THE BIBLE Although faith healing fails horribly in real life according to the Bible it really works, Jesus even gives us his word. For starters, in John 15:7 & Mathew 21:22 Jesus tells us that whatever supernatural act a believer in Christ asks for through prayer will indeed happen. John 14:12 goes as far as saying that anyone who has faith in Jesus will be able to perform all the miracles that Jesus did, including his acts of healing, and even greater miracles. In Mark 16:18 Jesus specifically says that anyone who believes in him will be able to heal the sick by simply placing their hand on them and praying. James 5:14-15 gives yet another example of faith healing.

Faith healing is the act of trying to magically heal someone through the use of prayer alone. Superstitious cures such as faith healing and even goat sacrifices are still performed in today's modern world. Despite the fact that no actual curing is being done if the mind believes something strongly enough it can convince its self that all problems are resolved. The power of suggestion can be quite powerful indeed, if a person believes strongly enough that something like back pain is being cured by prayer their mind begins to ignore the warning pains. While the person thinks they are cured the problem that caused the pain will continue to worsen. While no longer feeling the need to seek proper treatment the problem will eventually escalate to the point that the brain can no longer ignore, leaving the patient in a far worse situation than they were before.


When an adult choices faith healing over medical treatment the suffering brought upon them is the result of their own decision. Children however are not allowed to make their own medical choices. On regular occasions parents trusted what the Bible says and have chosen prayer instead of medical alternatives for their sick children. The result is children dying from curable diseases due to the lack of real treatment.


The parents of faith healing victims are only guilty of manslaughter yet these are still cases of murder. The parents were only doing what they honestly thought was the best way to heal their child, it is those who conned them that are the true murderers. The Bible specifically says prayer is a valid cure for all diseases and physical suffering. Those who publicly support the Bible as an infallible source of truth while not personally believing in all of it are dishonestly preaching a false prescription and making it socially acceptable to rely on such a prescription. All who call themselves Christians while not honestly believing in faith healing are murders since the very act of being a Christian is supporting the words of Christ as an infallible source of truth.


Let's put this into perspective. Imagine a person went around telling everyone that they know of a medical treatment that will cure them of their current sickness better than any other treatment. What if the sick patient believes that person and relies on the suggested treatment only to find out the person's claims were false. As that patient dies the person who convinced them to use a false treatment is responsible for his/her death. Now take that scenario and instead of having one person dishonestly tricking a patient into relying on a false medical treatment imagine the majority of our society's population being in on the con and working to trick the dying patient.


To avoid taking responsibility your average Christian will say, "well the Bible doesn't say not to go to a doctor, God answers prayer by working through doctors." Such a statement shows either a lack in faith or a lack of reading the Bible. In all examples there is never an outside source such as a doctor or medicine being used. In all examples the patients are cured supernaturally/magically through prayer alone showing no need for doctors or medicine. According to Jesus prayer alone works when one has faith in him.


It is very important to note that these parents truly believe that God is curing their child while they pray and that their prayer is really working and making their child better as the parents of 11 year-old Madeline have even stated on record. It is not until shortly after the child dies that they realize what the Bible says is false. One has related the story to a scenario of a child drowning in the ocean. They suggested that these situations are like a parent turing away rescue ships as they pray for their child's safety. However this scenario only relates if the parents are turning away rescue ships because they are absolutely convinced that their child is currently already being rescued and lifted to safety upon another rescue ship.


The following children are just a tiny sample of those who have died
from treatable sicknesses because their parents put faith in the Christian Bible.

Faith Healing Parents Assert Religious Rights Posted by Admin | December 10, 2008

Homicide Charges for Parents Who Prayed as Daughter Died Posted by Admin | April 28, 2008

Teen from Faith-Healing Family Dies at Home Posted by Admin | June 18, 2008

Ian Lundman age 11 Minneapolis Ian died of diabetes in 1989 because his mother and stepfather had religious beliefs against medical care. They retained a Christian Science practitioner for spiritual treatment of Ian's illness. The practitioner billed them $446 for his prayers.		Matthew Swan age 16 months Detroit, Michigan Matthew died of spinal meningitis in 1977 because his parents, Doug and Rita Swan, retained Christian Science practitioners for spiritual treatments instead aquiring antibiotic treatment that would have saved his live. The practitioners repeatedly said they were healing Matthew but no healing occured.
Amy Hermanson age 7 Sarasota, Florida Amy died in 1986 of diabetes because her Christian mother refused to take her to a doctor for religious reasons. Amy talented little girl, she took piano, violin, harp, and art lessons, and excelled in academic subjects also.		Robyn Twitchell age 2 Massachusetts Robyn died In 1986 of peritonitis and a twisted bowel after a five-day illness becaus his parents Ginger and David ansisted on Christian Science treatment instead of medical treatment. Neighbors closed their bedroom window so they would not hear the boy's screams.
Andrew Wantland age 12 LaHabra, California Andrew died of untreated diabetes in 1992. His mother who lived in Philadelphia had joint custody wanted medical care provided for her children. Andrew's father did not inform the mother her son was ill and seeked a Christian Science practitioner as a faith healer instead seeking proper medical care.		Harrison Johnson age 2 Tampa, Florida In 1998 Harrison Johnson was stung 432 times by wasps. His parents asked neighborhood children and fellow church members to pray for him. They did not call for medical help until more than 7 hours after the attack despite alarming symptoms and being unresponsive for 30 to 45 minutes. Six minutes after the 911 call, the EMT's arrived to find the toddler without a pulse and not breathing. His parents belong to a group called The Fellowship, which reportedly shuns all medical care on grounds that doctors practice witchcraft.

Medicine itself had to struggle into existence against the opposition of Christians and their superstitious theories of life and disease. Throughout history diseases where thought to be caused by sin or the act of a just punishment from God. Everything from smallpox to the Black Plague was considered punishment from a judgmental deity. Before we knew much about human biology and common viruses it was only natural to think sicknesses were from a supernatural cause. This is what people thought in the dark ages and one would think modern education would put an end to such beliefs but that is not the case.


Doctors have been faced with situations where an effective treatment is available but their patient chooses to wait and rely on prayer instead. Doctors on occasions have a hard time finding a balance between respects for the patient's religion and curing them.


On a much larger scale than personal prayer Christian Evangelists claim to heal people by the masses of everything from a week knee to leukemia. We have all seen the shows where the evangelist says "With the power of Christ..." then pushes the person over and claims they were healed. Weather you believe in the hoax or not, these people are put in great health risks. The power of suggestion convinces them that they are healed while physically their body continues to go uncured. If faith healing was true then why should we continue medical research or even keep hospitals open at all? No prayer has ever physically healed a person; only proper medical treatment can do such.