Post}} |date= February 21, 1956 |page= 3 |agency= Associated Press |url-access= subscription |via= ProQuest |access-date= 2007-11-12 |archive-date= 2014-02-02 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140202142141/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost_historical/doc/148828440.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=historic&date=FEB%2021,%201956&author=&pub=The%20Washington%20Post&edition=&startpage=&desc=%27Faith%20Healer%27%20Cleared%20Of%20Illegal%20Practice |url-status= dead }}</ref> and A. A. Allen<ref name="Deathalcohol">{{cite news |url= http://liposuctionsurgeonfinder.online/evangelist-death-laid-to-alcohol/|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160815121610/http://liposuctionsurgeonfinder.online/evangelist-death-laid-to-alcohol/|url-status= dead|archive-date= August 15, 2016|title=Evangelist death laid to alcohol |newspaper= Chronicle-Telegram |location= Elyria, OH |date= June 25, 1970 |access-date =2007-05-17}}</ref><!-- possible other refs {{sfn|Randi|1989|p=88}}, {{cite news |title= Evangelist's death due to 'alcoholism' |date= June 27, 1970 |newspaper= {{wipe|The Washington Post}} |page= B9 |url= https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost_historical/doc/147917069.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=historic&date=JUN%2027,%201970&author=&pub=The%20Washington%20Post&edition=&startpage=&desc=Evangelist%27s%20Death%20Dueto%20%27Alcoholism%27 |url-access=subscription  |via= ProQuest}} --> were faith healers who traveled with large tents for large open-air crusades.

Oral Roberts's successful use of television as a medium to gain a wider audience led others to follow suit. His former pilot, Kenneth Copeland, started a healing ministry. Pat Robertson, Benny Hinn, and Peter Popoff became well-known televangelists who claimed to heal the sick.{{sfn|Randi|1989|p=10}} Richard Rossi is known for advertising his healing clinics through secular television and radio. Kuhlman influenced Benny Hinn, who adopted some of her techniques and wrote a book about her.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.csicop.org/si/show/benny_hinn_healer_or_hypnotist/ |title= Benny Hinn: Healer or hypnotist? |magazine= [[Unsolved:Skeptical Inquirer|Skeptical Inquirer]] |volume= 26 |issue= 3 |publisher= [[Organization:Committee for Skeptical Inquiry|Committee for Skeptical Inquiry]] |date= May–June 2002 |first= Joe |last= Nickell |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131030140655/http://www.csicop.org/si/show/benny_hinn_healer_or_hypnotist/ |archive-date= 2013-10-30 |url-status= dead |access-date= 2014-01-23 }}</ref>

====Christian Science====
Christian Science claims that healing is possible through prayer based on an understanding of God and the underlying spiritual perfection of God's creation.<ref name="Barrett2009"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Eddy |first1=Mary Baker |title=Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures |date=1910 |orig-year=1875 |pages=1–17 |isbn=978-0879524371 |url=https://www.christianscience.com/the-christian-science-pastor/science-and-health/chapter-i-prayer}}</ref> The material world as humanly perceived is believed to not be the spiritual reality. Christian Scientists believe that healing through prayer is possible insofar as it succeeds in bringing the spiritual reality of health into human experience.<ref name="SkepDic">{{cite book |first= Robert Todd |last=Carroll |title=The Skeptic's Dictionary |edition=online |chapter=Faith Healing |chapter-url=http://www.skepdic.com/faithhealing.html |year=2014|title-link=The Skeptic's Dictionary}}</ref> Prayer does not change the spiritual creation but gives a clearer view of it, and the result appears in the human scene as healing: the human picture adjusts to coincide more nearly with the divine reality.<ref name="Bergman2001">{{cite news |last=Bergman |first=Gerald |date=October 2001 |title=The Christian Science holocaust |url=http://www.theness.com/index.php/the-christian-science-holocaust/ |magazine=The New England Journal of Skepticism |volume=4 |issue=4 |publisher=[[Organization:New England Skeptical Society|New England Skeptical Society]]}}</ref> Therefore, Christian Scientists do not consider themselves to be faith healers since faith or belief in Christian Science is not required on the part of the patient, and because they consider healings reliable and provable rather than random.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Eddy |first1=Mary Baker |title=Prose Works other than Science and Health |date=1925 |page=33 |publisher=1st Church of Christ Scientist |url=https://archive.org/details/proseworkscatalo00mary/page/n59/mode/2up}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Peel |first1=Robert |title=Health and medicine in the Christian Science tradition |date=1988 |publisher=Crossroad |location=NY |page=2 |isbn=978-0824508951 |url=https://archive.org/details/healthmedicinein00peel/page/2/mode/2up}}</ref>

Although there is no hierarchy in Christian Science, practitioners devote full time to prayer for others on a professional basis, and advertise in an online directory published by the church.<ref>{{cite web |title=Directory of practitioners |url=https://directory.christianscience.com |publisher=The First Church of Christ, Scientist}}</ref><ref name="MatlinsCS"/> Christian Scientists sometimes tell their stories of healing at weekly testimony meetings at local Christian Science churches, or publish them in the church's magazines including ''The Christian Science Journal'' printed monthly since 1883, the ''Christian Science Sentinel'' printed weekly since 1898, and ''The Herald of Christian Science'' a foreign language magazine beginning with a German edition in 1903 and later expanding to Spanish, French, and Portuguese editions. Christian Science Reading Rooms often have archives of such healing accounts.<ref>{{cite web |title=JSH-Online |url=https://jsh.christianscience.com |publisher=The First Church of Christ, Scientist}}</ref><ref name="MatlinsCS">{{cite book |last1=Matlins |first1=Stuart |title=How to Be a Perfect Stranger: The Essential Religious Etiquette Handbook |date=2003 |publisher=Skylight Paths Publishing |pages=70–76 |isbn=978-1594731402 |url=https://archive.org/details/howtobeperfectst00stua_0/page/70/mode/2up}}</ref>

