Healing Marks. Bruce G Epperly
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mainstream Christianity through the ministries of Agnes Sanford, Olga Worrall, and Morton Kelsey. These mainstream pioneers recognized God’s presence in the Pentecostal experience, first described in Acts of the Apostles, and located that experience in the context of the rational, theologically-reflective, and organized worship styles of moderate Christians. Today, virtually every denomination has, at least, some marginal interest in healing ministry, mostly in the context of spiritual formation and medical ministries. Almost every denominational worship book or supplementary resource contains healing liturgies for individual and communal worship. While avoiding supernatural explanations for healing, many mainstream and evangelical Christians see God as the source of healing who desires our well-being, and invites us to be part of a healing process that includes prayer, medicine, and community support.
Healing Movements in the Twenty-first Century. Interest in the healings of Jesus gained momentum as a result of the rise of complementary and alternative medicine, the transformation of Western medicine to embrace the role of spirituality in health and illness, growing scientific evidence of the role of religious practices in promoting overall well-being, and the changing face of Christianity and the growth of Pentecostal spiritualities in the Southern hemisphere. In the next few paragraphs, I will briefly describe the current spiritual context that shapes our understanding of Christian healing and invites us to explore and embody the healings of Jesus with renewed vigor.
First, complementary and alternative medicine has become mainstream in many North American hospital settings. As a result of the impact of global medical and spiritual practices, many major hospitals have courses and practitioners in Tai Chi and Qigong, Reiki healing touch, massage and still touch, mindfulness meditation, visualization, stress reduction, and yoga. In my own work as a medical school professor, the growing interest in complementary medicine has amazed me: in the 1980’s when I showed videos on Chinese medicine, my first year medical students were skeptical; a decade later, they wanted referrals to acupuncturists and energy workers. I was even given the opportunity to teach courses on spirituality and religious pluralism to medical residents in psychiatry, typically the most agnostic of the medical specialties. I found that these young psychiatrists recognized the role of faith in psychological health and pathology, regardless of their own personal beliefs.
What is unique about complementary medicine is that, in contrast to much Western medicine, which until recently separated issues of mind and body and spirituality and health, complementary medicine affirms the importance of spiritual practices, mental attitude, and relationships to our well-being and the ultimate energetic realities of the universe. For many people, their first encounter with spiritual practices occurs in the hospital or at medical appointment and not at church. The rise of complementary medicine and its emphasis on the role of spirituality in health and illness creates a bridge between twenty-first century medical treatment and Jesus’ healing ministry. Jesus is no longer viewed as an ancient magician, employing folk remedies and drawing upon peoples’ superstitions. In fact, Jesus’ approach to healing is seen by many complementary health practitioners as employing some of the same practices that are emphasized in complementary medicine and the growing integration of East and West in medical treatment: prayer and meditation, healing touch, faith, positive psychology, acceptance, hospitality, psychological techniques, and the transfer of healing energy from healer to patient. In recent years, when I’ve advised a stressed out congregant to begin a spiritual practice, such as centering prayer or quiet contemplation, he or she often responds with the comment, “I recently received the same advice from my doctor.”
Second, medicine is embracing the spiritual as well as physical in diagnosis and treatment. Once characterized by mind-body dualism and its focus solely on the body, Western medicine has come to accept the importance of spirituality in health and illness. Physicians have always recognized the mysterious “will to live” as a significant factor in recovery from illness. Today, many doctors also recognize the importance of responding to the whole person, not merely in terms of her or his body, but also in prevention, treatment, and ongoing care. For example, stress has been found to be an important factor in a variety of diseases from hypertension and heart disease to acne and cancer. Personal experience and medical research suggests that the stresses of life are as much a reflection of our attitude, perspective, and faith as the impact of work, family life, and economics. Scientists have discovered the wisdom of Jesus, who invited his followers to “consider the lilies” and trust that God would care for their deepest needs. Spiritual practices such as meditation, mindfulness training, and transformed attitudes toward time, work, and success have been integrated into medical treatment plans.
This creative synthesis of high tech and high touch opens the door to recognizing the importance of spirituality in promoting well-being, whether at home or in the hospital setting. The gospels depict Jesus taking time for prayer and retreat (Mark 1:35-39; 6:30-46). Paul reminds his congregations to seek spiritual and mental transformation and focus on virtues rather vices, in other words, affirmative faith or positive thinking (Romans 12:2; Philippians 4:8-9). The emergence of the “faith factor” in health and illness testifies that the wisdom and power revealed in Jesus’ ministry can transform the spiritual, emotional, and physical lives of twenty-first century persons. Indeed, many physicians make it a practice to ask their patients if they would like a prayer prior to surgery or during an office visit.
Third, science is studying the sacred and has discovered God in our cells as well as our souls! While once objective medicine focused on the body alone and discouraged religious practices in the hospital setting, except in terms of pastoral care of patients’ nebulous “spiritual needs,” today scientific studies indicate that practices such as prayer and meditation promote physical as well as spiritual well-being. Moreover, religious commitment, measured in terms of church involvement and personal values, has been identified with a variety of positive health outcomes ranging from reduced hypertension, lower rates of substance abuse, greater longevity and quality of life, and more rapid recovery from surgery.[6] Virtually no one contests that value of the relaxation response, most often elicited by forms of prayer and meditation, in reducing stress and anxiety and their impact on physical and emotional well-being.[7]
While more controversial, a variety of medical studies have identified intercessory prayer, that is, praying for others, as promoting better recoveries and a reduced need for medication following heart surgery. The impact of prayer on plants, grasses, and other non-human organisms has been studied to eliminate the impact of the placebo effect – the influence of faith and expectation – associated with human subjects. Presumably, plants, grasses, and mice don’t have the faith that can interfere with more linear medical research! In the majority of these cases, prayer has been identified as a factor in the healing of wounds in mice and the growth of grasses. These ground-breaking studies have led to the emergence of a new medical mottos to go along with the new medical models, emphasizing the interconnectedness of mind, body, spirit, and relationships: the faith factor (Dale Matthews), prayer is good medicine (Larry Dossey), religion is good for your health (Harold Koenig), and the molecules of emotion (Candace Pert).[8] The growing evidence and practice of whole person, or holistic, mind, body, spirit, medicine creates a bridge between the first and twenty-first centuries. The One who proclaimed “your faith has made you well” may well have been referring to physiology as well as spirituality!
Fourth, the changing face of Christianity in the twenty-first century opens the door to recognizing that faith involves mysticism and Pentecostal experience as well as rationalism.[9] European and North American Christianity – and in this geographical category I also include Australia and New Zealand – has lived with the ambiguous influence of the modern world view and its skepticism about anything remotely mystical, non-rational, or supernatural. Influenced by Enlightenment rationalism and the scientific method and their emphasis on naturalistic, observable, and this-worldly causes, mainstream biblical scholars and seminary-trained ministers have often sought solely naturalistic and scientific explanations for the healing stories of the New Testament. From this perspective, Jesus’ healings were described as the products