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THE PLACE uF HEALING IN THE LIFE uF THE CHURCH IN LIGHT OF THE MIN IS'£RY OF JE:::>US

by Margaret S. Ronaldson A.B., The College of Wooster

A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF RELIGIOUS EDUC.ATIO.N in The Biblical Seminary in New York

New York, N• Y. April, 1953

BIBLII:l\L SCHOOL Of

THEOLOGY- . LlllU/UlY HATFifLD£ PA.. TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page

INTRODUCTION • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • iv A • The Sub j e c t • • • • • • • • • • • i v 1. The Subject Stated and Explained • • • • • iv 2 .. The Subject Justified •••••••••• o v 3. The Subject Delimited •••• o ••• o •• vii B. The Plan of Procedure • o • • • o • • • • • • viii c. The Sources of Data •••• o •••••••• viii

I. THE APOSTOLIC PERIOD •• 0 • • • • • • • • • 0 • 0 l A. Introduction ••••••• o • • • • • 1 B. The Healing Power of Jesus ••• o •••••• l 1. His Life • • • • • • • • • • • o • • o • • 2 2. His Work • o ••• o •• o ••• o •••• 4 3. His Teachings. o o ••• o o o ••••• o 6 Co The Healing Po-v.rer of the Disciples Bnd Apostles 8 D. The Healing Hinistry of St. Paul. o • • • 12 E. The Healing l\iinistry of the Apostolic Church. 15 F. Su.rnrnary • . • • • . • • • . . • • . • • 22 II. THE J"ITDDLE AGES AND HEFORI"TATION PERIOD CONTHASTED 25 A. Introduction ••••••• o • • • • •••• o 25 B. The r1iddle Ages and the Reformation Period Contrasted. o • • • • • o • • • • • • • • • • 27 1. The Relation of Medicine to the Healing JVIinistry .. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • o 28 2. The Role of the Confessional o ••••• o 29 a. The Institution of the Confessional •• 29 b. The Confessional AbandonedQ o •• o •• 33 3. The Absolute Pmv-er of the Papacy and the Protestant Pastor ••••••••••••• 3h a. The Absolute Po1-ver of the Papacy. • • • 34 b. The Protestant Pastor ••••••••• 36 ~-· Monks and Ivionasteries •• o •••• o ••• 38 a. The J.!Jiddle Ages o • o • • • • • • • • • 38 b. The Reformation Period. o • o .. o • • o 41 5o Nursing Orders and the Diaconate • o ••• 41 a. The Middle Ages • • • • • • • • • • •• 41 b. The Reformation Period. • • • • • • • o 1+2 c. The Diaconate •••• o •••• o ••• l.Jr3 d. Other Independent Orders ••••• o •• ~ e. Dorothea Lynde Dix. • • • • • • • • • • L~5 f. Church-related Hospitals ...... 6. Revival of Lay Literacy. • o • • • • • • o tt~

i ii

Chapter Page

7. I•1i scellaneous Healing Tecb.n.iques o • • • o • ~_8 a. Anointing with Oil • o • o ••• o • o • 48 b. Use of Relics and ShPines. • • • o • • • 49 (1) Lourdes. o •• • o o •• o ••••• LL9 ( 2) Be a up r e • • • o • • o • • • o • o • • 49 (3) PPactice in England., • • o o • o o • 50 8. Faith Healing ••• o ••••••••••• 50 9 o Healing Iviovements and Sects • • • • o o o • 51 C • S 1lnllTI.ary o • • • o a • • o • • • • • • • • • • • o 52 III. RECENT DEVELOPivL4_:1JTS IN THE HEALING HINISTRY • • • 56 A.. IntPoduc tion • • • o • o • • • • • • o • • o • o 56 B. Study of Spiritual Healing in the ChuPches o • o 57 1 o The P 1 an o • • o o o • • • o • • • • • • o o 57 2. The Subject Defined •• o o •••••• o • 57 3. The Findings Summarized o • • • o • • • • • 58 LJ-. APea Findings • • o • • • • o o • o • • • • 58 5. Variety of Diseases Reported Healed •••• 59 6. Methods Used to Effect Healing. o ••••• 60 7. Age and Sex of Persons Healed • o •••• o 60 8 .. Classification according to Denominations • 60 9. Permanency of Healings. • • • • • • • • • .. 60 10. Initiative in Spiritual Healing o ••••• 61 11. The Effect of Spiritual Healing upon the Minister. o • • • • • • • · o • • • • • • • • 61 12. The Effect upon the Patient • • • • • o • o 61 13. Experience of other Illness Since o •••• 61 14. The Practice of Spiritual Healing arnong Ninisters o • •• o ••• o •••••••• 62 15. The ?Peaching of Healing as an Integral Part of Religion. • • • • • • o • o • • • • 63 16. The Possibility of a SeminaP to Discuss Religion and Health •••••••••••• 63 17. Preparation Needed for the Practice of Spiritual Healing • • • • • • • o • • • • • 63 18. I'1iscellaneous Conclusions of the Study ••• 64 C. ii...gencies Assisting the ChuPch in her Healing Iviini s try ...... 66 1. The Corr~ission on Religion and Health ••• 66 2. The Council for Clinical Training ••• o • 67 D. Magazines •••• o • • • • • • • • • • • • o 69 1. PASTORAL PSYCHOLOGY ••••••••••• o 69 2. RELIGION AND HEALTH • • • • •• o • • ••• 72 E. Sum:maPy o • • • • • . . • • • • 0 0 0 0 . . . • • 74

SUJ:!JIVfARY AND CONCLUSIONS • • • • • 0 0 0 • • • 0 • 76 A. Summary ••••••• • 0 • 0 • 0 0 • • • • • 76 B. Conclusions. • • • • • • • • • • • • 0 0 0 • • • 80 iii

Chapter Page BIBLIOGRA.PBY. 85 A. Primary Sources. 0 • • • 0 • 0 • • • • • • • 85. B. Secondary Sources. • • • c • • • 0 • • • • 0 85 1. Books 0 • • • • . G • 0 . 0 • • • 85 ~0 Pamphlets and Periodicals 0 • • • • • 0 87

APPEj\IDIX o • • • • • • • • • • 88 1 A:. Definition of heal th. t c • • • • o o • • o • 88 B. Charles s. Braden 1 s Study of Spiritual Healing in the Churches. • • • • o • C. Prospectus for PASTORAL PSYCHOLOGY by Simon Doniger Ph.D., Editor. • • • • o • • INTHODUCTION INTrtODUCTION

A. The Subject

1. The Subject Stated and Explained

This thesis proposes to deal with the relation of the healing ministry of Jesus to the Church vJhich came into being through His influence. It 1-vill seek to trace the healing fu..nction of the Church through the ages to the present day, attempting to sh01...r vJhen and "tvhy it was strong and when and why it \ATas weak. Jesus left three divine imperatives for His dis ciples, nat11ely, to preach (IVIt. 10:7), to teach (lvrt. 28:19, 20), to heal ( Ht. 10:1) • It is about the third of these three imperatives, that of healing, that this thesis is concei'nedo The term 11 healingll herein used refers to the total health of the personality. It encompasses the health of 1 the body, mind, and soul. This concept concurs with that of DP. Paul Tillich who says: "Salvation is basically and essentially healing, the re-establishment of a whole that 2 1'1!as broken, disrupted, disintegrated. 11

• 0 0 0 0 0

1. See APPENDIX A, p. 88, fop definition of 'health.' 2. Paul Tillich: The Relation of Religion and Health. The Review of Religion, X, 1946, p. 149o

iv v

2. The Subject Justified

This inquiry into the healing ministry of Jesus and of His ChuPch, afteP Him, thpough the ages to the pPesent day is pPompted by the numbeP of people liJho are suffex>ing even fpom supposedly physical illness, who need not suffer

(a) if it Here knmvn how to Pelease and direct to them the resouPces of the spiritual 1.vox>ld, and (b) if both ministers and doctors wePe alert and tPained to see and to Qndex>stand the eax>ly signs of psychological disturbance and to secure irnmedi ate treatment.

Also the steadily increasing numbers of people tuPning to healing cults and sects to find greateP health and fullness of life has been a challenge to the Chux>ch fop 1 the past half century. This situation 1.vould indicate a

0 • • 0 • 0

1. Carl J. Sherzei': The Chu:r.•ch and Healing, pp. 206,207. Sherzex> estimates that ten million Amex>icans belong to ox> are influenced strongly by a large numbex> of small sects and individual religious leaders who are not identified lvi th any group or organization. The influence of sects and independent preachers and religious healers is an American religious phenomenon that needs to be con sidered. !!These sects and individuals range all the vray from those 1vi th a mixture of Oriental-Christian beliefs to those with Pentecostal-charismatic teachings. Those that specialize in healing use anointing, laying on of hands, pl"ayer, anointed cloths, and handkerchiefs, snakes, 1 h ys -'-werla,• h ypno t•lsm, Ht oucnlng,• !! exorcJ_• sm, and o -'-h~_, __ er means, depending on the wishes of the healer •• Thex>e are about fifty such groups that \vere started at one time or another by dissatisfied Methodist ministers. And since the Ic1ethodist Chu:ech does not practice anoint ing the sick or conduct divine healing services, that v.ras one difference that could easily become a distinguishing featur•e. Hany ministers of these groups preach t th.e full gospel', pray for the salvation of tne ministers of the more orthodox Churches, and practice divine healing. 11 vi

weakness in the tx•aditional body of the C'b.-ristian Church if the efficacy of their results Here established. Thirdly, the increase in nurabers of patients in general, mental and penal hospitals and institutions in this country is a constant source of alarm and could in itself provide the sole impetus for an examination of this subject. As Harry jV.Jj_l ton Taylor says in his books Fai t:e:_ Hust Be Lived: Our ''rorld is somewhat, somehow, painful. Everyt-Jhere there is sickness and sorrow, physical agony, and . mental anguish)- It is the purpose of this. thesis to ascertain to Nhat extent the Church can minister to suffering. Can the Church expect to repeat the healing miracles of Jesus? Is it doing so? John Sutherland Bonnell, minister of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in NeH York City, comments in his book, Pastoral Psvchiatry: It r,.wuld appear, therefore, that there is a vast area to i.Vhich our ministry ought to be directed and in "Lvhich, up to the present, we have attempted little .2 He relates a conversation he had with a Nevr York surgeon \·Jho said: Tens of thousands of people visit clinics of hospitals and offices of physicians in this city every day, seek ing a remedy :for physical ills. There are as many sick souls in the city Hho do not come to us medical

• • • 0 0 • l. Harry Hilton Taylor: Faith Hust Be Lived, p. 63. 2. John Sutherland Bonnell: Pastoral Psychiatry, p. 51. vii

men, for we don 1 t give them what they need. You clergy men should'be constantly at Hork ministeping to them, even to those 1-Jhose bodies "tve tPeat mechanically.l

J. The Subject Delimited

This treatment of the healing ministry is confined to the expePience VJi tl1.in the Church of Jesus Christ through the ages. The Roman Cathlic Church and the various laPge denominations of the neformed tradition are the extent of concern in this thesis. The vrork of individuals "t·Ji thin the various denornin- ations will not be considered; rather, it is with the life

and TJIJ'Ol~k of the ministePs of the ChuPch that this thesis ;,..rill establish the validity of the third imperative of Jesus. In the preface of Carl Sherzer's book entitled

states the ppoblem: The fact remains that the ChuPch has not and is not making its legitimate contribution to-health and-- healing at pPesent. l"oP the past fev.r yeaPs I have been saying that the ChuPch has defa"Lll ted upon a thiPd of the gospel ••• f.'lore material, both articles and books, 1rJas published in any month duPing 1949 than was published duPing the last fifty yeaps of the nine teenth century and the first tvrenty-five yeaPs of the twentieth. • .The doctoP had become interested in disease and increasingly had overlooked the pePson VJhom the disease had. On the other hand the established PPotestant Churches, beyond their intePest in conversion, gave little or no attention to the individual--seemingly with the single exception of the vroPk of Elwood Worcester, which liJas rejected. l!Je had emphasized the doctrine of 11 the priesthood of all believersn so stPongly that we

• • • • • • l. Ibid., P• 52. viii

overlooked the fact that many cannot be nriests and that all sooner or later need to be mini~tered "Lmto.l

B. The Plan of Procedure

A brief study will be made of Jesus 1 ministry of healinG• The effectiveness of His continuing work through His disciples, the Apostle Paul, and subsequent followers will be reviewed. The experience of the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant Church "t-Jill be related to healing "t-Ji th an attempt to reveal by implication how successful the Church was in perpetuating its healing power. The situation at .the present time within the established churches "tvill be revieHed. lv.Iagazines and healing agencies directly connected 1,ji th the Church \!~Till receive attention. Out of the study of the three periods: the Apostolic Church, the Iviiddle Ages and the Reformation period, and recent developments in the ministry of healing, trends will be pointed out and conclusions noted.