====The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints====
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) has had a long history of faith healings. Many members of the LDS Church have told their stories of healing within the LDS publication, the ''Ensign''.<ref>{{cite news |last= Miller |first= Brandon J. |url= https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2001/09/latter-day-saint-voices?lang=eng |title= I needed a blessing |department= Latter-day Saint Voices |magazine= The Ensign of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Ensign) |date= September 2001 |pages= 64–68}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last= Ribeiro |first= Sérgio |url= https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2004/01/latter-day-saint-voices?lang=eng |title= He restoreth my soul |department= Latter-day Saint Voices |magazine= Ensign |date= January 2004 |pages= 70–73}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last= Heal |first= Simon |url= https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2010/04/latter-day-saint-voices?lang=eng |title= Call an ambulance! |department= Latter-day Saint Voices |magazine= Ensign |date= April 2010 |pages= 60–63}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last= Peñate de Guerra |first= Magdalena |url= https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2005/09/latter-day-saint-voices?lang=eng |title= We rejoiced in her healing |department= Latter-day Saint Voices |magazine= Ensign |date= September 2005 |pages= 66–69}}</ref> The church believes healings come most often as a result of [[Unsolved:Priesthood blessing|priesthood blessing]]s given by the laying on of hands; however, prayer often accompanied with fasting is also thought to cause healings. Healing is always attributed to be God's power. Latter-day Saints believe that the Priesthood of God, held by prophets (such as Moses) and worthy disciples of the Savior, was restored via heavenly messengers to the first prophet of this dispensation, [[Biography:Joseph Smith|Joseph Smith]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://en.fairmormon.org/Joseph_Smith_healings_and_miracles |title= Joseph Smith/Healings and miracles |publisher= FairMormon |work= fairmormon.org |date= May 23, 2010 |access-date= 2010-09-20 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100201100307/http://en.fairmormon.org/Joseph_Smith_healings_and_miracles |archive-date= 2010-02-01 |url-status= live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.josephsmith.net/josephsmith/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=041579179acbff00VgnVCM1000001f5e340aRCRD&locale=0 |title= Joseph Smith: Prophet of God |work= Josephsmith.net |publisher= The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS)}}{{Full citation needed|date=January 2014}}</ref>

According to LDS doctrine, even though members may have the restored priesthood authority to heal in the name of Jesus Christ, all efforts should be made to seek the appropriate medical help. Brigham Young stated this effectively, while also noting that the ultimate outcome is still dependent on the will of God.<ref>{{harvnb|Young, Brigham|1997|loc= Chapter 34: "Strengthening the Saints Through the Gifts of the Spirit". [https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/content/manual/teachings-brigham-young/chapter-34?lang=eng pp. 251–259]}}</ref>

{{blockquote|text=
If we are sick, and ask the Lord to heal us, and to do all for us that is necessary to be done, according to my understanding of the Gospel of salvation, I might as well ask the Lord to cause my wheat and corn to grow, without my plowing the ground and casting in the seed. It appears consistent to me to apply every remedy that comes within the range of my knowledge, and to ask my Father in Heaven, in the name of Jesus Christ, to sanctify that application to the healing of my body.<ref name= "Young1941p163">{{harvnb|Young, Brigham|1997|loc= Ch, 34. [https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/content/manual/teachings-brigham-young/chapter-34?lang=eng pp. 251–259]}} Citing: {{harvnb|Young, Brigham|1941|page=163}}</ref>

But suppose we were traveling in the mountains, ... and one or two were taken sick, without anything in the world in the shape of healing medicine within our reach, what should we do? According to my faith, ask the Lord Almighty to ... heal the sick. This is our privilege, when so situated that we cannot get anything to help ourselves. Then the Lord and his servants can do all. But it is my duty to do, when I have it in my power.<ref name= "Young1941p163"/>

We lay hands on the sick and wish them to be healed, and pray the Lord to heal them, but we cannot always say that he will.<ref>{{harvnb|Young, Brigham|1997|loc= Ch, 34. [https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/teachings-brigham-young/chapter-34?lang=eng pp. 251–259]}} Citing: {{Harvnb|Young, Brigham|1941||page= 162}}</ref>}}

===Islam===

A number of healing traditions exist among Muslims. Some healers are particularly focused on diagnosing cases of possession by [[Religion:Jinn|jinn]] or demons.<ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Love in World Religions, Volume 1|publisher=ABC-CLIO|page=42}}</ref>

===Buddhism===
Chinese-born Australian businessman Jun Hong Lu was a prominent proponent of the "Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door", claiming that practicing the three "golden practices" of reciting texts and mantras, liberation of beings, and making vows, laid a solid foundation for improved physical, mental, and psychological well-being, with many followers publicly attesting to have been healed through practice.<ref name="The Star">{{Cite news |title=Visit of Aussie-based 'Buddhist Master' draws controversy |work= The Star |url=https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/12/29/visit-of-aussie-based-buddhist-master-draws-controversy |access-date=1 August 2020}}</ref>

