Article June 4, 1984 Issue

SECOND THOUGHT

Looking again at news and commentary

Gordon Dalbey

The Christian Century

From "Recovering Healing Prayer" by Gordon Dalbey The Christian Century, June 9–16, 1982

"Even after baptizing Jesus, John the Baptist was not convinced that he was the Messiah. When John sent his disciples to ask, Jesus held up his ministry of physical healing as clear and emphatic proof. The ministry of physical healing therefore stands in the center of our Christian faith. And yet though the Gospels are filled with stories of healing, and the church itself is born through an act of healing (Acts 3), most church people seem anxious to dismiss these stories as though they embarrassed us.

"This business of healing bodies through prayer seems to upset us. But why? ... Could it be that we do not take Jesus' healing ministry seriously because we are simply too proud or afraid to enter the unfamiliar territory of the spiritual world, where we feel inexperienced and without control?

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