C. The Sources of Data

The Gospels and Epistles of the New Testament 1-vill be the primary source for the study of the ministry of Jesus and that of His disciples and apostleso

• • • 0 • •

1. Sherzer, op. cit., pp. 8-9. ix

Standard works on Church history, such as Philip Schaff's History of the Christian Church Hill be used for surveys on this subject in the late Apostolic Age of the Chur•ch Fathers, the Hiddle Ages and the Heformation periods, along with some special studies made in this fieldo The contemporary situation 'tvill be based upon the study made by Professor Char•les S. Braden and his committee surveying spiritual healing in the major denominations across the country for the National Council of Churches. CHAPTER I

THE APOSTOLIC PERIOD CHAPTER I

THE APOSTOLIC PERIOD

A. Introduction

An examination vJill be made in this chapter of the

.foundation for the healing ministry of Jesus in His life, work, and teachings. Due to the nature of the documentary evidence given in the four Gospels, only by implication 1-rill healing principles be indicated. The commissioning of the discj_ples and follo-vJers of Jesus and their preparation for, and experience in, this ministry 1vill be surveyed.

The Apostle Paul t s experiences -vri th the churches he established vJill be treated in the light of their bear ing on the healing aspect of Jesus' ministry. Significant trends will be revealed.

Evidences of healing through the Church will be bPiefly sketched through the period of the Church Father's.

The resistance paganism offered -vrill be dealt with to indi cate the ef.fects o.f materialistic hu.manism. It will be seen how faith waves and dependence upon other means of heal- v ing gradually takes its place. The introduction of Church disciplines vrill be noted and also the free use or pagan aids made in connection there1.-ri th.

B. The Healing Power of Jesus

11 In the ministry of Jesus is fou.nd the source,

l 2

1 the inspiration, the ideal for our study. 11 Jesus healed many people and all manner of people. The diseases treated 'tvere of the body, mind, and soul. In the inclusiveness of His healing nunistry Jesus evidenced the Olnnipotence of God in regard to the suffering of men.

1. His Life. Of Jesus Himself, the Gospels do not tell of His ever being sick, but they do record His being tired, hungry,

discouraged, sad, and even angry. Jesus t life 'tvas a testi- mony to health and healing in the faith He had in His Father. James Dale Van Busldrk, both a doctor a.nd minister, asserts: I am sure we do Him injustice if we always picture Jesus as a man of sorro't-vs, carl"'ying grief. He did ta.l{:e our sorrows upon Himself,. and He did suffer, but He was a man of good hrunor, cheer, and joy. The very fact that little children and their mothers were attracted to Him attests His wholesome manhood and joyousness. He was no pale, mckly, sad-faced Galilean; He had a smiling religion, a religion of healthy-minded ness. He began His Sermon on the Mount by talking about happiness: ttblessed, 11 or tthappy, n was its first 1-Jord and its key-note.2 Jesus gave to others 1-Jhat He Himself possessed. 11 He Himself knev-r v-rhat 'tvas in xilan. 11 His unique insight into the needs and problems of people revealed itself in the meeting of particular needs in specific individuals. Jesus

identified Himself with the cor~aon people and sought to alleviate suffering in any manner in "tvhich He met it,

• • • • • • 1. Charles F. Kemp: Physicians of the Soul, p. 6. 2. James Dale Van Buskirk: Religion, Health & Healing, p. 9. 1 -vrhether it might be physical, mental, moral, or sp.iri tual. In this connection Van Buskirk states: The more I understand of the laws of nature and the laws of human relations, including the body and mind of men, the more I see ho-vr truly He knevl what is in man. The more I know of modern science, the more I see His 11\l'l:sdom. His teachings and His personality reveal to mankind the very laws of nature and of nature's God. He VIas not giving arbitrary commanclments when He told us to love, to do good, to lose self; He was tell ing us the only 1,(Jay that nature 1 s God and natural laws will allow men to be truly healthy and happy. He was giving us the laws of good living, just as really as hygiene tells us hovr to live heal thy physical lives. He i.vas so far in advance of even our modern day in His social science and mental hygiene that I believe He had powers the rest of us do not have. He Himself, in His life, His resurrection, His ever-present pm·rer, is the greatest miracle. He Himself makes me believe that we have not yet half realized the help He can give us in our spiritual and physical lives. God was in Christ, and He is still 'toTorking in the hearts of men, able to do more than we ask or think.2 Perhaps most significant of all in considering Jesus' relations with men was the power of His own personality, that challenged and inspired men, that caused Peter, Andrew, Levi, Zacchaeus, to leave their old ways of life and follow Him. Thus the influence of Christ's life transformed per- sonali ties. He 1.ras master of His own fears; He never lost His poise or self-control; and this poise and power He was capable of transmitting to otherso Kemp states: It seems evident that contact with Christ's personality brought healing in its train. Calm and quiet were brought to the most excited and agitated householdso Confidence and hope were inspired in the most despondent and helpless folk. The assurance of God's power and will

• • • • • • 1. Kemp, op. cit., pp. 6-7. 2. Van Buskirk, op. cit., p. 75. to heal 1r1as made very real to those ir-Jho 1-vere sick and oppressed. Christ brought them a new outlooki and helped them to attain a new attitude of mind • . Stolz says, nThe personality of Jesus and the application of his insight did directly affect both the 2 minds and bodies of the sick.n Thus, wherever He went,

1-vhomwer He met, the radiance of His 01-vn health was as a healing power to those who would accept it.

2. His \;J'ork. In the analysis of Jesus' healing miracles, scientific men have not been able to fit them into the categories of modern psychological, psychiatric, or psychotherapeutic practice, but as Weatherhead indicates: Christ functioned on a higher plane and used methods in a different category altogether. His unique relationship to God made Him at home in the spiritual 'tvorld, and 1-vhen He broke into a situation of human pain and distress, of body or mind, He brought with Him the energies of the plane on which He Himself lived.3 In reference to the "miracles" of Jesus, Van Buskirk says, nHis healings, the 'miracles,' are so t ruly integral parts .of His work that they cannot be taken out of the Gospel accounts; they were one of the great attractions for the 4 multitudes that followed Him. 11 So it is that irleatherhead asserts that it will not be through rese·arch, discovery and invention in the realms of the physical and mental areas that cures will be effected so much as by drawing upon the immense resources

• • • • • • 1. Kemp, op. cit., pp. 17-18. 2. Karl Ruf Stolz: The Church and Psychotherapy, p. 29. 3. Leslie B. Weatherhead: Psychology, Religion and Healing, p.31. I+. Van Buskirk, op. cit., p. 69 1 of the spiritual work 1-vhich have gone so long untapped. It is significant that Fritz Kunkel writes, nJesus of Nazareth was the greatest psychologist of all 2 times; u that Bassett states, "A careful analysis and comparison of the teachings of Jesus and the findings of mental hygiene Hill shm-J a remarkable list of insights 3 t,;hich coincide; 11 and that Burnham says, 11 Of all the great teachers of the past none in such outstanding fashion as Jesus represents the teacher as mental hygienist, and the ~- mental hygienist as teacher. 11 Kemp concludes: Thus it is seen that what Jesus contributed was not a method or a technique but attitudes and a spirit. It was the value of every individual soul and the com bination of compassion and faith that he introduced into the world that has been, and is, of such profound significance • .? The most conclusive confirra.ation of the 't>-JOrks of Jesus is to be found in the Gospels, particularly the instance of John the Baptist's imprisonment when he asked Jesus, through his disciples, whether He "L-J"ere the Hessiah. Jesus' answer was: nGo and shO't-v 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

• • • • • • 1. Weatherhead, op. cit., pp. 30-31. 2. Kemp, op. cit., p. 11 quoting Kunkel, In Search of l\faturi ty, Scribner, 1943, p. 12. 3. Ibid., p. 15, quoting Bassett, Iviental Hygiene in the Community, Hacmillan, 1936, p. 275. 4• Ibid., quoting Burnha111, Great Teachers and .Hental Hygiene, D. Appleton, 1926, p. 37. 5. Ibid., p. 13. hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel 1 preached to them ••• 11 And again when speaking to inquiring

11 Jews, Jesus said: ••• though ye believe not me, believe the ,.. vorks: that ye may knovJ, and believe, that the Father is in 2 me, and I in Him. n

3. His Teachings.

Jesus 1 teaching manifested His concern for men. His 'ultimate test for discipleship was in part the practical business of feeding the hungry, welcoming the strangers, clothing the needy, visiting the sick and imprisoned; and He concluded with the statement, Hinasmuch as ye have done it unto one of these my brethren, even the least, ye did 3 it unto me.n Regarding His teachings, Van Buskirk clearly avers: Yet we must recognize that Jesus did not allow healing of the sick to displace the proclamation of the gospel as His major emphasis: for Him the central thing was spiritual, not physical. At times He turned aNay from the crov-rds demanding healing, to go off 1:-.Ji th His disciples to teach them. His time could very easily have been filled 1'1l'i th -vwrks for· the physical welfare of :men: but then it Hould not have been a continuing, growing thing as it has been for two thousand years. He turned from the te:mpta'tion to :ma.lre a physical ministry, and a spectacular ministl"y His life work at the time He was tempted in the wilderness. As time went on, He gave less and less·of His time to healing and more to teach ing and preaching. He healed the sick of divers dis eases, and also those 11 possessed of evil spirits, 11

• • • • • • 1. Matthew 11:4,5. 2. John 10:38. 3. Kemp, op. cit., p. 7. bec·ause .He.·1·ms moved Hi th compassion, and Himself took our infirmities and bare our diseases, 11 but this 1-vas not His mission; He c~me to do a deeper and more vital thing-~ to save the whole man, and all men.l

Kemp states that it lvas in the realm of human

relationships that Jesus sm-1 the chief sources of difficulty,

UILh.appiness and frustration. He sal-T what is just noH begin-

ning to be appreciated, the devastating effect of hatred,

resentment, bitterness, and fear, and so He stressed their

opposites--understanding, sympathy, faith, trust, forgive-

ness and good 1-rill. He stressed the attitude and the inner motive rathel" than the outv1ard act. If men would discipline

and purify their inner attitudes and motives, then the out-

1-1ard results could be left to themselves. He sal-J that men must control their inner thoughts and imaginations, for 2 they are the source of outHai'd behavior that can ruin life.

Beyond self-mastePy, there must be a greater incentive if one would achieve the highest values as mentioned by Jesus. He sm:.r clearer than had ever been seen before or

since, the integrative therapeutic power of unselfish love.

This is a fundamental lavJ of the mental and spiritual life.

How much one was able to do 1v-as not as significant as the faithfulness Hi th 1-J"hich one used the capacity that he had.

Thus only those 1-rho lose their .lives ultimately find them. 3 Undergirding all of this there must be a stPong foundation.

• • • • • 0

1. Van Buskirk, op. cit., pp. 69-70. 2. Kemp, op. cit., p. 15. 3. Ibid., pp. 16-17. It was in the matter of faith that Jesus made His greatest emphasis. It \.vas His faith in the Fatherhood of God that gave meaning to all of His teaching and was in the background of His entire life. It was thus that he sought to free men from needless anxiety and worry, for fundamentally that v.ras unnecessary if one really believed. It \.vas thus that He sought to relieve men from the haunting sense of guilt and to assure them of divine forgiveness. It i'l/as thus that He sought to relieve men from fear and the burden of fear by awakening in them the power of a living faith, which, once it captured the soul did av-ray with :fear. It was thus that He sought to deliver men from frustration, aimlessness and hopelessness, for if one really had faith in God and His Kingdom, then life v.ras challenging, full of infinite possibilities, fraught 'tiTi th meaning and undergirded 1 1

C. The Healing Power of the Disciples and Apostles Weatherhead asserts that there is no doubt whatever 2 about Chris.t 1 s original mission to the sick and sinful. Dr. Paul Tillich substantiates this point of view thus.: ...... 1. Ibid., pp. 17-18. 2. \'Jeatherhead, op. cit., p. 70. 9

In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus is, first of all, the healer, because the coming of the Kingdom of God implies the appearance of an irresistible healing power. i:Jhen John the Baptist, from his prison sends his disciples to ask Jesus if he is the Iviessiah, Jesus answers in the affirmative by pointing to his healing po"tver. The blind receive their sight and the lame Halk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up and the poor have good tidings preached to them. This is the ne1v aeon: bodily and social diseases are overcome, and death is conquered. The same povJer is given to the apostles ''rho announce that salvation has come. "And he called unto him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of disease and all manner of sickness" (Iv.ratt. 10). And a fe1v verses later, jesus says to them: 11 And as ye do, preach, saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. 11 The identity of healing, bodily and mental, and the presence of salvation can not be expressed more clearly. To announce that salvation is at hand and to heal is one and the same act. To perform both parts of this act is the task of the disciples--this and nothing else.l The ·disciples put the pmv-er and authority of Jesus to immediate use. And He called unto Him .the t1velve, and begEm to send them forth by two and t~>ra; and He gave them authority over the unclean spirits ••• And they went out, and preached that men should repent. And they cast out devils and ~ointed with oil many that were sick and healed them. Luke reQords: Jesus gave them power and authority over all devils and to cure diseases. And He sent them forth to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick ••• And they departed, and vJent through the villa~es, preaching the gospel, and healing every"tvhere • .J Later there is the appointment of seventy others.

