The Bible Speaks to You September 30, 1967 Issue

[The above is an abbreviated, postproduction text of the program released for broadcast the week of September 22-28 in the radio series, "The Bible Speaks to You." Heard internationally over more than 1,000 stations, the weekly programs are prepared and produced by the Christian Science Committee on Publication. 107 Falmouth Street, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. 02115.]

RADIO PROGRAM NO. 286 - Spiritual Healing—The Special Dimension

Questioner: Ours is an age of scientific research, one in which vast efforts are being made to wipe sickness and disease from the face of the earth. What is religion's concern in this humanitarian effort?
Speaker: I think that the general concept, of religion has been a rather limited one for a long time. But as Christ Jesus taught it, practical religion included the healing of mind, soul, and body. He illustrated and emphasized a healing ministry. You know, at one time John the Baptist sent two of his disciples to find out who Jesus was, if he was the expected Messiah. Jesus answered them by saying (Matt. 11:4, 5), "Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them." In a number of denominations many people today are practicing spiritual healing; and some feel, as Christian Scientists do, that it's an indispensable part of their worship of God. It's not a mere appendage to religion or something far out, but a vital, wonderful thing that's at the very heart of their religious practice.
Questioner: Yet on the other hand many people worship who never think of seeking a spiritual cure for a physical ailment. Just what is healing as you mean it?

Speaker: To me spiritual healing is the result of an understanding of God and man. It isn't a blind belief or merely faith in God but an understanding of man's real spiritual nature. Spiritual healing doesn't ignore the physical or the human need. The special dimension of spiritual healing is the inclusion of the whole person. It doesn't merely make a man better morally, spiritually, or ethically; it makes him better physically as well.
Questioner: Spiritual healing has helped many people, but what does it offer that's really distinctive? Speaker: We might sum up the special dimension of spiritual healing in just one word—wholeness.

For instance, we read in the Bible about the time that Jesus went to the pool of Bethesda. There he found a great: number of infirm people lying about the pool waiting to step into the water. Jesus spoke to one man who had been a cripple for thirty-eight years. He said to him (John 5: 6), "Wilt thou be made whole?"

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