===Scientology===
Some critics of [[Religion:Scientology|Scientology]] have referred to some of its practices as being similar to faith healing, based on claims made by L. Ron Hubbard in ''[[Unsolved:Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health|Dianetics]]'' and other writings.<ref>{{cite book|last=Cooper|first=Paulette|title=The Scandal of Scientology|url=http://www.xenu.net/archive/books/tsos/sos-21.html}}</ref>

==Scientific investigation==

Nearly all{{efn|name="All"}} scientists dismiss faith healing as pseudoscience.<ref name=Pigliucci-2013/><ref name="Hassani-2010"/><ref name="Contact"/><ref name="See-more-pseudo"/> Believers assert that faith healing makes no scientific claims and thus should be treated as a matter of faith that is not testable by science.<ref name="Patheos">{{cite web|title=Popular Delusions III: Faith Healing|url=http://www.patheos.com/blogs/daylightatheism/2006/09/popular-delusions-iii/|access-date=30 April 2018|date=26 September 2006|quote=Naturally, this result has provoked bitter complaints from many believers who assert that God should not be put to the test. In response to the MANTRA study, an English bishop said, "Prayer is not a penny in the slot machine. You can't just put in a coin and get out a chocolate bar." Similarly, in a ''New York Times'' article on prayer studies from October 10, 2004, Rev. Raymond J. Lawrence Jr. of New York-Presbyterian Hospital is quoted as saying, "There's no way to put God to the test, and that's exactly what you're doing when you design a study to see if God answers your prayers. This whole exercise cheapens religion, and promotes an infantile theology that God is out there ready to miraculously defy the laws of nature in answer to a prayer."}}</ref> Critics reply that claims of medical cures should be tested scientifically because, although faith in the supernatural is not in itself usually considered to be the purview of science,<ref name="Martin">{{cite journal |last=Martin |first=Michael |year=1994 |title=Pseudoscience, the Paranormal, and Science Education |url=http://personal.psu.edu/faculty/c/a/caw43/behrendwriting/Martin,%20Michael.pdf |access-date=30 March 2018 |journal=Science & Education |volume=3 |issue=4 |page=364 |quote=Cures allegedly brought about by religious faith are, in turn, considered to be paranormal phenomena but the related religious practices and beliefs are not pseudoscientific since they usually have no scientific pretensions. |bibcode=1994Sc&Ed...3..357M |doi=10.1007/BF00488452 |s2cid=22730647 |archive-date=13 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190713124733/http://personal.psu.edu/faculty/c/a/caw43/behrendwriting/Martin,%20Michael.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name='Gould_magisteria'>{{cite news |title= Non-overlapping magisteria |magazine= Natural History |date=March 1997 |first= Stephen Jay |last= Gould |volume= 106 |pages= 16–22|title-link= Non-overlapping magisteria }} Re-published in {{cite book |chapter= Non-overlapping magisteria |chapter-url= http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/gould_noma.html |title= Leonardo's Mountain of Clams and the Diet of Worms |last= Gould |first= Stephen Jay |author-link= Stephen Jay Gould |location= New York |publisher= New Harmony |year= 1998 |pages= 269–283 |access-date= 2008-01-30 |archive-date= 2017-01-04 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170104061453/http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/gould_noma.html |url-status= dead }}</ref>{{efn|name="Flamm"|"The "faith" in faith healing refers to an irrational belief, unsupported by evidence, that mysterious supernatural powers can eradicate disease. Science deals with evidence, not faith." Bruce Flamm, 2004.<ref name= "Flamm2004">{{cite news |first= Bruce |last= Flamm |title= The Columbia University 'miracle' study: Flawed and fraud |date= September–October 2004 |publisher= [[Organization:Committee for Skeptical Inquiry|Committee for Skeptical Inquiry]] |url= http://www.csicop.org/si/show/columbia_university_miracle_study_flawed_and_fraud/ |magazine= [[Unsolved:Skeptical Inquirer|Skeptical Inquirer]] |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091106095320/http://www.csicop.org/si/show/columbia_university_miracle_study_flawed_and_fraud |archive-date= 2009-11-06}}</ref>}} claims of reproducible effects are nevertheless subject to scientific investigation.<ref name="Hassani-2010"/><ref name="Patheos"/>

Scientists and doctors generally find that faith healing lacks [[Medicine:Biological plausibility|biological plausibility]] or epistemic warrant,<ref name=Pigliucci-2013/>{{rp|30–31}} which is one of the criteria used to judge whether clinical research is ethical and financially justified.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wendler |first1=David |title=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |date=2017 |publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University |edition=Winter 2017 |chapter-url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/clinical-research/ |chapter=The Ethics of Clinical Research}}</ref> A Cochrane review of intercessory prayer found "although some of the results of individual studies suggest a positive effect of intercessory prayer, the majority do not".<ref name=Ahmed2009/> The authors concluded: "We are not convinced that further trials of this intervention should be undertaken and would prefer to see any resources available for such a trial used to investigate other questions in health care".<ref name=Ahmed2009>{{cite journal|last1=Roberts|first1=Leanne|last2=Ahmed|first2=Irshad|last3=Davison|first3=Andrew|title=Intercessory prayer for the alleviation of ill health|journal=Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews|issue=2|pages=CD000368|date=15 April 2009|volume=2009 |doi=10.1002/14651858.CD000368.pub3|pmid=19370557|pmc=7034220}}</ref>