• • • • • • 1. Paul Tillich: The Relation of Religion and Health. The Review of Religion, Iviay 1946, pp. 351-352. 2. Mark 6:7, 12-13. 3. Luke 9:1-3. 10

He sent them two and two before His face into every city and place whether He Himself was about to come. And He said unto them, 'Heal the sick that are therein and say unto them, The Kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.' •••• And the seventy returned with joy, saying, 'Lord, even the devils are subject unto us in Thy name.tl J'1ark records the continuing ministry of Jesus after His ascension: So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, 1.ras tal{en up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went forth and preached every where, while the Lord 'tvorked 1'1fi th them and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it •.2 But the disciples were not successful in all instances. Iiark records Jesus healing an epileptic boy 1-rhom the disciples could not heal. To the father t s statement: "And I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they

11 vrere not able, tt Jesus' reply was, 0 .faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with 3 you? Bring him to me. 11 And when the disciples encountered a man .casting out demons in the name of Jesus, Jesus t answer vias: Do not forbid him; for no one who does a mie:.,hty HOrk in my name 1dll be able soon to speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is for us. For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ, will by no means lose his reward. 4 Of the apostles, Acts records: 11 Now many signs and wonders 1.rere done a..rnong the people by the hands of the

• • • • 0 • 1. Luke 10:1, 9, 17. 2. Mark 16:19, 20. 3. Mark 9:18b, 19. ~-· Mark 9:38-41. 1).

1 apostles. 11 These signs and t-vonders were accomplished in the name of Jesus by faith in His name. Peter and John healed the lame man causing him to VJalk and leap and praise God, and the people were filled with wonder and runazement 2 at l-Jhat had happened to him. Peter healed Aeneas who had been bedridden for eight years and was paralyzed, saying to him: Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed. And immediately he rose. And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord • .:$ Peter restoi'ed Tabitha from the dead, cal.J,.sing men to believe ~~ in the Lord throughout all Joppa. Peter is pictured as being so endued with power from on high that even his shadow brought healing. Harren 1rJoolsey comments that hostile critics have usually regarded this as superstition and 5 discredit the story. However, Woolsey quotes J. Rawson Lumby in this regard: These men w·ho gave such an er..hibi tion of faith have been described (ver. 14) as believers in the Lordo There can therefore be no question as towhat they regarded as the po1-ver VJhich ivas to heal their sick. They did not believe on Peter, though they magnified him as the Lord's instrument; they did not ascribe healing po1..rer to Peter's shadow, though it might please God to make that a sacrament of healing, as to Israel in old times He made the brazen serpent. They had seen health bestowed through the Apostle by the name of Christ, and to demonstrate their faith in that

• • • • • • 1. Acts 5:12. 2. Acts 3:1-11. 3. Acts 9:34,35. 4· Acts 9:42. 5. \·Jarren M. 1rJoolsey: The New Testrunent Teaching on Divine Healing, Thesis, The Biblical Seminary in lifew York, Harch 1950, p. 10. 12

name, they bring their afflicted friends into the way of salvation.l Besides Jesus' concex•n for the sick, another attitude that influenced His disciples irJaS His spirit of compassion. Love, mercy, and kindness all lvere a vJay of life in Jesus. Forever after these virtues influenced the Christian's attitude tovmrd people who were poor or oppressed, or tmderprivileged, and they also caused them to·be concerned about the sick. Jesus at times rebuked and admonished His disciples· for their character blemishes and for their failure to appreciate His message and mission. But He ahvays spoke the truth in love. He exposed moral 1-veaknesses ·and :Caul ty perception of His disciples, doing so with a delicacy and a s~rmpa the tic regard for their feelings. The purpose Hhich controlled Him Has the improvement or reclamation of His dlscipl€3s o Thus did Jesus by transforming the lives. of His disciples and apostles provide for the continuance of His ministry of healing.

]). The Healing Ministry of St. Paul

The Apostle Paul shared in the power of Christ to heal the sick. He concePned himself 1r.1i th the spiPi tual needs and pPoblems of individuals, exhoPting and encouraging

• • 0 • • •

1. Ibid., quoting J. Rmvson Lumby, The Acts of the Apostles, CarabPidge UnivePsity Pl"ess, Carabridge, 1937, p. 140. 13

believers in their new life. He recommended Christian fellowship to undergird and sustain each other in the face of trials and temptations. He emphasized groHth in the Christian life through the study of doctrine, prayer, and singing. The Apostle Paul -vras not only a preacher of the Gospel but a pastor as well. According to the records, Paul's ministry of healing included the healing of a cripple who had never 1.ralked.

"He listened to Paul s.;:> eaking; and Paul, looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be made well, said

in a loud voice, 1 Stand upright on your feet. 1 And he 1 sprang up and 1-valked.n He caused the spirit of divination to come out from an unfortu_nate maid in the vePy hour that he said: "I charge you in the name of Jesus Christ to come 2 out of her. 11 Paul raised a young man, Eutychus, "t-Jho had 3 fallen down from the third story and was taken up dead. In one of the homes in which Paul was received and enter-

tained, Publius 1 , the father of Publius ·lay sick with fever and dysentery; and Paul visited him and prayed, and putting 4 his hands on him healed him. Others were brought to him to be cured.

• • • • • •

1. Acts 1L~:9,10. 2. Acts 16:16-18. 3. Acts 20:9. 4. Acts 28:8. 14-

Paul faced the problems of a modern pastor. His letters reveal problems of the family, of morals, of religious belief, the facing of death, problems of the Church, the place of women, factions and divisions within the Church, excesses and intemperance. He treated everyday problems such as the relationship of husbands and 1vi ves, children and parents, masters and servants. His advice included a case of restoring one who had done wrong. His main 1•Jork 'tvas in personal contacts. He j_dentified himself 111)'i th his people, rejoicing in their progress, pained when they failed or fell short. He was at times critical, rebuking and con- deDming, but all the time remarkably patient, affectionate, and hopeful. He knew human failings and he kneH too human possibilities. His emphasis was always on the tnew man'. Many of Paul's insights have been validated or rediscovered by modern scientific thought, such as the need of maturity, or the fact that love fulfills the requirements of character or that centering the thought and attention on that which is true, honorable, just, pure and lovely is a key to 1 gr01vth and inner peace. One of the most important themes running through Paul's letters was suffering, how to face it, to endure it, and overcome it. He kneH only too well lvhat Christians of his day were forced to suffero

• • • • • 0

1. Kemp, op. cit., pp. 19-22. E. The Healing Iviinistry of the Apostolic Church In the history of the early Church as recorded in the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, Dr. Leslie t'Jeatherhead reveals a strildng and significant difference in the kind of healing miracles. He classifies the healing 1 miracles of Jesus Himself into three types: Classification I, in Nhich the psychological mechanism is suggestion-ability to make it powerfully on the part of the healer and ability to respond to it vJi th "faith, n or ••• expectan.t trust, on the part of the patient. Classification II, in which-He note more than the mechanism of suggestion, viz. a more tecl"l..nical method in which less faith is demanded of the patient a..n.d more---skill p_equ:fre~ from the healer. Classification III, absent treatment in t'l!"hich little- perhaps nothing at all--is demanded from the patient, but in which an "atmospherell is required from his relatives, friends or the onlookers. Dr. \veatherhead contends that all the healing miracles of the Acts fall in Category I. In other words, there is a simple challenge made by the healer to the 11 faith, 11 or rather trustful expectancy, of the patient and the mention of the name and power of Jesus. He is of the opinion that as 2 the experience of Pentecost is left behind there seems: ( i) a less pmverful energy at Hork; ( ii) a uniform method of treatment and one 1-Jhich :made a much smaller demand on the healer; (iii) a treatment becoming more and more similar to

• • • • • •

1. ~veatherhead, op. cit., pp. 75-76. 2. Ibid., P• 76. 16

those practised by contemporary non-Christian exorcists.

Hov.rever this may be, Christianity brought 1-.rith it

a great compassion for people, a concern :for the suffering

of' the individual, and a willingness to be of' B:e~p to the 1 '"'-., __~ sick and needy.

Shirley J"ackson Case, in his s~~ial Triump~ ?f'

th~ ~-~~- _(j_l].ul::_~h, states that the situation in that perio~. 1:-ra.s thus :

The homeless were given shelter, the h·ungry 1.-vere fed, the naked were clothed, hospitality was freely extended to visiting brethren, the sick and unfortunate were cared for, \.vork Has secured for the unempl~yed, and aid "tvas made available for every .:form of need.

The extent of this irJOrk is indicated in Dr. Case 1 s book in which he states that the church at Home vJas supporting from its funds over fifteen hundred persons in dis tress, 1-vhile, by the fourth century, the church at Carthage was supporting 3 over three thousand.

Weatherhead records the .:following evidence of 4 healing through religion:

St. Justin Iviartyr (A .D. 100-165) speaks of the gift of healing, and co~ments on the power of the nillae of Christ in exorcising demons, but extracts from his 1-vri tings seem to indicate that the Church \.vas letting go the ministry of healingo

St. Irenaeus (A.D. 120-202) remarks that certain 11 • hereticsn ucan neither confer sight on the blind, nor hearing on the deaf, nor chase a-vJay all sorts of' demons ••• Nor can they cure the weak or the lame

• • 0 • 0 •

1. Kemp, op. cit., p. 23. 2. Ibid., p. 2~-· Kemp quoting Case. 3. Ibid. L~. \'Jeatherhead, op. cit., pp. 76-78. 17

or the paralytic, or those who are distressed in any other part o£ the body as has often been done in rega~d to bodily infirmity."

Origen of Alexandria (A.D. 185-253) also sneaks of the expulsion of evil spirits and the perf~rmance o£ many cures •••. But he notes also the cures that were occurring in the civilizations around him, and adds this most illuminating co~ment: "Such curative power is of itself neither good nor bad, but within the reach of godless as well as of honest folk •• The power of healing diseases is no evidence of anything specially divine, 11 though he asserts that the healing power of Ghrist was greater than that of Aesculapius. Of Tertullian (A.D. 155-220) Miss Frost writes: "It can be seen that in his day there were very many attested cases of healing to be found, both amongst rich and poor, that they covered a wide range of physical and mental disease, including the raising of the dead, and that the methods used were holy anointing and prayer. n

St. Ambrose {A.D. 340-397), Bishop of Milan). records the incident of a blind man being healed through touching the border of the garments in which the bodies of two martyrs were discovered beneath the pavement of the church ••

St. Chrysostom (A.D. 357-407), though he constantly speaks of miracles having ceased, refers to healing as being a matter of common occurrence, and reports that co:mrnonly patients "put away their diseases by anointing themselves with oil in faith," the oil being taken from the sanctuary lamps hanging before the altars of the churches. St. Augustine (A.D. 354-430) writes: "And for miracles there are some wrought ~ zet, partly by the sacraments, partly by the co~nemorations and prayers of the saints, but they are not so famous nor so glorious as the other; for the scriptures which were to be divulged in all places, have given lustre to the first in the knowledge of all nations, whereas the latter are only known unto the cities where they are done or some parts about them. And, generally, there are few that know them there, and many that do not, if the city be great; and when they relate them to others they are not believed so fully and so absolutely as the other, although they be declared by one Christian to another." 18

However, Weatherhead contends that in the first

three centuries the Church began increasingly to lose this 1 gift of spiritual healing, and gives the follm·ring reasons:

(i) The power of Jesus, due to His relationship with God, His trust in God, His comraunion 1,ri th God and His love for men, availed mightily to heal others 't-.rhen He d"t-.rel t among men in the flesh. Love at a higher potential than the "t-JOrld has ever knovrn, streamed from His personality in healing pov.rer, and He could convey to His disciples His power to heal in a way that surprised them, for He had welded them into a united fellowship 'tvhich l

(ii) As Pentecost faded into past history, the fellowship began slmv-ly to disintegrate; the faith of the Church in the power of the Holy Spirit, and that love for men Hhich is derived only from love to God, or rather a sense of God 1 s love for men, diminished to such an extent that 't-Je note an insidious difference in the nature of the healing technique. Less is demanded from the healer. lVIore is demanded from the patient. The onus is more and more put on the patient to have 11 llfaith , but the pm-1er to call forth faith is sadly lo1-vered ••

(iii) No doubt the folloHers of Christ put their preach ing fil"'st, and in doing so they follo-vred His Oi.rn example.. As St. Cyprian once 1-vrote, nThe sins of Christians have weakened the po-vrer of the Church, 11 and though the early Church rationalized and pretended that God had nwithdrawn the gift given to the Apostles,n or that He no longer "willed to heal!! a.11.d that Christians had to 11 bear their sufferings as Christ His Cross, 11 and that illness vras 11 a punishment for

• • • 0

1. 1;-Jeatherhead, op. cit., pp. 79-82. 19

sin and must not be interfePed Hith, 11 yet the grim truth ·Has as stated.

