'Mind over matter' is an expression we have often heard. We have also heard that a positive attitude and belief in treatment is key to getting better.
Faith healing has been used for millennia, and is incorporated in many religions and belief systems. Although uncommon, some choose faith over medicine completely.
Faith healing can be described as having a faith in the supernatural or spiritual, that illness or affliction will be healed without medical intervention, although it is usually used alongside traditional medicine. Faith that God can heal a person, and direct appeal to God's healing abilities, is the crux of faith healing.
Some medical professionals encourage faith healing as part of overall medical care, and some professionals quietly dismiss it as irrelevant. Others are more vocal in their fear that faith healing is used before seeing a doctor, thus risking increased illness or risk of death, by delaying medical intervention.
Oral Robers, Aimee Semple McPherson and Pat Robertson are all very well known people of faith who have used faith healing on their followers. While there is very little actual evidence of a 'miraculous cure' by any faith healer (not taking biblical references into account), many people firmly believe in the power of faith healing.
Those who do not believe in faith healing, believe it a mere coincidence via the placebo effect or spontaneous remission.
Tell Us
Do you believe in the power of faith healing? Would you incorporate it into your overall medical care if you were ill? Why? Why not?