A review in 1954 investigated [[Medicine:Energy medicine|spiritual healing]], [[Unsolved:Therapeutic touch|therapeutic touch]] and faith healing. Of the hundred cases reviewed, none revealed that the healer's intervention alone resulted in any improvement or cure of a measurable organic disability.<ref>{{cite journal |first= Louis |last= Rose |title= Some aspects of paranormal healing |journal= The British Medical Journal |volume= 2 |issue= 4900 |year= 1954 |pages= 1329–1332 |pmid= 13209112 |pmc= 2080217 |doi= 10.1136/bmj.2.4900.1329}}</ref>

In addition, at least one study has suggested that adult Christian Scientists, who generally use prayer rather than medical care, have a higher death rate than other people of the same age.<ref name=ACS/>

The Global Medical Research Institute (GMRI) was created in 2012 to start collecting medical records of patients who claim to have received a supernatural healing miracle as a result of Christian Spiritual Healing practices. The organization has a panel of medical doctors who review the patient's records looking at entries prior to the claimed miracles and entries after the miracle was claimed to have taken place. "The overall goal of GMRI is to promote an empirically grounded understanding of the physiological, emotional, and sociological effects of Christian Spiritual Healing practices".<ref name="GMRI">{{cite web | title=About GMRI – Global Medical Research Institute | website=Global Medical Research Institute – Applying rigorous methods of evidence-based medicine to study Christian Spiritual Healing practices | url=http://www.globalmri.org/index.php/about | access-date=12 June 2020}}</ref> This is accomplished by applying the same rigorous standards used in other forms of medical and scientific research.

A 2011 article in the New Scientist magazine cited positive physical results from meditation, positive thinking and spiritual faith<ref>Jo Marchant, "Heal Thyself", ''New Scientist'', 27 August 2011, pp. 33–36.</ref>

==Criticism==
{{blockquote|I have visited Lourdes in France and Fatima in Portugal, healing shrines of the Christian Virgin Mary. I have also visited Epidaurus in Greece and Pergamum in Turkey, healing shrines of the pagan god Asklepios. The miraculous healings recorded in both places were remarkably the same. There are, for example, many crutches hanging in the grotto of Lourdes, mute witness to those who arrived lame and left whole. There are, however, no prosthetic limbs among them, no witnesses to paraplegics whose lost limbs were restored.|author=John Dominic Crossan<ref>{{cite book |title= Who is Jesus?: Answers to Your Questions About the Historical Jesus |editor1-first= John Dominic |editor1-last= Crossan |editor1-link= John Dominic Crossan |editor2-first= Richard G. |editor2-last= Watts |page= [https://archive.org/details/whoisjesusanswer00cros/page/64&#91;https://books.google.com/books?id=XNkKf5htZq4C&pg=PA64 64&#93;] |year= 1999 |edition= reprint |publisher= Westminster John Knox |location= Louisville, KY |orig-year= c. 1996 |isbn= 978-0664258429 |url= https://archive.org/details/whoisjesusanswer00cros/page/64 }}</ref>}}

Skeptics of faith healing offer primarily two explanations for anecdotes of cures or improvements, relieving any need to appeal to the supernatural.{{efn|"Benefits may result because of the natural progression of the illness, rarely but regularly occurring spontaneous remission or through the placebo effect." UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center<ref name='USDMoores1'>{{cite web |title= Complementary and Alternative Therapies for Cancer Patients: Faith Healing |publisher=UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, UC San Diego Health System, [[Organization:University of California, San Diego|University of California, San Diego]] |url= http://cancer.ucsd.edu/Outreach/PublicEducation/CAMs/faith.asp |access-date= 2008-01-17 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081006212016/http://cancer.ucsd.edu/Outreach/PublicEducation/CAMs/faith.asp |archive-date= 2008-10-06}}</ref>}}<ref name='skepdic'>{{cite book |chapter-url= http://skepdic.com/faithhealing.html |chapter=Faith Healing |date= January 8, 2014 |last= Carroll |first= Robert Todd |title= The Skeptic's Dictionary|title-link=The Skeptic's Dictionary }}</ref> The first is ''[[Philosophy:Post hoc ergo propter hoc|post hoc ergo propter hoc]]'', meaning that a genuine improvement or [[Medicine:Spontaneous remission|spontaneous remission]] may have been experienced coincidental with but independent from anything the faith healer or patient did or said. These patients would have improved just as well even had they done nothing. The second is the [[Medicine:Placebo|placebo]] effect, through which a person may experience genuine pain relief and other symptomatic alleviation. In this case, the patient genuinely has been helped by the faith healer or faith-based remedy, not through any mysterious or numinous function, but by the power of their own belief that they would be healed.<ref name="Park">{{cite book |last= Park |first= Robert L. |author-link= Robert L. Park |title= Voodoo Science: The Road from Foolishness to Fraud |publisher= Oxford University Press |year= 2000 |location= New York |pages= [https://archive.org/details/voodooscienceroa00park/page/50 50–51] |isbn= 978-0195135152 |title-link= Voodoo Science }}</ref>{{efn|"Patients who seek the assistance of a faith healer must believe strongly in the healer's divine gifts and ability to focus them on the ill." UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center<ref name='USDMoores1'/>}}<ref name="Humphrey2002">{{cite book|last1=Humphrey|first1=Nicholas|title=The Mind Made Flesh: Essays from the Frontiers of Psychology and Evolution|date=2002|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0192802279|pages=[https://archive.org/details/mindmadefleshess00hump/page/255 255–285]|chapter-url=http://www.humphrey.org.uk/papers/2002GreatExpectations.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050529040254/http://www.humphrey.org.uk/papers/2002GreatExpectations.pdf |archive-date=2005-05-29 |url-status=live|chapter=Chapter 19: Great Expectations: The Evolutionary Psychology of Faith-Healing and the Placebo Effect|url=https://archive.org/details/mindmadefleshess00hump/page/255}}</ref> In both cases the patient may experience a real reduction in symptoms, though in neither case has anything miraculous or inexplicable occurred. Both cases, however, are strictly limited to the body's natural abilities.