(iv) J.Viethod.s of healing by material means 't'l)'ere quickly coming in from GPeek culture.. l11Ien did not behold God toJorking _thr_oug_l?: the neH methods. God 't-ras left out. The dPugs acted vJ"hether or not the patient believed in God. The insiduous disease of mater ialistic humanism set in. Nan had discovePed drugs~ He can do vd thout God ••

(v) Quack exorcists and healers ivho made no refePence to the pmvex• of ChPist in the apostolic sense Here getting results by the mere mention of His name.. The pagan vievJ o:f the matter encouraged superstition. The poHer of this superstition gradually displaced the pov-rer of faith and love ••

(vi) The conversion of the Roman Emperor, Constantine, to Clt..ristianity in c A.D. 325, Has a very doubt ful gain to the cause of Christ. It made it easy 11 to be a nchristian •• He produced a Christianity that left out the Cross, and might \oJell have made a cushion its symbol ••• Paganism remained, but noH it Has labelled Christianity as it is today. The religion of Christ has never recovered either, except fop bPief periods of revival, and Hithout a nucleus of real saints--gP01'1)'ing rarer in this country but increasing overseas--it couJ_d not have survived. ·

(vii) Both science, popularly understood, and faith, popularly understood, began to be misunderstood. Science is even no1v reckoned by many as an under standing of Hhat are thought of as secular lat.-rs, and faith is often regaPded as. belief. 1.-ri thout evidence.

The importance of religion in the field of heal-

ing Has seen to be diminishing. Only in a fe"tv monasteries

Hhere real saints and united Christian COii1..'11uni ties main-

tained communion 'tvi th the living Christ and His pov-rer to heal did healing take place. The methods used "·rere prayer, 1 anointing Hith oil and the laying on of hands.

• 0 • • • •

1. Weatherhead, op. cit., p. 83. 2D

Va..11. Buskirk has an interesting interpretation of the decrease in healing. He says: As "t.re look at the accounts of the early church, He see a decreasing emphasis on healings; after the first few chapters of the book of Acts there is little reference to r.uracles of healing. The e&hortation is to seek spiritual gifts rather than healings. In the list of the gifts of the Spirit given by Paul (I Cor. 12:14) healing cruae in for only incidental mention; he said too many ·vrere seeking to speak T;J'ith tongues and neglecting the more excellent gifts; the rivalry seemed to be bet1-veen 11 tongues n and uprophecy"--and by prophecy, Paul meant not foretelling but forth.right speaking, as in preaching. As Charles Reynolds Brown points out, the seer of Revelation saw, 11 The leaves of the tree Here for the healing of the nations • 11 The main business o.f a tree is to produce fruit, leaves are incidental to the main function. The apostles did heal the sick; but they gave themselves to the main spiritual ministry, to the fundamental thing. The healing ministry 1.-.ras recognized as a part of the work of the church, at lrast w.J.til the time of Augustine--many never gave it up. Another manifestation of concern for the sick reached into the field of nursing. St. Basil set up a system of visiting the sick and a system of nursing care. He built the institutions at the edges of towns or cities, including at each institution an inn for travelers; facilities for ambulatory pat~_ents.; a hosptial for bed care; homes for'the aged, cripples, orphans, and foundlings, and for lepers. 11 Duc tores 11 or guides -vrent out and found 2 patients and brought them to the hospital. There 'tvas not much glruaour attached to caring for or healing the ordinary or the poor sick, and it Has in

• • • • • • 1. Van Buskirk, op. cit., p. 70. 2. Carl J. Sherz.er: The Church and Healing, p. 46. 21

this medical field among the poor that the Chur'ch made its most significant contribution in the post-apostolic period. Healing was for all people, not only for certain groups or l classes of society. During the era of the Church Fathers there is evidence that the pastoral function of a personal ministry lvas being neglected or attended by abuses. Various types of discipline, admonition, and consolation were employed to counteract this situation. In this connection free use of pagan aids Has made. \'fays of penance and of soul care were devised which tended to rely upon the enlistment of the human 1-vill than upon the life-giving experience of

~,rhich the early Christians were a-vmre. Ascetic discipline 1-Jas attained by a fe"tv but the majority engaged in a perpetual 1>rarfare v.ri th their besetting sins. The simple lists in the Ne1r.r Testament gave place to a detailed catalogue of sins 1rrhich must be systematic ally checked and overcome. Gregory Nazianzen, Chrysostom and Gregory the Great 11ere av.rare of the need of a constant ministry to souls caught in this predicament. Conscientious pastors must be personal directors. Preaching, sacraments, and formal penance ·VJere

not enough. The element of authority became eru~anced; both the authority of the guide and that of Scripture came to recognition. Something had been lost of the liberating

pov.rer of the Gospel ru~d doctrines of sacramental grace were

• • • • • • 1. Ibid., pp. 46-47• .22

still not far developed. But al1vays before men's eyes ~ras 1 a trembling hope of heaven.

Thus we see how the dyn~1ic power of healing that was evident in Christ, His apostles, and in the early Church began to· dissipate and lvould have to be recovered if the Church were to fulfill its Christly function.

F. Summary The ministry of Jesus 1-ras coextensive 1-ri th the needs and capacities of men. He did not restrict Himself to the alleviation of .pain and the cure of disease. He sought to lead men into progressively higher integrations of liberation from all sorts of defects. 11li thin the framework of His governing objectives Jesus ministered to both the sick and the well, the ignorant and the instructed, the wayward and the right-minded. The primary objective of Jesus was to deliver men from the bondage of fear, frustra- 2 tion, shrune, sin, guilt, aimlessness, and hopelessness. There was a three-fold basis of the cures of Jesus and of His redemptive mission: (1) His own sublime trust. in God as the source of life and the determiner of the destiny of man, (2) confidence in Himself as the herald of the Kingdom which is opposed to the forces of evil and all that harn.pers human beings, and (3) the faith of those who appealed to Him for deliverance. The healing ministry of Jesus and His

• • • • • 0 lo John T. JYlcl'ifeill: The History of the Cure of Souls, p. 111. 2. Stolz, op. cit., p. 5o. 2.3 sovereignty are inextricably interhvined.

Psychologically~ it is to be noted that Jesus' activities were carried on a higher spiritual plane than was known before or has been noted sinceo His own belief so completely enveloped His personality that_He possessed therapeutic powers of m~selfish love which effected trans forming changes. He pressed into the service of humanity prayer, the authoritative attitude~ material aids~ suggestion, challenge, and instruction. These processes and methods proceeded from His dynamic personality and were. regulated by His invincible faith. Likewise, the disciples and apostles of Christ woPked healing mil"'acl.es in the power of His name. This ministry extended to the seventy, to the deacons, to Paul and BaPnabas and Stephen. By shaPing togetheP theiP nev-J life in Christ and effectively revealing Christ in theiP lives, the Churcn of ChPist cmae into being and pePpetuated itself. The farther the Church got from Christ the 1veaker became her faith and love until her ministry of healing was overtaken by pagan practices. The pastoral fQDction of the ministry became neglected and abused. Disciplines, afu.1onition, and con solation 'tvere introduced. The simple lists of sins in the Ne,;,y Testament gave place to a detailed catalogue 'tvhich had to be systematically checked and overcome. The human ivill rather than a life-giving experience Has the basis of Christian experience. The liberating pov-Jer of the Gospel gave way to the element of authority in the guide and in the Scripture. Jesus released the energies of the Kingdom in His ministry of healing. As the Church left these energies untapped, her healing ministry becarne ineffective. CHAPTEH II

Th""E lVliDDLE AGES AND THE REFORHA.TION PERIOD CONTRASTED CHAPTER II THE jYIIDDLE AGES AND THE HEF'ORI\'iATION PEEIOD CONTRASTED

A. Introduction

The period of the Middle Ages is a period of extremes from the simplicity of the Gospel message to an ecclesiastical structure erected to meet the demands of discipline in Christian living and to counter pagan super stition. In direct contrast, the Reformation period returns to the simplicity of the imperatives of Jesus Christ, resulting in a greater freedom from ecclesiastical conformity and the rediscovery o:f the therapeutic power of love. Me<;licine in the lviiddle Ages was divorced from the recognized healing agencies of the Church. In the Reforma tion period seeds of reconciliation were planted that were to eventually reunite these two healing streams. The techniques enlisted to meet the spiritual needs of the Fliddle Ages include the confessional, penance, indul gences, penitential manuals. The problem of sin took pre cedence over all other problems during this period. THo important changes, however, are wrought in the Reformation period to counter these conditions: the confessional was abandoned and the Pl"otestant pastor emergedo The absolute power of the papacy during the Middle Ages revealed a vJeakness rather than a strength in the development of the life of the Church. The role of the Protestant pastor counters this condition during the Reforma- tion period. Ivlonks and monasteries serve the Church well during the Niddle Ages in recapturing the essence of Jesus' spirit and compassion, Francis of Assisi -vrell exemplifying this aspect of the Church's life. Nursing orders fill a unique place during the Eiddle Ages. They continue in the Reformation period and emel"ge in the form of the diaconate. The 1-rork of Pastor Theodor Fliedner is particularly significant. Also during the latter period Church-related hospitals are effective instruments of the Church's healing mission. It is during the jvJiddle Ages that laymen come into their OlrJn in laying hold of their own spiritual needs and prepare the way for the Reformation period which follows when there is a return to Ne1;-.r Testament exhortations to believers to be responsible not only for themselves but for each other.

Anointing ~ith oil falls into disuse during the Hiddle Ages and in the Heformation period its use is relegated simply to the sacrament of extreme unction. The use of relics and shrines for healing purposes assumes a prominent place during the Iviiddle Ages and continues into the Reformation period though there is a decided decline. John Christopher Blu..mhardt is outstanding during I the Reformation period for his contribution in the area of faith healing. The end of this period reveals the groHth of sects in 1vhich the practice of faith healing is emphasized. -27

In this chapter the evidence of history as to the

weal~esses and strengths of the healing ministry of the Church during the l'Iiddle Ages and the Heformation period will be reviewed.

· B. The }'Liddle Ages and the Reformation Period Contrasted The l'1iddle Ages and the Reformation period sho1..r a distinct and sharp contrast in their approach to the healing aspect of the ministry of Jesus. However, throughout the ages an unbroken sequence maintained this ministry of the ChuPch. In the I1iddle Ages saints such as St. BePnaPd of Clairvaux (1091-1153), St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226),

St. Catherine of Sienna (131~-7-1380); in the Reformation .Period Hartin Luther ( llt-83-1546) and St. Francis Xavier (1506-1552); and in the Post-Reformation pePiod George Fox ( 162u,-1691), Jo1Ll'l 'VJesley ( 1703-1791), Pathel" Matthei'IT ( 1790-

1856), Pastor Blu.'llhal... dt (1805-1880) and Father John of GPons tad t ( 1829-1908) \'lfere all healers -who 1vi th no formal psychological technique but only through their communion 1 with Christ by His power healed the sick. Of the jVJ:iddle Ages \r{eatherhead says: ttThere is no doubt that Hith the passing of the healing ministry of the 2 ChuPch, a factor of immense importance was los to It It appears that this is true also for the Reformation period.

