Medical Cure And Spiritual Healing
There is a difference between a cure and a healing, and this underlies the difference between medicine and spirituality.
Undoubtedly, the noble goal of medicine is to bring succour, relief and a cure to the myriad ailments which seem to plague humankind; yet, by their own admission, at least the majority of the medical faculty in Nigeria, ascribe healing to a power beyond them – God.
Many hospitals publicly post at their entrance gates the slogan ‘We care, but God heals’, and many a Nigerian patient has found tremendous comfort from these words.
A cure can be defined as a restoration, remedy or a removal. It is based very firmly in the evidence of materiality, symptoms and diagnosis. It takes its cue from organs, equipment and physical standards set by medicine. A cure is said to be effected for example when a healthy condition is restored, relief from a pain or alleviation of a swelling is achieved or there is a removal of symptoms.
Healing however goes beyond the physical picture or diseased sense presented. It is a restoration, but of wholeness rather than an alleviation of symptoms. It has a radical newness and vitality which makes the earlier diseased state seem to be a dream, an illusion that did not really touch man. Those who have experienced spiritual healing attest to the fact that their state of health is not only better than before, but the whole experience is transformative.
Medicine and science rejoice when a cure for an ailment is found, and recently, Dundee University, Scotland, heralded such a breakthrough for possibly curing malaria. Such announcements attest to the commitment of the medical faculty to bring a lessening of suffering from ill health, and should certainly be applauded. However, laudable as such medical and pharmaceutical breakthroughs are, they are no guarantee that using a wonder drug would mean the permanent end of bouts of malaria. It might bring quicker relief, but it only cures that particular bout of the ailment, it does not heal it permanently.
There is a remarkable statement in Science and Health with to the Scriptures, a book on spiritual healing written by Mary Baker Eddy [1829-1910], and borne out by incontrovertible, practical proof. Eddy writes ‘We think we are healed when a disease disappears, though it is liable to reappear; but we are never thoroughly healed until the liability to be ill is removed.’ Through her study of the Bible, and particularly of the works of Christ Jesus, Eddy discovered the rules for spiritual healing. She subjected these rules to the test, and numerous individuals continue to not merely be cured of ailments, but are completely healed. She wrote these rules in her aforementioned book.
If a possible cure by medicine elicits heartfelt thanksgiving and celebration, how much more the quieter but transformative healing which comes about through spiritual discipline – [yes, it takes an effort on the part of the individual] – turning to God, following the Christ example, study, adhering to the rules of spiritual healing discovered and childlike faith.
Moji Solanke @CSCOM_NigWest
m_asolanke@hotmail.com
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1 Comments
The subject of healing- Divine Healing- especially is broad and it’s just being recognized even by medical science. Research by many Western institutions has now established that patients who are supported with prayers during treatments get healed faster than without prayers. Church History tells us that for about 300 years- before Constantine- the church had no other means of healing except through faith in the Atonement of Jesus Christ on the Cross. This was divine healing. it was effective and permanent for the one who can best heal the body is the One who created it.
Unfortunately, this knowledge is lost to most people today and to the noisy church of this Laodicean Age, with the consequence being that professing Christians go through the same hazzles that non-Christians go through. Baker Eddy represents another extreme- Christian Science- which is not without its errors for it is ‘neither christian nor scientific.’ The real exponents of Divine Healing, its theology are- A.B.Simpson, Wesley, A.J Gordon, Andrew Murray etc. His notable proponents and practitioners in the Pentecostal Movement are- Alexander Dowie, Bosworth, John Lake, Aimee Semple Mcpherson ( the founder of Foursquare Denomination) Smith Wigglesworth etc In Nigeria some of the apostles are Sophie Odunlami ( Nee Ajayi) Moses Orimolade, S. Shadare, J.B. Babatope, Joseph Babalola, etc These were men and women who understood the revelation of Christ as not only the Saviour but also the Healer and they lived all their lives till death trusting in the Atonement without hospitals or doctors. These were the real Christians, APOSTOLIC CHRISTIANS in every way like their counterpart in the First Century- not like the game- players and time- servers of our day who know neither the Christ of the Bible nor the Healer of Nazareth, yet so full of themselves.
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