According to the American Cancer Society:<ref name=ACS />
{{blockquote|... available scientific evidence does not support claims that faith healing can actually cure physical ailments... One review published in 1998 looked at 172 cases of deaths among children treated by faith healing instead of conventional methods. These researchers estimated that if conventional treatment had been given, the survival rate for most of these children would have been more than 90 percent, with the remainder of the children also having a good chance of survival. A more recent study found that more than 200 children had died of treatable illnesses in the United States over the past thirty years because their parents relied on spiritual healing rather than conventional medical treatment.}}

The American Medical Association considers that prayer as therapy should not be a medically reimbursable or deductible expense.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web|url=http://www.ama-assn.org/apps/pf_new/pf_online?f_n=browse&doc=policyfiles/HnE/H-185.987.HTM|title=H-185.987 Prayer Fees Reimbursed As Medical Expenses|access-date=2008-01-17|publisher=American Medical Association}} {{Dead link|date=September 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref>

Belgian [[Biography:Philosopher|philosopher]] and skeptic [[Biography:Etienne Vermeersch|Etienne Vermeersch]] coined the term [[Unsolved:Lourdes effect|Lourdes effect]] as a criticism of the [[Philosophy:Magical thinking|magical thinking]] and placebo effect possibilities for the claimed miraculous cures as there are no documented events where a severed arm has been reattached through faith healing at Lourdes. Vermeersch identifies ambiguity and equivocal nature of the miraculous cures as a key feature of miraculous events.<ref>[http://www.etiennevermeersch.be/artikels/pseudo_wet/wetenschappelijke-aprioris-tegen-het-paranormale ''Scientific apriori's against the paranormal''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090619054947/http://www.etiennevermeersch.be/artikels/pseudo_wet/wetenschappelijke-aprioris-tegen-het-paranormale |date=2009-06-19 }} by Prof. Etienne Vermeersch.</ref><ref>Vermeersch, E., ''Het paranormale ter discussie'', Studiumgenerale, nr 9107, [[Organization:Utrecht University|Utrecht University]], 1992, pp. 81–93 (English title: ''The paranormal questioned'').</ref><ref>Vermeersch, E., ''Epistemologische Inleiding tot een Wetenschap van de Mens'', Brugge, De Tempel, 1966.</ref>

===Negative impact on public health===
Reliance on faith healing to the exclusion of other forms of treatment can have a public health impact when it reduces or eliminates access to modern medical techniques.{{efn|"Faith healing can cause patients to shun effective medical care". Bruce Flamm<ref name='SRAM_Flamm'>{{cite journal|title=Inherent Dangers of Faith Healing Studies|journal=Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine|date=2004|first=Bruce L.|last=Flamm|volume=8|issue=2|url=http://www.sram.org/0802/faith-healing.html|access-date=2008-01-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070816154915/http://www.sram.org/0802/faith-healing.html|archive-date=2007-08-16|url-status=dead}}</ref>}}{{efn|"It is often claimed that faith healing may not work but at least does no harm. In fact, reliance on faith healing can cause serious harm and even death." Bruce Flamm<ref name= "Flamm2004"/>}}{{efn|"Faith-healers take from their subjects any hope of managing on their own. And they may very well take them away from legitimate treatments that could really help them." [[Biography:James Randi|James Randi]]{{sfn|Randi|1989|page=141}}}} This is evident in both higher mortality rates for children<ref name="AsserSwan1998"/> and in reduced life expectancy for adults.<ref name='JAMA longevity' /> Critics have also made note of serious injury that has resulted from falsely labelled "healings", where patients erroneously consider themselves cured and cease or withdraw from treatment.<ref name= "Barrett2009"/>{{efn|"These [discarded medications] are substances without which those people might well die."[[Biography:James Randi|James Randi]]{{sfn|Randi|1989|page=141}}}} For example, at least six people have died after faith healing by their church and being told they had been healed of HIV and could stop taking their medications.<ref>{{cite news|date=November 25, 2011|url=http://news.sky.com/home/uk-news/article/16117269|title=Church tells HIV patients to stop treatment|first=Liz|last=Lane|publisher=Sky News|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111126145744/http://news.sky.com/home/uk-news/article/16117269|archive-date=November 26, 2011}}</ref> It is the stated position of the AMA that "prayer as therapy should not delay access to traditional medical care".<ref name="autogenerated1" /> Choosing faith healing while rejecting modern medicine can and does cause people to die needlessly.<ref name=Cogan1998>{{cite book|author=Robert Cogan|title=Critical Thinking: Step by Step|url=https://archive.org/details/criticalthinking0000coga|url-access=registration|year=1998|publisher=University Press of America|isbn=978-0761810674|page=[https://archive.org/details/criticalthinking0000coga/page/217 217]}}</ref>

===Christian theological criticism of faith healing===
Christian theological criticism of faith healing broadly falls into two distinct levels of disagreement.