• • • • • • 1. Weatherhead, op. cit., p. 86. 2. Ibid. 1. The Relation of Hedicine to the Healing Hinistry During the Hiddle Ages men more and more tended to leave the art of healing r~nds and bodies to the scientists. Emperor Justinian (527-567) closed the medical schools of Athens and Alexander. The Church's disapproval of medicine continued through the centuries. In 1215 Pope Innocent III condemned surgery and all priests 1nrho practiced it. In 1245 dissection of the body Has pronounced sacreligious and the study of anatomy v.ras condenmed. And so the tHo healing streams of God parted company, never to be brought together l again seriously Qntil the tHentieth century. In the Reformation period medicine vras sloiorly but surely coming into its own. Vesalius, a Roman Catholic lay man born in l5llj., aligned himself against the theories of Galen. The Church did not support him but did not oppose 2 him in his stand. Pare/ used his medical knowledge and skill to prove certain medical practices were nothing more than superstition. He Has a religious man and demonstrated a spirit of compassion exemplified by his Lord and Savior. Dr. Sherzer says:

His 1tJ'I'i tings abound 1d th that spix>i t, Hhich v-ms destined to do so much fox> the medical ax>ts in the futux>e. Al though his extex>iox> was x>ough-hewn accox>ding to the pattex>n of the day, he devoted his life and intelligence to alleviating suffex>ing and pain. 3

0 • • • 0 • 1. Weathex>head, op. cit., pp. 87-88. 2. Sherzex>, op. cit., pp. 79-80. 3. Ibid., P• 76. 29

Paracelsus is regarded as the first modern doctor. The Church accepted the results of his research 1-vi thout 1 protest. However, surgery was still relegated to the barbers. Only the privileged class had trained doctors. 2. The Role of the Confessional a. The Institution of the Confessional It was during the 1"1iddle Ages that the confessional came into being and served the Church in its healing ministry as a method of rehabilitation of the sick soul in his divine- human relationships as 1-vell as 1-vithin his 01rm spirit. It vms conceived to be of divine origin, sacr~1ental in nature, a means of supernatural grace 1rrhereby consequences of sin tvere annulled an.d the favor of God was recovered. It t-.ras believed that since Jesus had made atonement, He also had chosen this way of making forgiveness available to the sinnero It lrJas not optional but compulsory and necessary. Of the system of penance that 1-vas set up by the Catholic Church, Philip Schaff gives this description: In distinction from baptism, 1-vhich is the regenera tion, Thomas Aquinas declared penance to be a restoration to health •• Thomas traced its institution back to Christ, 1,rho left 'tvord that t penance and remis sion of sins should be preached from Jerusalem.' Luke 24:47. James had this institution in mind v-rhen he called upon Christians to confess their sins one to another. Penance may be repeat~d, for we may again and again lose our love to God...... 1. Ibid., p. 66. 2. Philip Schaff: History of the Christian Church, Vol. V, p. 73 7. Penance consists of four elements: contrition of heart, confession with the mouth, satisfaction by 1•Jorks, and 1 the priest's absolution. 1. Contrition was defined as the sorrow of the soul for its sins, an aversion from them, and a determination not to con'DJrl t them again. fJ:'he Lombard and Gratian taught that such contrition, being rooted in love, is adequate for the divine pardon without confession to a priest or priestly absolution •• 2. Confession to the priest, the second element in penance, is defined by Thomas Aquinas as the making knov-rn of the hidden disease of sin in the hope of getting pardon •• Confession must be made to the priest as Christ's vicar. In case of necessity, a la~nan may also hear confession •• 3. Satisfaction ••• is imposed by the priest as the rrin~~ of God and consists of prayer, pilgrimages, fasts, payments of money, and other good vrorks. These penal acts are medicines for spiritual wounds, and a compensation to God for offences against Him •• Satis faction differs fl~om contrition and confession in the very important particular that one person can perform it for another. To prove this point, Thomas Aquinas used the 1;-.rords of the Apostle 1-.rhen he said, 'Bear ye one another's burdens.' Galatians 6:2. 4. The fourth element in the sacrament of penance Has the formal sentence of absolution pronounced by the priest. This function ••• belongs primarily and in its fulness to the pope and then, by distribution, to bishops and priests. Its use opens and shuts the kingdom of heaven to inwortal souls. The ultimate and, as it proved, a most vicious form of priestly absolution Has the indulgence. An indulgence, Schaff states, is a remission of the guilt and punishraent of sin by a mitigation or com~lete setting aside of the 1v-orks of satisfaction which l;vould othel''lvise be

• • • • • 0

1. Ibid., pp. 732-735. 31 . required. A li,ghter penalty was substituted for a severer one. Recently, Schaff asserts, indulgences have been divided into three classes: (1) indulgences Hhich are secured by going on a crusade; (2) such as are secured by the payment of money for some good church cause, and (3) such as are secured by the visiting of certain churches. He says: Indulgences proved a tempt"ing source of gain to churches and the Roman curia and the practice gre\'IT enormously. The superstitious, practical extrava gances, which grew out of this most unbiblical penitential theory of the Middle Ages, led to morbid tales.l Penitentials appeared about the sixth century 2 offering the sinner the means of rehabilitation. Kemp describes the practice thus:

The penal ties demanded in the Peni tentials we~c>e of a varied nature, some of them being very severe. One of ·the commonest forms of punishment was the repetition of the penitential psalms, even on occasion, the whole psalter. Fasting also was very comraon, the severity of the fast ranging from the omission of a meal to living on bread and t,J"ater for a period of days, or abstinence from meat and wine for a matter of years. There were developed a wide variety of unique punishments consisting of some posture or action that would result in physical discomfort. There are references to sleeping in water, on nutshells, with a corpse in a grave, while flagel lation was quite con~on. Sometimes the freeing of a slave OI' the giving of alms 1...ras dem~nded, while in extreme cases exile was prescribed.j According to Kemp, McNeil in his study of this subject,

• • • • • • • 1. Ibid., P• 737. 2. Kemp, op. cit., p. 28. 3. Ibid., pp. 29-30. 32

Medieval Handbooks or Penance, points out that the recon struction or personality was the main objective. The sinner thereby recovered harmonious relations with the Church, society and God. Freed from social censure, he could once 1 more function as a normal person. The Penitential of Columban reads: So thererore the spiritual physician ought also to heal with various sorts or treatment the wounds, revers, transgressions, sorrows, sicknesses, and infirmities or souls.2 The Celtic penitential manuals were poorly written and wretchedly copied. Their lists or sins and or penalties marked them as products, no less than correctors, of a primitive society. They were little esteemed except by the humbler clergy who found them indispensable. In the hands of simple priests these booklets secured for themselves a functional place in the life or the Church while they were still despised and rejected by most churchmen of rank and learning. Their use was little arfected by episcopal condemnation, and they went on silently remaking the penitential discipline until able bishops, recognizing a fait accompli, began to imitate and improve upon them. The improvements · consisted largely in explanations or the procedure ••• The major moral weaknesses remained in the later exemplars of the series. There was a deplorable lack of watchful defense against the commercialization of penance--later the occasion or scandalous abuses •• We cannot doubt that they were instrumental in the recovery and rehabil itation of many who had made shipwreck of life, and in elevating and stabilizing the morals of many more. The experience of our ancestors under the guidance of confessors familiar with these manuals must have helped to redeem them from superstition, inhumanity and vice,

• • • • • • • 1. Kemp, op. cit., P• 30. 2. Ibid., p • 29. 33

and to set thefr feet on the pathv-ray of spiritual and moral advance. McNeill is of the opinion that the most regret- table phases of the medieval man 1 s religious experience were connected with his approach to the problem of sin. He con1.ments: For long centuries the emphasis has been not on sin as a state of the soul from lvhich repentance and divine grace would emancipate it, as upon sins in the plural that s1;rarmed in gPeat nu.mbers and must be confessed in complete detail. The tendency to centeP religion about repeated clearances from innumerable and eveP-returning sins, can hardly be Hholeso:me. On the other hand, if sin is t1'"'eated as a state and not a sePies of acts, laxity regarding sinful acts may arise "tvhere sin itself is repudiated. Jesus' woPds to the paralytic were: 'Your sins aPe forgiven,' and sin-ridden souls need this an~ihilation of specific sins. Yet the meticulous enumer ation of detailed sins may set up an obsession and prove a hindrance to deli vel'"'ance o Such a method, unless con ducted Hith the greatest wisdom, tends to make the con scientious man or 1,roman unVJholesomely scrupulous and introverted. The Ne1'1!" Testament inner renovation of the soul gave place to an ru~~iously fulfilled routine of penances. The state of mind thus created found some relief in indulgences. The pressure of sin 1 s everlast- ing detail is lifted when all the penalties due for sin ful acts over a period of time are authoritatively expunged at once. Strictly, however, this referred to penalties and not to guilt; moreover, the behaV-ior of the 'pardoners,' and the voices of sec~aries and satirists, brought indul gences into contempt. b. The Confessional Abandoned In strong contrast to the intricacies of the Roman Catholic confessional, the Reformation period finds the Anglo-Catholic use of the confessional in a modified form,

0 • • • • • • 1. McNeill, op. cit., p. 135. 2. Ibid., p. 160. 34 but Protestantism in the main developed a different approach 1 and philosophy toward the needs and problems of individuals. Protestant pastors still heard confession of sin, but the obligatory nature and the supernatural sanctions were abolished. Luther· urged that confession be made to God first, then to the minister. There was a difference of opinion between Luther and Calvin as to the enumerating of one's sins and whether the confession should be made to the pastor only, or to a church member. Thus there Has in the Reformation period a return to the New Testament principle of the priesthood of believers and the need for fraternal 2 correction.

3. The Absolute Pmver of the Papacy and the Protestant Pastor a. The Absolute Power of the Papacy The achievement of absolute power by the papacy, magniricent as it· Has, proved to be an ideal utterly at fault, in the ligb.t of the teaching of Scripture or the

• • • • • 0

1. Kemp, op. cit., p. 39. 2. Jom1 Sutherland Bonnell: Pastoral Psychiatry, pp. 188-189. It is Dr. Bonnell's belief that the Protestant conception of con_fession and forgiveness is more Scriptural because it is neither habitual nor compulsory, but voluntary. 11 The individual comes to the minister not because the law of the Church says that he must, but because of an inner 11 urge for confession and forgiveness. o He says, ••• inter vieT·Js oJ' a Protestant minister "Lvi th his people is a more costly experience for the Protestant than it is for the Roman Catholic •• The Protestant, sitting face to face Hi th his minister and unveiling his heart in the presence of a fellow-human being as well as under the eyes of God, is undergoing an experience Hhich, because it hurnbles his pride to the dust, is therefore more searching and clean sing in its effects. 35 judgment of :Reformed Christianity. Ambition, pride, avarice,

Schaff states, wel'"'e mingled in popes i:Ji th a sincere belief that the Roman See illiLerited from the Apostle plenitude of authority in all realms. Its outcome was moral degeneracy and spiritual incompetency to such a point that the theory l of papal supremacy 1v-as obviously fallacious.

Regarding the priesthood and hierarchy, ordination did not insure devotion to office and personal purity. Even one of the popes, Gregory X in 127L~, declared that lithe pre- lates Here the ruin of chl-.is tendomo I! FI'edePick II' though pronounced a poor chuPcl'rraan, 1..ras a keen observeP and no doubt indicated a Hidespread discontent Nith the lives the clergy 1•Jere leading 1-vhen· he declared that, if they 1-vould change their mode of living, the VJOl'"'ld might again see 2 miracles as in the days of old.

The period v.ras not an ideal one either in morals or faith, Hith evidence of the prevalence of vice 8nd iPreligion among all classes. Popes and schoolmen com- plained ·bitterly of the evils of the age and of h:uman lot. Schaff records that Rogel" Bacon fou_nd rottenness ano. decay everyHhere, and he agreed 1-vi th other moralists of his day, in making the clergy chiefly responsible for the prevailing corruption. rrhe 1,rhole clergy,· he says, His given to pride, avm.,ice, and self-indulgence. Where clergymen are gathered

0 • • 0 • • 0

1. Schaff, op. cit., p. 891. 2. Ibid., pp. 891-892. 36 together, as a.t Pa.ris and Oxford, their qua.rrels a..11.d strife, ' l and their vices are a sca.nda.l to laymen.tt

It is little wonder tha.t in the light of the corruption of the clergy the healing ministry of the

Church became a lost art.

b. The Protestant Pastor

Luther's reputation as a reformer is well knovm.

