Article April 5, 1975 Issue

What Really Heals?

LOUISE GIBBS WHITE

In Jesus' time there were those among his countrymen who sought to remove sickness and mental aberrations by exorcism—by casting out the devil presumed to be within a sick or demented person. This practice stemmed from sorcery, magic, and witchcraft. It involved incantations, rituals, and magic formulas.

When Christ Jesus healed a man who was blind and dumb, the Pharisees insinuated that his ability to cast out devils must have Satan behind it. But Jesus knew their attitude and answered: "If I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? ... But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you."^{Matt. 12:27, 28;}

What was the difference between Jesus' healings and the curative efforts of the exorcists? In that same passage from Matthew, Jesus gives this illustration: "How can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house."^{v. 29;}

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