The first is widely termed the "open-but-cautious" view of the miraculous in the church today. This term is deliberately used by Robert L. Saucy in the book ''Are Miraculous Gifts for Today?''.<ref name="grudem et al.">{{cite book |last= Saucy |first= Robert L. |title= Are Miraculous Gifts for Today? |editor-last= Grudem |editor-first= Wayne |year= 1996 |publisher= Harper Collins |isbn= 978-0310201557 }}{{Full citation needed|date=January 2014}}</ref> Don Carson is another example of a Christian teacher who has put forward what has been described as an "open-but-cautious" view.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/bio/dacarson.html |title= D.A. Carson: Biographical Sketch |work= Monergism.com |publisher= Christian Publication Resource Foundation |location= Portland, OR |access-date= 2014-01-23}}</ref> In dealing with the claims of Warfield, particularly "Warfield's insistence that miracles ceased",{{sfn|Carson|1987|page=156}} Carson asserts, "But this argument stands up only if such miraculous gifts are theologically tied exclusively to a role of attestation; and that is demonstrably not so."{{sfn|Carson|1987|page=156}} However, while affirming that he does not expect healing to happen today, Carson is critical of aspects of the faith healing movement, "Another issue is that of immense abuses in healing practises.... The most common form of abuse is the view that since all illness is directly or indirectly attributable to the devil and his works, and since Christ by his cross has defeated the devil, and by his Spirit has given us the power to overcome him, healing is the inheritance right of all true Christians who call upon the Lord with genuine faith."{{sfn|Carson|1987|pages=174–175}}

The second level of theological disagreement with Christian faith healing goes further. Commonly referred to as [[Religion:Cessationism|cessationism]], its adherents either claim that faith healing will not happen today at all, or may happen today, but it would be unusual. Richard Gaffin argues for a form of cessationism in an essay alongside Saucy's in the book ''Are Miraculous Gifts for Today''? In his book ''Perspectives on Pentecost''{{sfn|Gaffin|1979|loc={{Page needed|date=January 2014}}}} Gaffin states of healing and related gifts that "the conclusion to be drawn is that as listed in 1 Corinthians 12(vv. 9f., 29f.) and encountered throughout the narrative in Acts, these gifts,  particularly when exercised regularly by a given individual, are part of the foundational structure of the church... and so have passed out of the life of the church."{{sfn|Gaffin|1979|pages=113–114}} Gaffin qualifies this, however, by saying "At the same time, however, the sovereign will and power of God today to heal the sick, particularly in response to prayer (see e.g. James 5:14, 15), ought to be acknowledged and insisted on."{{sfn|Gaffin|1979|page=114}}

===Fraud===
Skeptics of faith healers point to fraudulent practices either in the healings themselves (such as plants in the audience with fake illnesses), or concurrent with the healing work supposedly taking place and claim that faith healing is a [[Philosophy:Quackery|quack]] practice in which the "healers" use well known non-supernatural illusions to exploit credulous people in order to obtain their gratitude, confidence and money.{{sfn|Randi|1989|p=10}} [[Biography:James Randi|James Randi]]'s ''[[Unsolved:The Faith Healers|The Faith Healers]]'' investigates Christian evangelists such as Peter Popoff, who claimed to heal sick people on stage in front of an audience. Popoff pretended to know private details about participants' lives by receiving radio transmissions from his wife who was off-stage and had gathered information from audience members prior to the show.{{sfn|Randi|1989|p=10}} According to this book, many of the leading modern evangelistic healers have engaged in deception and fraud.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/faith.html|title=Some Thoughts about Faith Healing|website=www.quackwatch.com|date=27 December 2009|access-date=2016-04-07}}</ref> The book also questioned how faith healers use funds that were sent to them for specific purposes.{{efn|"[Some] faith-healers have been less than careful in their use of funds sent to them for specific purposes."[[Biography:James Randi|James Randi]]{{sfn|Randi|1989|page=141}}}} Physicist [[Biography:Robert L. Park|Robert L. Park]]<ref name="Park"/> and doctor and consumer advocate Stephen Barrett<ref name= "Barrett2009"/> have called into question the ethics of some exorbitant fees.