His pastoral ministry, Kemp.states, Has far more extensive than is conunonly recognized. A careful study of Luther 1 s attitudes and practices are to be fomid in August Nebe 1 s

Lu"ther .§E. Spiritual Advis~r, covering his work with the sick, the forlorn, the erring, the mourning, the tempted 2 and the dyingo

Another to give special attention to the field of pastoral care was Hi chard Baxter, a Puritan pastor o During his rninistry in the toHn of Kidderminster in ·~ ..roi'cestershire the 1,Jhole corrrnn ..mi ty \'I] as literally transformed. \Alhereas upon his arrival about one family on a street 't-Jorshipped God, 1'Jhen he left there lfJere some streets vJhere thei'e 1-vas not a ftunily that did not. He asked his parishioners to meet at his house evei'y Thursday evening to discuss his sermons, a.ny doubts or questions they had about it, or 11 a..11.y other case of conscience. 11

On Nondays and Tuesdays he and his assistant took betv.reen them fifteen or sixteen farnilies for private catechising and

• • • • • • • l. Ibid., pp~ 894-896. 2. Kemp, op. cit., p. i+O;;.cf. August Nebe: Lut.her as Spiritual Adviser, Lutheran Publication Society, 189~-· 37 instruction, thus enabling him to meet Hi th his' entire parish 1 of some eight hundred frunilies once a year. In John vJesleyt s case the world 1.vas his parish. He preached to people in poverty, ignorance, i1maorality, vice and degrad~tion. The Industrial Revolution had caused overcrowding, disease, hardship, frustration, reseritment, crime and drunkenness. To thi?, vvesley brought his m.essage of a new life, a nev.r character, a new experience. He stressed the sanctity of every human soul. He supported his preaching by the orge.nization of 11 class rneetings 11 where groups of t"tvelve members v-JOuld meet once a 1.veek to strenthen each other by telling of their trials, confessing their failures, and 2 testifying to their victories. In his Primitive .P.hJ:sicl~ he records his conception of the po1;ver of faith to influence 3 the personality and even health: The love of God, as it is the sovereign remedy of all miseries, so in particular it effectively prevents all bodily disorders the passions introduce, by keeping the passions themselves Hithin due bounds; and by the unspeakable joy and perfect calm serenity and tran quility it gives the mind it becomes the most powerful of all means of health and long life. John Oberlin, Thomas Chalmers, Robert Hall, John '\:Jatson (Ian Haclaren), Henry Drummond, all followed in the ministry of L~ healing to individuals. Pastoral counseling, especially pastoral counsel-

• • • • • • 1. Ibid., P• 43. 2. Ibid., PP• 45-46o 3. Ibid., p. 47. 4. Ibid., PP• 47-54. 38 ing 1-.ri th the sick, really had its origin in this period of the Church's historyo It grew spontaneously out of the preaching that inclined or directed the individual to examine himself in the light of the Gospel. q.. I-'Ionks and Honasteries a. The Middle Ages The Hiddle Ages 1n1as the period 11hen the monastic orders came into being. Two orders are set forth for their contrast in extremes: the Franciscans and the Dominicans. T1,JO temperaments could scarcely have differed more 1fidely than the tempera.rnents of Francis and Dominic. Fra..YJ.cis Has the most unpretentious, gentle, and lovable of all monastic saints. Dominic r:ras cold, systematic, austere. Francis was greater than his order, and moved through his personality. Dominic 1Aras a master disciplinarian, and exerted his influ ence through the rules of his order. ·Francis had more the elements of a Christian apostle, Dominic of an ecclesiastical statesman. Francis mingled Hith the people and breathed the free air of the fields; Dominic, lingered in courts and served in the papal householdo Francis 1 .lifework was to save the souls of men; Dominic Is lifeH·ork was to increase the pO"tver of the Church. The one sought to carry the ministries of the Gospel to the masses; the other to perpetuate the integrity of the Catholic doctrine. Francis has been celebrated for the humbleness of his mind and lfalk; Dominic -vras called the haram.er of the heretics. 39

l Thus does Schaff contrast these tvw orders. He further sets forth the five outstanding characteristic 2 features common to both orders: (i) Absolute poverty. The imitation of Christ lay near to their hearts, and it remained for Francis of Assisi to realize most fully this pious ideal of the thirteenth century. (ii) Devotion to practical activity in society (not flight to soli tude). They made open 't.Jarfare upon the 1-1orld. They preached to the common people. They relieved poverty. They listened to the com plaints of the oppressed. (iii) Lay brotherhoods. While continuing at their usual avocations, they were bound by oath to practice the chief virtues of the Gospel. There liJaS thus opened to laymen the opportunity of realizing some of that hi&~er merit belonging theretofore only to the monastic profession. Religion 1-1as given back to co1r.rmon life. (iv) Activity as teachers in the universitieso (v) Immediate subjection to the Apostolic See. No bishop, abbot, or general chapter intervened between the t1..;ro orders and him. However, it was Francis and his order, and not Dominic, vJho truly recaptured the healing po-vJer of Christ. 3 Schaff states that in 1209 Fra_ncis heard the Hords; Preach, the kingdom of heaven is at hand, heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils. Provide neither silver nor gold, nor brass in your purses. · He took its meaning as a literal command. He and any vrho might choose to join with him were to preach, but especially were they to exemplify the precepts of this Gospel co~mand

• • • • • • 1. Schaff, op. cit., pp. 380-381. 2. Ibid., pp. 381-386. 3. Ibid., P• 396. in their lives. Living Has the most important concern, more important than sermons and than learning. Learning, Francis feared, ~rould destroy humility.. A life of good Horks and 1 sympathies was what FPancis irJas seeking to emphasize. Schaff' says: The study or the career or Francis d'Assisi, as told by his contemporaries, and as his spirit is revealed in his o-vm last testrunent, makes the impression of' purity or purpose and humility of spirit,--or genuine saintlipess. He sought not positions of honor nor a place vri th the great. i:Ji th simple mind, he sought to serve his fello'tv-men by republishing the precepts of the Gospel, and living them out in his own example. He sought once more to give the Gospel to the common people and the common people heard him gladly. He may not have possessed great stength of intellecto He lacked the girts or the ecclesiastical diplomat, but he certainly possessed glowing fervor of heart and a magnetic personality, due to consuming love for men. He vras not a theological thinker, but he 1vas a man of practical religious sympathies to Hhich his deeds corresponded. He spoke and acted as one who feels full confidence in his divinely appointed mission. He spoke to the Church as no one after him did till Luther came.. He stands t,rell among those of all time Hho have discerned t~e meaning of Christ's words and breathed His spirit. But the discipline and apdor of monastic orders quickly passed a1rJay, in spite of the devotion of Francis of Assisi and other monastic founders. Simplicity yielded to luxury, and the spiritual devotion to sloth and pride. loJi th the rule of the priesthood came the loss of individual freedom and the right or the soul to determine its own destiny in the sight of the Creator...... 1. Schaff, op. cit., p. 397. 2. Ibid., p. ~-06 b. The Reformation Period By the time of the Reformation, monastic orders had fallen into such corruption and ineffectiveness that Reforn1ed Christianity rejected the orders both on theological and moral grounds. Nursing orders, the diaconate, church- related hospitals and training schools replaced the monastic orders. 5. Nursing Orders and the Diaconate

a. The ~fiddle Ages Human charity 1vas not de ad. St. Francis and Hugh of Lincoln kissed the hands of lepers. The Knights of St. Lazarus were entrusted by Louis IX ·t..ri th the care of the outcasts of society. Houses for lepers Here established in Engl·and by Lanfranc, Hathilda, Queen of Henry, King of Stephen at Burton, and others. Hathilda 1.rashed their feet, believing, that, in so doing, she vJas washing the feet of Christ. The oldest of the military orders, the Teutonic Knights, as well as othel"' orders, \fere organized to care for the sick and distressed. The crusades brought many of the religious nursing orders into existence. In response to the spread of leprosy brought back to Europe from the Near East, 11 lazarettos 11 (hospitals for the care of lepers) sprang up. At one time there were tvJo tho us and in J:i'rance and t1.ro 1 hundred in England.

• • • • • • 1. Sherzer, op. cit., p. 54. The Knights Hospitalers, the Order of Hospitalers of Saint John of Jerusalem, the Knights Te~plars, the Order of Teutonic Knights, the Hospital of Saint May of the Germans in Jerusalem, the Alexians, Orders of Saint Anthony, Order of the Holy Ghost, Sack Brethren and many others were ~mong the nursing orders. The Benedictines was one of the orders .for 1-vomen having as its special emphasis the nursing of the 1 sick and ministering to the needs of the poor. Van Buskirk states: The care of the sick has allv-ays been recognized as a vi tal .function of the church: but it appears to have tal{en the form of providing shelter and nursing, along with care of the hungry, the homeless, the unemployed, the naked, and all those in need. Christians .foQnded hospitals and homes, even for lepers. I;Jhen monasteries were established one of the vJOrks Has that of caring .for the sick and the orphaned. Some of the orders had this for their special task; and in time the 11 Sis ters of Chari ty11 li-Jere pledged never to refuse care of the sick no matter hot,f loathsome the disease or hovr dangerous. But all this seems mox•e of nursing and ministering to the sick rather than of healing. The practice of healing by prayer, by laying on of hands, by anointing, vras neglected but not lost; after the primitive church, healings vJere more often attributed to relics of the saints, or to shrines. Just as there are healings at shrines in our day, like Lourdes, thro~gh out the Christian era there have ahrays been healings. b. The Reformation Period

\~nile the office of pastor gre11 out of the Refor- mation, there was a lack of interest in nursing care causing many hospitals to close. St. Philip Neri founded the Roman Catholic Order of Oratorians for the care of strangers and

• • • • • • 1. Ibid., PP• 54-56. 2. Van Buskirk, op. cit., pp. 70-71. 43 the convalescent poor people. The order emphasized purity of' li:fe on the part of its membei's, no vo1vs needed to be made, and members could vd thdi'a1'11' at any time. St. Philip Has credited lvi th sp,iri tual healing, using prayer and the 1 laying on of' hands. The Society of' Jesuits contributed to the healing arts. St. F'rancis Xavier pioneered in missionary entex•prise and helped fight the plague using medical practices and cure by faith. St. Vincent de Paul vras organized; also the Sisterhood of' Charity and the Order of ·the Lazarists in Pariso These did not practice :faith healing but through care and charity and in the spirit of' compassion they did 2 their 'tvorko Nursing orders in the Roman Catholic Church multi- plied. The Brothers of Saint J"olm of God 1vas :fou..11ded by a Portuguese, Jua11 Giudad.· The Order of the Agonizants, Daughters of Saint Camillus and Daughters of Our Lady of' 3 JVIount Cal vary 1v-ere established. c. The Diaconate The beginning of the 19th century was a period of' horror and uncertainty. There Has abroadmuch moral laxity and spiritual stupor. A 1vave of revivals to counteract these conditions caused many people to turn to religion

• • • • • • 1. Sherzer, op. cit., p. 78. 2. Ibid., PP• 80-83. 3. Ibid., pp. 109-111. for assurance and security as they became aware of their 1 spiritual needs. vvork among the sick and poor was re-established.

Between 1820 ~nd 1845 four different religious leaders in Germany succeeded in re-establishing the diaconate. The Society for the Care of the Poor and the Sick cruue into existence. Usefulness and consecration wex>e requisites for membership. Pastor Theodor Fliedner 1.vas rekno1.v-11 for 2 the es tablisbment of his Kais.em-rerth institution. His idea spread throughout Europe and Amei'ica. There v.rere three kinds of deaconesses: (1) to care for the sick and the poor, and unmarried pregnant girls, (2) to teach and

(3) to do parish l·JOrk. His requirements were Christian character, healthy constitutions, consecration, 1.villingness to serve five years. In twenty-five years there were 3 twenty-seven institutions established. It Has in one such institution that Florence Nightingale received her training. As far as requirements were concerned:

She (the candidate) had to be thoroughly familiar 1d th Luther1 s Small Catechism and know the books of the Bible and Biblical History. In order to meet the spiritual needs of hex> patients, she must memorize a nmnber of Scripture verses and h~uns that are appropriate for the sick, the dying, and the bereaved. She shou~d also be able to sing some h1nuns that are comforting •• 4- d. Other Independent Orders

• • . . • • 1. Sherzer, op • cit., P• 115. 2. Ibid., p. 117. 3. Ibid., p. 118. L!- • Ibid., p. 119. Other independent ordel~s Here established such as

the Sisters of the Red Cross, Sisters of the Lazarus Cross.

