Article February 12, 1927 Issue

The communication on "Spiritual Healing," in a recent...

Samuel Greenwood, Committee on Publication for the Province of British Columbia, Canada,—Vernon

News

The communication on "Spiritual Healing," in a recent issue of the News, touches a subject which is too important to be disposed of quite so summarily, even though bishops do disagree. To assume that the command to heal the sick is no concern of the Christian church to-day is to assume that the nature and purpose of Christianity have changed; neither is it particularly convincing to pronounce all wrong, whether they be churchmen or Christian Scientists, who advocate the use of spiritual means in healing. Therefore, notwithstanding your correspondent's positive attitude, our own convictions and experience compel us to take the contrary view.

"The bishop," we read, "is behind the times in his conception of faith," the inference being that the really progressive course is to anchor one's faith in "doctors and nurses," or in so-called medical science, in preference to Christianity. According to the example of the early church, this would be considered retrogression instead of progress, its effect being to materialize rather than to spiritualize the thoughts of Christians. Happily for the welfare of the race, the general feeling among religious thinkers is that the great need of Christendom is more spirituality, which means, naturally, more faith in God and spiritual things, and less faith in matter. The contention of your correspondent that a clergyman should be trained in the practice of medicine before attempting physical healing, would have put most of the apostles to dire straits in following their Lord's example. For instance, according to this position Peter and John should not have attempted to heal the lame man whom they found at the gate of the temple, but should have sent him to a physician; Paul should have left the father of Publius to the care of doctors and nurses; and so on throughout the history of Christian healing. There is, however, with all respect to him, an authority better and older than that of your correspondent, better and older than that of bishops and churchmen, and that is the great Teacher himself. His healing art was not acquired in medical schools, nor did he send his disciples there to be trained. Just prior to his ascension he said of "them that believe," "In my name shall they cast out devils; ... they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."

Far be it from me to say anything disrespectful of physicians and nurses—may God bless their kind hearts and willing hands; but the irresistible urge of Christianity is forward, not backward, and whoever is striving to obey the Master's injunction, be he bishop or layman, is not behind the times. He is in the van of Christian progress; and all who are watching and praying for Christ's kingdom to come on earth will bid him Godspeed.

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