There have also been legal controversies. For example, in 1955 at a Jack Coe revival service in Miami, Florida, Coe told the parents of a three-year-old boy that he healed their son who had polio.<ref name="Courier19561218">{{cite news |url= http://www.newspaperarchive.com/newspapers1/na0040/6776104/33436272_clean.html |archive-url= https://archive.today/20130129191538/http://www.newspaperarchive.com/newspapers1/na0040/6776104/33436272_clean.html |url-status= dead |archive-date= January 29, 2013 |title= Faith healer dies – Victim of bulbar polio |newspaper= Daily Courier |location= Yavapai County, AZ |date= December 18, 1956 |access-date= 2007-11-12 }}</ref><ref name= "Salina19561217">{{cite news |title= 'Faith-healer' dies of polio |date= December 17, 1956 |newspaper= The Salina Journal |location= Salina, KS |page= 5 |url= https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/40757536/ |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Coe then told the parents to remove the boy's leg braces.<ref name="Courier19561218"/><ref name= "Salina19561217"/> However, their son was not cured of polio and removing the braces left the boy in constant pain.<ref name="Courier19561218"/><ref name= "Salina19561217"/><ref>{{cite news |last= Davis |first= Mike |title= Lost faith: Mother's story of healer |url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2206&dat=19560208&id=AJ0yAAAAIBAJ&pg=3001,2779353 |date= February 8, 1956 |page= 7A |newspaper= The Miami Daily News |location= Miami, FL |access-date= 2014-01-23 }}{{Dead link|date=December 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> As a result, through the efforts of Joseph L. Lewis, Coe was arrested and charged on February 6, 1956, with practicing medicine without a license, a felony in the state of Florida.<ref>{{cite news |last= Roberts |first= Jack |title= $10,000 dares Oral Roberts to prove faith healing |url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2206&dat=19580119&id=4bwyAAAAIBAJ&pg=631,1236440 |date= January 19, 1958 |newspaper= The Miami News |location= Miami, FL |access-date= 2014-01-23 }}{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> A Florida Justice of the Peace dismissed the case on grounds that Florida exempts divine healing from the law.<ref name= "WashPost1956"/><ref>{{cite news |title= The Week In Religion |newspaper=Walla Walla Union-Bulletin |date= July 1, 1956 }}{{Full citation needed|date=January 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=etsOAAAAIBAJ&pg=7419,2676337 |title= Charges against Texas faith healer dismissed |newspaper= St. Petersburg Times |location= St. Petersburg, FL |date= February 21, 1956 |access-date= 2014-01-23 |page= 9 }}{{Dead link|date=December 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Later that year Coe was diagnosed with bulbar polio, and died a few weeks later at Dallas' Parkland Hospital on December 17, 1956.<ref name= "Courier19561218"/><ref>{{cite news |url= http://interactive.ancestry.com/51212/News-TE-CO_CH_TI.1956_12_17-0015 |title=Faith healer Jack Coe dies |newspaper= Corpus Christi Times |location= Corpus Christi, TX |date= December 17, 1956 |access-date= 2007-11-12 |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost_historical/access/121322882.html?dids=121322882:121322882&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=DEC+17%2C+1956&author=&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=Jack+Coe%2C+Evangelist%2C+Dies+of+Polio&pqatl=google |title= Jack Coe, evangelist, dies of polio |newspaper= {{wipe|The Washington Post}} |date= December 17, 1956 |access-date= 2007-11-12 |url-access= subscription |archive-date= 2009-08-26 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090826014435/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost_historical/access/121322882.html?dids=121322882:121322882&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=DEC+17%2C+1956&author=&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=Jack+Coe%2C+Evangelist%2C+Dies+of+Polio&pqatl=google |url-status= dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00614FB3A54157B93C5A81789D95F428585F9 |title= Jack Coe is dead at 38; Texas evangelist succumbs to bulbar polio |newspaper= {{wipe|The New York Times}} |date= December 17, 1956 |access-date= 2007-11-12 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

===Miracles for sale===
TV personality Derren Brown produced a show on faith healing entitled ''Miracles for Sale'' which arguably exposed the art of faith healing as a scam. In this show, Derren trained a scuba diver trainer picked from the general public to be a faith healer and took him to Texas to successfully deliver a faith healing session to a congregation.<ref name="metro-derren-brown">{{cite news |url= http://metro.co.uk/2011/04/25/derren-brown-miracles-for-sale-tv-review-653303 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130215041421/http://metro.co.uk/2011/04/25/derren-brown-miracles-for-sale-tv-review-653303/ |url-status= live |archive-date= February 15, 2013 |title= Derren Brown: Miracles For Sale was deceptively entertaining polio |newspaper= Metro |date= April 25, 2011}}</ref>

==United States law==
The 1974 [[Social:Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act|Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act]] (CAPTA) required states to grant religious exemptions to child neglect and child abuse laws in order to receive federal money.<ref>{{cite journal |last= Merrick |first=Janna C. |year= 2003 |title= Spiritual healing, sick kids and the law: Inequities in the American healthcare system |journal= American Journal of Law & Medicine |volume= 29 |issue=2–3 |pages= 269–299 |doi=10.1017/S0098858800002847 |pmid= 12961808|s2cid=27122896 }}</ref> The CAPTA amendments of 1996 {{usc|42|5106i}} state:

{{blockquote|text=
(a) In General. – Nothing in this Act shall be construed –

"(1) as establishing a Federal requirement that a parent or legal guardian provide a child any medical service or treatment against the religious beliefs of the parent or legal guardian; and "(2) to require that a State find, or to prohibit a State from finding, abuse or neglect in cases in which a parent or legal guardian relies solely or partially upon spiritual means rather than medical treatment, in accordance with the religious beliefs of the parent or legal guardian.

