is the belief that God can miraculously cure people by the means of giving others special abilities to cure. We will never know whether is genuine because it is based on faith. We can find evidence to support this and evidence that will make each individual to think clearly before they have faith in such said miracles.
Exploring , laying on of hands healing and spiritual healing from the powers of Lourdes Springs in France will clarify the events to see if the healing is real. There are also people who want to exploit these miracles and use them to gain for their own benefit. Although my arguments may seem to lack convicting evidence that is genuine, we must keep in mind that many scholars are still trying to prove that such miraculous phenomenon's take place.
Let's first examine the origins of . The first spiritual healer in the Christian faith was Jesus Christ the son of God. Jesus spent 2/3's of his time healing the sick. In Matthew 20:29-34, we see Jesus cure two blind men. The bible says "Two blind men were sitting by the side of the road and heard Jesus going by they shouted, 'lord have mercy on us''Jesus felt sorry for the blind men and touched their eyes. At once they could see"(Lucado). Jesus healed to prove that he was the son of God. He healed to show people true miracles, healed to show people that God was real. By showing people concrete evidence of God's existence and power, Jesus was able to gain many followers.
Since the time of Christ there have been many people who have claimed to be faith healers. Some of the first were the Royalty who ruled the monarchy. The kings already claimed to have the divine right. Because they had the divine right, these kings now claimed to have the divine ability to heal(Randi,17). The earliest time in history where this can be found is 1307 when Philip the fair was King of France(14) The healings that the King performed that were successful were called the royal touch, and the unsuccessful ones were said to be the king's evil.
relys on the gift of healing and the gift of knowledge, two of the 12 gifts that God promises in 1 Corinthians 12. The calling out supports the gift of knowledge. It is amazing that in a room full of people one man can call out the sickness of another man and heal him. Sayan reports that before the service, people walk about asking to the questions of those who have come to the healing service. The healer will then get this information so he is able to call out the illnesses that have been reported from the crowd. By asking questions of the one being healed, the healer sets a positive tone. When the patient answers "yes" to wanting to be healed, he is reinforcing the power of the healer. Once he has made such a commitment, the sick have to believe they are healed as to not upset the crowd.
There are four basic criteria for that can be seen in today's as well as many centuries ago. These four stages are found in a that is not genuine. These four include: one, the healer making the crowd wiat for his arrival, to build anticipation in the room. Two, the healer surrounds himself with his believers so that the skeptics cannot get close enough to ask questions. Thirdly, he strongly enforces that the sickness is not within the sick person. Finally he builds the charisma in the room so the sick person has to say he is healed as to not disappoint the crowd(29,Sagan). When the person does not become healed after such a ritual, it is the person who was being healed who is blamed. It is not because God did not try to heal him or her. It is said that the person did not have enough faith or that they had a bad habit in which God would not heal. A good example of this can be found in James Randis book, the Faith Healers. Here he talks about Reverand William Branshams attempt to cure a deaf mute by the name of Walker Beck. After Branham's attempt to cure him, Beck's condition worsened. Branshams excuse was that Walker smoked, therefore it was his smoking that inhibited him from being cured(30). If this is a true healing he or she should never be blamed if the person does not become cured.
We must keep in mind that no where in the new testament does it say we are promised to the curing of humans. This is may be the reason why it is so few and far between that we see true miraculous healing's.
Ralph Diorio claims to be a "true" faith healer. This is apparent when he cures one boy of Asthma during one of his healing services. Diorio looks for underlying problems. He asks the boy if he wants to be cured, when the boy answers yes, Diorio begins to ask the boy more questions. He asked the boy personal questions about his home life. By asking such questions he discovers that the boy is extremely scared that his mom and dad will leave and abandon him. By reassuring the boy that his family will not abandon him, the boy's symptoms of Asthma went away(Diorio,183). Our bodies are always trying to tell us something when we get ill. Faith healers give us the courage to look deeper and find the underlying problems. Faith healers then focus on the mind for the healing process to begin. Faith healing is "a radically speeded up version of the potential healing process"(Vries58). God seems to have given the gift of compassion and the gift of knowledge to men and women like Diorio. For them to be able to see the needs of other people and give them the love and support they need is the true miracle of healing.
Miraculous cures can also occur with anamatism. That is an object or person has a spiritual force contained within them. In the Christian faith, the most common type is Holy water. Water that is thought to be blessed with curing power to cure peoples illnesses. One of the most famous spiritual healing springs is found in Lourdes, France. It has been described as the meeting place of heaven and earth(Shiloh,8). In 1858 it is claimed that the Virgin Mary came down to Lourdes while a lady named Bernadette Subirous was there. Bernadette was an illiterate , poverty stricken lady who was chosen by Mary to receive powers of vision, prophecy and healing. It is said that Mary caused the dry cave to gush forth water. Although nobody ever claimed to see Mary, she visited Bernadette eighteen times. Clearly this is true because Bernadette never identified herself as being able to heal and never tried to profit from this event(Shiloh,8).
Thousands of people have traveled to Lourdes to take advantage of these miraculous waters. There have been stories of people who have just touched the water while others submerge themselves and even drink gallons of it so they will be cured. Randi says this water is disease ridden(Randi21). If this is so, is it not a miracle that these people did not get sick.
Randi also talks of the commercial aspect of the shrine. It is a shame that people would exploit such a wonderful place of healing. CBS-T.V reported that there were candle light services that were scheduled and at times cameramen ...