CHRISTIAN HEALING

Archibald McLellan

A recent critic of Christian Science, who asserted that he had no other object to accomplish than to refute erroneous doctrines that had been widely circulated, is quoted by the Baltimore Sun as saying that our Master's injunctions to his disciples to heal the sick were directed only to the twelve apostles, and that there is no Biblical authority for concluding that they are applicable to all mankind. He is also quoted as saying that these apostles, by the laying on of hands, imparted their gifts to others, and when the last person died on whom an apostle had laid hands these powers in man ceased to exist. As other critics have made similar statements, it may be well to present herewith the facts as recorded in the Scriptures and by accepted historical authority.

In the first place we find that Jesus' command to heal the sick was spoken to the seventy as well as to the twelve; but the fact of greatest importance is that his final words on this subject left no uncertainty as to the universality of their application. He said, "And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."

That the healing of the sick was confined, as our critic says, to the apostles and those upon whom they laid hands, is easily disproved by the writings of the early Christian Fathers, and of these we quote first from Justin Martyr, who was not born until a.d. 114. He wrote: "And now you can learn this from what is under your own observation. For numberless demoniacs throughout the whole world, and in your own city, many of our Christian men, exorcising them in the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, have healed and do heal, rendering helpless and driving the possessing devils out of the men, though they could not be cured by all the other exorcists and those who used incantations and drugs."

Irenæus, who lived between the years a.d. 120 and 202, wrote of contemporaneous healing in the name of Jesus Christ in these words, "Others still, heal the sick by laying their hands upon them, and they are made whole. Yea moreover, as I have said, the dead even have been raised up, and remained among us many years." Tertullian, who dated from a.d. 145 to 220, also wrote of the healing of the sick in the name of Christ, besides describing other mighty works that followed the practice of Christianity in his time. Origen (a.d 185–254) wrote of divine healing in his age, "And the name of Jesus can still remove distractions from the minds of men, and expel demons, and also take away diseases."

The effort of our critic to limit the healing work of the early Christians to a very few is refuted both by Scripture and by history, and a perusal of the writings of the ancient Christians cannot fail to convince an unprejudiced investigator that the so-called miracles which graced the first three centuries of Christianity were not exceptional occurrences, but rather the constantly recurring and inevitable results of Christian faith and activity. That this healing ministry remained with the followers of Jesus long after the days of the apostles and their contemporaries must be accepted as an historical fact, though there is no doubt that this power was afterward neglected and fell into disuse. That the healing of sin and sickness is again possible among men through the teachings of pure Christianity, has also become a matter of history.

Archibald McLellan.

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THE DILEMMA OF MORTAL MIND

January 4, 1908

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