They 1o.rere religiously motivated but not so thorough in

religious training nor so strict in supervision. They Here 1 large numerically.

In England, The Protestant Sisters of Charity

was established in 1840. This v-ras the beginning of nurses 1

training schools in connection ,;..ri th a municipal or secular 2 hospital. Even here the religious mot~vation Has not

overlooked. The first thoroughly religious nursing order•

in England v-ms at St. Jobn1 s House, in London, in 1848. The

nurses had to be members of the Church and of good Christian

character.

The H.everend \'I. A. Pas savant, an English Lutheran pastor, established the first Protestant Church hospital

in the United States in Pittsburg, Pen_nsylvania in 18~.8.

e. Dorothea Lynde Dix

I'1iss Dorothea Dix, a lay nurse, investigated conditions in poorhouses, prisons, insane asylu..ms and gave 3 much publicity to her findingso

f. Church-related Hospitals

An Association for \rtJorks of Beneficence was formed in Iowa Synod of the Luther~n Church for the purpose of

• • • • • • 1. Ibid., p. 120. 2. Ibid. 3. Ibid., p. 122. 46 instructing in God's lvora., founding an institute of healing, . 1 and training deaconesses. The Norwegifu~ Lutheran, Episco- palian, lVIethodis t, E'v~n.gelical and Reformed, l"1ennoni tes, Presbyterian USA, and Baptist churches all founded hospitals ru~d nurses training schools. Sherz~r states: Nearly all the major Protestant denominations, includ ing the Salvation Army and the Seventh-Day Adventists, have Church-related hospitals, and the motives for founding them were quite similarly altruistic. Reli gious principles, the desire to carry on the healing ministry of Jesus, concern for the poor sick and any who needed medical and spiritual attention ~vere the motives that prompted people to pioneer in the healing ministry in this age. The compassion of Jesus found an expression in the unselfish service, the consecra t~on, and sacrifice that started these institutions 01 mercy. 2 The Roman Catholic nursing orders and hospitals 'tvere being established in this same period. In 1809 the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, the Sisters of Nazareth in Kentucky and the Sisters of Loretto; in 1829 the Sisters of Our Lady in South Carolina were set up. From 18L1.0 to 1871 seventy hospitals 1-vere built or staffed by s1sters. In 1840 there v-rere four orders, in 1871 there 3 were seventeen. 6. Revival of Lay Literacy Despite a sad loss of discipline and growingly vocal distrust, there had come a marked enrichment of the

• • • • • • 1. Ibid., P• 122. 2. Ibid., p. 131. 3. Ibid., P. 132. 47

literary materials available for the cure of souls. Priests ·Here eqv.ipped to give spiritual instruction and this 1vas accompanied by the circulation of a great variety of lay-

ment s books of spiritual self-improvement. In this nevl attention to lay instruction lies the one great redeeming feature of the situation. Perhaps by 1500 about fifty per cent of the tmv-nsfolk and some other layfolk had learned to read. The revival of lay participation, lost since the

fifth century, opened the way to a nev.r appropriation of neglected elements of Christianity. There was great promise in this; but the promise was largely unfilfilled in the Middle Ages, and has been only incompletely realized in

modern Christianity. Layra.en were nov.r invited not only to learn but to share with one another the great concerns of the soul. There was the continuing use of the New Testament principle of fraternal correction. It was imperative that all must, under peril of mortal sin, correct his neighbor 1-vhen he does Hrong. Iv:Iutual edification thus had a recognized place before the Reformation in which it was to receive fresh expression. In some of the pastoral manuals there appeared a tendency toward the revival of these functions of NeH Testa- ment Christianity. Thus pre-Reformation lay Christianity 'functioned at its best in the vividness, simplicity and directness of these unpretentious compositions of the late 1 Iv:Iiddle Ages.

• 0 0 • 0 0

1. Iv:IcNeill, op. cit., pp. 160-162. 48

7. r:Iiscellaneous Healing Techniques

a. Anointing 1·Ji th Oil

Anointi4g Hi th oil for the healing of the body 1rJaS

practiced at the beginning of the IVIiddle Ages. By 800,

because the faith of the Church was at a lm-rer ebb, the mean-

ing of unction slmvly changed and >vas relegated entirely to

the forgiveness of sin, and Has used primarily as the final

absolution for the dying. In 1151 unction became one of the

seven sacraments of the Church. As late as 1718 an attempt

was 1aade to restore the practice of anointing "tvi th oil for

recovery from disease. The prayer used by the priest adw2nis-

tering the oil is here recorded:

0 Almighty Lord God, ~-rho hast taught us by thy Holy Apostle Saint James to anoint the sick 1-.ri th oil, that they may attain theii' bodily health, and render thanks unto thee, for the same; look down, ~re beseech thee, and bless· and sanctify this thy creature of oil, the juice of the olive; grant that those 1iJho shall be anointed therewith may be delivered from all pains, troubles, and diseases both of body and mind, and from all the snares, temptations, and assual ts of the pm·Jers of darkness, through our Lord Jesus Christ thy Son; v-Jho, with thee and the Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth ever one God, world 1'\Ti thout end. Amen.

In strong contrast is this sadly 1rratered doHn petition found

in the Prayer Book of today, reading: nGra.Dt that he may

take his sickness patiently and recover his bodily health, 2 if it be Thy gracious Hill. 11

0 • 0 • • 0

1. Weatherhead, op. cit., pp. 85-86. 2. Ibid. 49

b. Use of Relics and Shrines

The use of relics and shrines for healing purposes continued in the Homan Church.

(1) Lourdes

In 1858 Bernadette Soubirous, fourteen years old, had a vision of the Virgin l'Ie.ry. She sm,r the vision three times. Digging a hole, Nater came forth becoming a permanent spring. Another vision told Bernadette to instruct the prie.sts to build a chapel there. Following reports of miraculous healing, investigations ·t-rere made in 1862 and the authenticity was established. In 1872 the first big pilgrimage from all over France ~ras made to Lourdes. In 1876 a beautiful chapel was dedicated above the grotto. In 1901 the Church of the 1 Holy Hosary Has completed.

Healings do take place at Lourdes. Some skeptical physicians say that ninety percent of the cures are nervous 2 disorders. The proportion of the cures to the number of people T,vho come to Lourdes is very small.

(2) Beaupre

Similar to Lourdes is the healing shrine at

Beaupre begun in 1658. The circumstances and results are similar. Sherzer writes:

The healing principles are much the sru11e as at Lourdes. There is not, however, the strict medical supervision that is practiced at Lourdes. While the shrine is

• • • • • • 1. Sherzer, op. cit., pp. 135-139. 2. Ibid., p. 139. 50

Roman Catholic and there are priests in attendance -vrho conduct the Masses and the processions, it may be said that it is difficult to find any official pronouncement from Rome concerning its efficacy as a healing place. It is Hidely kno1rm, hmv-ever, as a healing center, a:.!'ld visited by many sick people each year who hope to find there the anm.rers to their prayers; and there are evid ences that many do. Again, as in the cures at Lourdes, there are those Hho accept them as miraculous, others Hho regard them as psychosomytic, and many 1,rho deny that the cures occur at all. (3) Practice in England In Engla:.l'ld, belief in the efficacy of relics and shrines, and in faith healing 1r1ere discarded as Roman Catholic 2 customs. Also the practice of bringing the sick to holy shrines v-ras discouraged. In their place the king was re garded as a healer. !!He put his hands upon them, and he 3 healed them. 11 Ho1r1ever, ~nll'iam of Ox>ange considered the practice a superstition and he 1vould mutter 1r1hen he did it: L,_ r:Nay God give you better health a..nd more sense • 11 Cromwell refused to do it and Greatrakes, a soldier, took his place. Between 1660-1682, 92,000 people were touched for scrofula. Queen Anne vras the last to practice the touch, thus terminat- 5 ing a practice of t1-10 hundred years. 8. Faith Healing Besides the revival of the diaconate and the institution of hospitals, significant Protestant leaders lvho believed in healing by faith made a vi tal contribution

• • • • • • 1. Sherzer, op. cit., p. 142. 2. Ibid., P• 88. 3. Ibid., p. 89. 4· Ibid., p. 90. 5. Ibid., p. 91. 51

to healing and the care of the sick during the nineteenth century. A German Lutheran pastor, John Christopher Blum- 1 hardt (180.5-1880), is probably the most outstanding. He devoted most of his time to personal interviev-rs ·-vri th people in stress and to a large correspondence 1-vi th those Hho Hr.ote 2 him for guidanceo He did not oppose the ministration of

physicians but felt he had a special gift .for discern~ng Hhether God -vwuld heal a patient or not. The pastor purchased an institution and dedicated it to Christian healing. One hundred and fifty patients could be treated there at a timeo Sherzer says: His institution became a haven for many sick, 1rrho came there .for a cure and left the place converted. There were daily prayers and teaching and the patients are said to have learned to love God and their .fellovJ men. The cures went on year after year until his death in 1880 •.• Pastor Blumhardt possessed a keen kno1.vledge of hmnan nature.and was far more interested in salvation of the soul than in the healing of the body of the patient. He was convinced that the former must come first. Iviost of his cures "l.Jould be r3cognized as religiously and medically authentic. 9. Healing Novements and Sects During th:e nineteenth and tvJentieth centuries a number of sects started in the United States of 1:orhich many emphasized healing. Notable among them 1-vas the United Society of Believers, knm-vn as the Shakers, the Christian :Hissionary Alliance and the Seventh Day Adventists. Their ......

1. Ibid~, p. 142. 2. Ibid., P• 144o 3. Ibid., pp. 143-lL~-· 52 primary aim 1-.:ras security for this life and eternity. fiiost sects served the needs of their time and vanished from the 1 American scene. Van Buskirk comments: Cures attended the rise of the c2uaker movement and of the Baptists in the seventeenth century; healings v.rere reported in the rvlethodist revival of the eighteenth century. Sporadic healing movements have been reported vri th increasing frequency throughout the nineteenth century and up to our time. Now the Federal Council of Churches reports in its bulletin that there is a religion 8nd health movem~nt of ecu1nenical character going on in the churches.

C. Summary

Al thoug.;l1. all means fop health and healing 1.rere used by Jesus Christ, there has been seen in the Hiddle Ages a separation of medicine from the Church "t-rhereas ivi th the Heformation there crune about a sloiv but certain acceptance of' m.edicirieo In the Middle Ages practices were instituted by the Church to implement its preaching and teaching and healing ministries. These practices and rituals Here set up as instruments of discipline. The confessional, penance, indulgences, penitentials sought to make effective the beliefs of the Church. As they became more complex and as the hierarchy of papal pm-rer grev.r, the Church abandoned the simplicity of the teachings of Jesus Christ and His spirit of compassion, and the healing ministPy of the Church reached a low ebb.