"(b) State Requirement. – Notwithstanding subsection (a), a State shall, at a minimum, have in place authority under State law to permit the child protective services system of the State to pursue any legal remedies, including the authority to initiate legal proceedings in a court of competent jurisdiction, to provide medical care or treatment for a child when such care or treatment is necessary to prevent or remedy serious harm to the child, or to prevent the withholding of medically indicated treatment from children with life threatening conditions. Except with respect to the withholding of medically indicated treatments from disabled infants with life threatening conditions, case by case determinations concerning the exercise of the authority of this subsection shall be within the sole discretion of the State.}}

Thirty-one states have child-abuse religious exemptions. These are Alabama, Alaska, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia, and Wyoming.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.childwelfare.gov/systemwide/laws_policies/statutes/define.pdf |title=Definitions of Child Abuse and Neglect |access-date=2009-02-27 |publisher=Child Welfare Information Gateway, Children's Bureau, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services |date=April 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011062659/http://www.childwelfare.gov/systemwide/laws_policies/statutes/define.pdf |archive-date=2007-10-11 |url-status=dead }}</ref><!-- updated version (February 2011) available at url given --> In six of these states, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Ohio and Virginia, the exemptions extend to murder and manslaughter. Of these, Idaho is the only state accused of having a large number of deaths due to the legislation in recent times.<ref>[http://idahochildren.org/ Child Abuse in Idaho: Deadly & Legal]</ref><ref>[http://www.vocativ.com/culture/religion/faith-healing-deaths/?page=all Living on a Prayer: Why Does God Kill So Many Children in Idaho?]</ref> In February 2015, controversy was sparked in Idaho over a bill believed to further reinforce parental rights to deny their children medical care.<ref>[http://www.idahostatesman.com/2015/02/19/3653321_parental-rights-bill-sparks-lengthy.html?rh=1 Parental rights bill sparks lengthy testimony]</ref>

===Reckless homicide convictions===
Parents have been convicted of child abuse and felony reckless negligent homicide and found responsible for killing their children when they withheld lifesaving medical care and chose only prayers.<ref>{{cite news |work= BBC News |date= July 3, 2013 |title= US 'prayer cure' couple lose appeal over child's death |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23167489}}</ref><!-- There are quite a few other parents convicted of various crimes for denying their children medical care. This section needs to be renamed and expanded/updated -->

==See also==
{{Div col}}
* [[Unsolved:Anointing of the sick|Anointing of the sick]]
* [[Unsolved:Efficacy of prayer|Efficacy of prayer]]
* [[Unsolved:Egregore|Egregore]]
* [[Medicine:Energy medicine|Energy medicine]]
* Folk medicine
* [[Philosophy:Self-efficacy|Self-efficacy]]
* [[Unsolved:Thaumaturgy|Thaumaturgy]]
* [[Religion:Witch doctor|Witch doctor]]
* List of ineffective cancer treatments
* [[Philosophy:List of topics characterized as pseudoscience|List of topics characterized as pseudoscience]]
{{div col end}}

==Notes==

{{notelist|30em}}

==References==

{{Reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* Beyer, Jürgen (2013) "Wunderheilung". In ''Enzyklopädie des Märchens. Handwörterbuch zur historischen und vergleichenden Erzählforschung'', vol. 14, Berlin & Boston: Walter de Gruyter, coll. 1043–1050
* {{cite book |last= Bosworth |first=Fred F.|title=Christ, the healer: sermons on divine healing|publisher=Revell|location= Grand Rapids, MI |year= 2001|orig-year=First published 1924|isbn= 978-0800757397 }}
* {{cite book |last= Carson |first= Don |title= Showing the Spirit: A Theological Exposition of 1 Corinthians 12–14 |publisher= Baker Book House |year= 1987 |location =Grand Rapids, MI |isbn= 978-0801025211 }}
* {{cite book |last= Eddy |first= Mary Baker |title= Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures |publisher= sentinel.christianscience.com |edition= Concord Express online |orig-year= 1875 |year= 1910 |ref= {{Harvid|Eddy, Mary Baker|1875}}|title-link= Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures }}
* {{cite book |title= Perspectives on Pentecost: New Testament Teaching on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit |last= Gaffin |first= Richard |year= 1979 |location= Phillipsburg, NJ |publisher= Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing |isbn= 978-0875522692 }}
* {{cite web |last=Hall |first=Harriet |title=Faith Healing: Religious Freedom vs. Child Protection |publisher=Science-Based Medicine |date=19 November 2013 |access-date=24 October 2016 |url=https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/faith-healing-religious-freedom-vs-child-protection}}
* {{cite book |last= Nolen |first= William |year= 1975 |title= Healing: A Doctor in Search of a Miracle |url= https://archive.org/details/healingdoctorins00will |url-access= registration |publisher= Random House |isbn= 978-0394490953 }}
* {{cite book |last= Randi |first= James |year= 1989 |title= The Faith Healers |publisher= Prometheus Books |isbn= 978-0879755355 |title-link= The Faith Healers }}
* {{cite book
| last = Sims
| first = Patsy
| title = Can Somebody Shout Amen!: Inside the Tents and Tabernacles of American Revivalists
| publisher = University Press of Kentucky
| year = 1996
| isbn = 978-0813108865
}}
* {{cite book |last= Young |first= Brigham |title= Discourses of Brigham Young |others= Selected by Widtsoe, John A. |year= 1941 |ref= {{Harvid|Young, Brigham|1941}}}}
* {{cite book |last= Young |first= Brigham |title= Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young |url=https://archive.org/details/teachingsofpresi00youn|url-access= registration |year= 1997 |pages= [https://archive.org/details/teachingsofpresi00youn/page/251 251–9] |publisher= The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) |edition= churchofjesuschrist.org online |ref= {{Harvid|Young, Brigham|1997}}}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==

{{alternative medicine|state=collapsed}}
{{Spirituality-related topics}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Faith healing}}
[[Category:Supernatural healing| ]]
[[Category:Alternative medicine]]
[[Category:Pseudoscience]]
[[Category:Religious terminology]]
[[Category:Magic (supernatural)]]
[[Category:Medical controversies]]

{{Sourceattribution|Faith healing}}