Editorial January 4, 1908 Issue

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."

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Editorial

THE DILEMMA OF MORTAL MIND