• • • • 0 •

1. Ibid. 2. Van Buskirk, op. cit., p. 72. 53

The Reformation period rediscovered the faith of the early Church and there came into existence practices in conformity Hi th the Nevi Testament. The Protestant pastor, with the help of the laity, recovered the spiritual balance. The monks and monasteries of the .iYliddle Ages recaptured the simplicity of the teachings of Jesus and through commitment to pover>ty, practical activity, lay brotherhoods, and teaching, they revitalized the Church. Hm·Jever, simplicity yielded to luxury, spiritual devotion to sloth ru!d pr>ide, and the discipline and ardor of the monastic orders passed a~vay. The nursing or>ders of the JVliddle Ages met needs of large proportion and carried within themselves the spirit of compassion of Jesus Christ. In the Refor>mation period the diaconate 1-vas r>e-established to minister to the sick and the poor. Of note was the v,rork of Pastor Theodor Fliedner and his Kaisemvorth institution. I1any independent ordex>s of the Reformation period, though religiously motivated, were not so thorough in reli gious tr>aining nor so strict in supervision. The investigations of lVIiss Dorothea Dix into pPisons and mental hospitals were most significant. Chur.ch related hospitals came into prominence during the latter part of this period. The influence of the laity is of singular import ance for it Has the awareness of the laity to their ovm 54 spiritual needs Hhich heralded the Reformation period. Lost since the fifth century, lay literacy proved a redeeming feature during the decades approaching the Protestant erao It vJas through lay Christianity that fresh expression Has given to Ne1,r Testament principles. The Reformation period laid responsibility upon the laity, closing the bridge between clergy and laity. Of the means used in the healing mission of the Church, anointing Hith oil demonstrated the misuse of New Testrunent practice. So ineffective did anointing with oil for recovery become that it 1r1as discarded in connection Hith healing and was relegated to the forgiveness of sin. The use of relics and shrines -vJill always hold a unique place in the Roman Catholic Church. The effectiveness of these instrm1ents for heaLing cannot be accurately attested but there will always be a small percentage of genuine cases of healing which v,r:Lll keep the hope sustained in the efficacy of this method of healing. Lourdes and Beaupre will always hold promise to the sick. John Christopher Blumhardt in the nineteenth century made a unique contribution in the area of faith healing, ministering effectively to his generation. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centL~ies a nmnber of sects started and served the needs of their time. Some have vanished from the scene. The contrast of the t1,vo periods, the IJfiddle Ages 55

and the Reformation period, point out the effectiveness of different techniques in dealing with the individual. The ecclesiastical life of the earlier period sho1,ved progressive deterioration illustrated in sacrrunental penance and its related. practices. T.he later period revealed the necessity of dealing 1...ri th man as an individual and of making his reli gion a religion of the heart. Luther's return to the simple vital principles of comraunion with God through Jesus Christ and fello1vship one vJi th another for encouragement and growth reiterates New Testament principles. St. Prancis in the earlier period exemplified this spirit of compassion and brought to light and life Jesus' Hay with men. CHAPTER III

RECE11TT DEVELOPlVJENTS Il\T THE HEALING l'EHISTRY 56

CIL.ll,_PTER III RECEI\fT DEVELOPiY.iENTS IN THE HEALING MINISTRY

A. Introduction

A survey made by a conrrrlttee under the sponsorship of the Comnrlssion on Religion and Health of the National Council of Churches of Christ in ffinerica will be used for the basis of the recent developrnents in the healing ministry of the Church within the established denominations. The study was made by Charles s. Braden, Ph.D. together 1-vi th tHo other com1ni ttee members: Dr. Carroll A. Wise of Garrett Biblical Institute, and Dr. H. B. Blakemore, of the University of Chicago. Out of Dr. Braden's long experience with the minority groups, almost all of 1'1[hich engage in religious healing, the question arose in his mind as to v-rhether the practice vras limited to these groups or

1-vas being carried on in the larger denominations. A question naire 1-ras 1.vorll:ed out and sent to a group of ministers in the Chicago region. This pilot study expanded to a nation Hide study finally reaching 982 ministers I,Ji th 460 returns, or L~6. 7%. This survey is being used for tHo reasons: first, it covers all denominations all over the COQDtry; secondly, it is as impartial a treatment of the subject as the ~nrri ter finds available. It is being used in preference to the writing up of several outstanding exruaples in the various 57 denominations as they would not be as representative or as revealing in their results as is this survey. Brief mention 1-vill be made of the 1A)'Ork of the

Co~nission on Religion and Health and the Council of Clinical Training in the healing ministry of the Church. Heference also will be made to hro magazines 1.rhich deal 1...ri th healing and reveal a Church-lvide interest in this aspect of the ministry of Jesus.

B. Study of Spiritual Healing in the Churches

1. The Plan Key persons in some thirty Hidely-scattered areas of the United States received letters from Dr. Charles s. Braden. One Has a covering letter explaining the study and enlisting cooperation. The second letter was a covering letter to accompany the questionnaire to be filled out by ministers selected by the key ministers. In all, 982 letters Here sent out and 460 replies were received, or l 46. 77b. 2. The Subject Defined

The subject uspiritual healing 11 v.ras defined as tthealing effected through other than the recognized methods of scientific medicine and those of the trained psychiatrist, i.e., healing VJrou@lt directly through religious faith in

• • • • • • l. See Appendix for complete findings of this study and letters and questionnaires sent. 58

1 some sense. 11 The returns revealed a recognition th.at all healing, 1...rhether by the scientific physician or the psychiatrist, is of God and that religion may play a very significant role, not apart from but along with the use of every available scientific and psychiatric technique. 3. The Findings Sunnuarized

3u.... 5;~6 of the respondents gave an unqualified 11 yes" regarding the results of spiritual healing. 54-.0?b responded with an unqualified 11 no 11 and 10.4% gave a qualified 11 no. 11

Braden reports:

As one sums up the categorical 11 yes 11 ans"t...rers, the qualified ''yes n answers, and the qualified 11 no 11 ansHers, he discovers that 206 or only a little less than 45% do, or have made some limited use of vJhat in the broader sense could be called spiritual heal:'Lng, or at least reported cases vrhich they kne1...r to have occurred either in connection 1-Ji th their own ministry or some other person 1.-Jhom they have known or v.ri tnessedo This is almost 21;,& of all 982 ministers to 't·Jhom auestionnaires were sent.2 •

Thus it 't-rould seem that as many as one fourth of all ministers of the larger denominations do resort to spiritual healing on occasiono 4. Area Findings

Dr. Braden pointed out the inst~nce of the area of St. Paul, Hinnesota, 'tvhere Glenn Clark has been a key leader. This area reported 63.6% healings. Next door, ,3 :Minneapolis reported only 17 .6%. 'dashington, D.C., reported

0 • • • • •

1. Braden Study, p. 2. 2. Ibid., p. 4. 3. See p. 5 of Braden Study for explanation. 59 a percentage of 53 .5%, Philadelphia 501b, and f.1ontana 48 .ljb. Thus it can be seen that the healing rllnistry is operative in all sections of the country and in both urban and rural areas. All sizes of churches responded. Ho·Hever, the city churches bore the larger percentage of healings. But this may be due to the fact that a greater nmuber of questionnaires t,rere circulated among city pastors. As to the economic level represented by the churches, in the lmi income group 11 healings were reported, 54 in the lo-v.rer middle group, 39 in the middle, and none in the upper class. 5. Variety of Diseases Reported Healed The largest number of healings Here of cancer, follmv-ed by heart trouble, paralysis and· tuberculosis. The diseases healed ~v-ere not confined to functional ailments only. But all diseases reported had been diagnosed by a competent doctor and medical attendance had been made for a longer or shorter period. About l2!7b of the total healings reported· vrere of mental classification. Among them were cases of spirit possession, extreme anxiety, hallucinations, neuroses, depression, frustration, abnormal fears, nervous breakdown, schizophrenia, neurasthenia, extreme nerve-strain, extreme melancholy, and nervous fatigue. All but one of the mental cases had been diagnosed and professionally treated. About half were hopeless of cure.. In all but three cases the cure 60 was reported permanent. 6. Iviethods Used to Effect Healing In all save one prayer 1rJas used. In addition to prayer, laying on of hands, anointing with oil, some type of Pi tual, affirmation, forgiveness, and other methods 1.vere used. It is interesting to note the effectiveness of these methods in non-mental and mental healings. Percentage-uise, prayer,, forgiveness, affirmation and laying on of hands were most effective in non-mental healings, i.vhereas in mental healings prayer, affirmation and forgiveness were the most effective healing techniques. 7. Age and Sex of Persons Healed A great majority were above 30 with a slOi.v steady decline to age 80. An almost equal number of persons of both sexes were healed, thus showing no decided disposition on the part of one sex toHard spiritual healing. 8. Classification according to Denominations The Hethodists reported the I(lOSt numerous prac tices of healing, 46. The Episcopalians folJLo1.ved with 19 hea.lings; Presbyterians 1~i th 18; Lutherans with lL,_; Baptists 1,-rith 7; Disciples with 5; United Brethren Hith 3; Congrega tional, Evangelical and Reformed, and Nazarene each with 2. 9. Permanency of Healings 80% reported the cure as permanent. Of 122 healings,

113 ·t-rere diagnosed by a physician. 0~ 121-t reported, 11~ received adequate treatment and 55 were hope~ess of cure, 20 apparently hopeless of cure, and 7 the doctor thought so. 61

Braden concludes: Apparently then, the far greater portion of the healings 1>1ere cases in liJhich either the patient or the family or the doctor considered the case rather hopeless, and yet the cases were reported healed.l 10. Initiative in Spiritual Healing

In ~_l~ instances the patient initiated the action Hhen spiritual healing Has attempted, in 39 instances the minister, 10 the family, 16 both the minister and the family and in .5 instances the physician,suggested ito 11. The Effect of Spiritual Healing upon the Ninister Of 92 responding, 32 said it 11 strengthened their faith,n 8 expressed !!deep gratitude, 11 7 were llhurabled, 11 4

~tvere 11 'tvakened to ne1'11' possibilities, 11 1 1'\l'as npuzzled, n 2 were

11 startled, 11 3 vrere 11 surprised. 11 Others reported such replies

as 11 a'tved, 11 11 challenged, 11 n stimulated, 11 11 inspired, u "walked

11 11 11 on air, thril'led, ll sense of guilt at not trusting God more, 11 "profoundly moved, 11 "determined to use it TtTi th caution, 11 and foul"' reported 11 no effect at all. 11 12. The Effect upon the Patient The majority reported that they were made more religious, four returned to the church, two joined the church, 14 ·were strengthened in their faith. Others reported ngood," !!deep peace, 11 ndeeper dedication. 11 13. Experience of other Illness Since One of the committee members, Dr. Carroll A. vJise,

• • • • • • 0

1. Braden Study, p. 10. 62 suggested the question as to whether the patient had experi enced some other form of illness subsequently. Out of the total of 90 answering this question, 69 said definitely that no other illness had occurred; 3 said nothing serious, 2 said there had been occasional slight illness, and 13 said definitely yes. A total of 18 said that some illness had occurred as over against 69 who experienced no further illness. lLJ.-• The Practice of Spiritual Healing a.mong Hinisters Of 115 ministers reporting healings, 17 said they had no other experience, 3 said ''none so definite • 11 28 of the ministers said 11 yes, 11 25 specified ttseveral, n 21 11 a few, 11 2 Hnot many.H Thus more than 5o% had been involved in more than one reported case. Almost 20~£ had several and an equal number had a fei.J. Based on the total number of respondents, just under 18% experienced :more than the one case of healing reported. To the question n'1vere your other healing experiences all successful?n eleven replied affirmatively, five said 11 some, 11 six said 11 many, 11 three ''nearly all.u 587S of a total of 89 said definitely "no.ll

I_J-4 out of 116 reported that they did not make a definite practice of spiritual healing. HovJever, ~-6, or a little over 39?s, said 11 yestt and 25 gave a qualified affirma tive reply. Thus it may be seen that 29% of 160 ministers practice spiritual healing in the light of ~J.~% VJho had at 63 least one spiritual healing. 15. The Preaching of Healing as an Integral Part of Beligion

Of the 124 ansHers received, 63 o 7fs gave an unqualified affirmative anst-rer, l:'lfhile a quarter again qualified their affirmative reply. Thus just under So;r~ of the respondents profess to pPeach healing as an integral paPt of Peligion. In Pelation to the 160 Peporting a healing this is just slightly less than 60%. To the question, nDo you think the healing ministry should be an integral paPt of the Pegular Hork of the pastor? 11

Lj_ said 11 no, n 92 11 yes, 11 Hi th an additional 15 qualifying their llyes. ll 7 v.rePe uncertain. Thus just undeP 80% of this group had no doubt that it should be an integral paPt of the regulaP 1-JOI'k of the pas tor. 16. The Possibility of a Seminar to Discuss Religion and Health In the opdeP of accents to the question "1rJould you be intePested in the :for-mation of a seminar of, say, half a dozen OI' more ministers of your area to discuss religion and heal th? 11 the follmv-ing results are recorded: Toledo, scattered, 16 St. Paul, 15 Rural ministers, widely scattere~ 14 Boston, 11 Portland, Oregon, 10 Denver, 10 Florida, 9 Washington, D.C., 7 17. Preparation Needed for the Practice of Spiritual Healing Regarding the requisite preparation for the prac- 64 tice of s.piri tual healing, some of the answers -v:rere: Thorough ground 1.vork in psychology Thorough grounding in psychosomatic medicine Appreciation of the "'rork of the IVl.D. Psychiatric training, clinical experience Study of God 1 s word and books related to psychiatry A thorough understanding of psychology and social pathology and lmvs of health Professional training in pastoral counseling Acquaintance Hith the best literature and experience in the field Study of the principles of healing Clinical training under supervision l\'Iany, hot-rever, stressed spiritual preparation: Great hurnbling of oneself Absolute purity and faith A mature prayer life Life in devotion to Christ Intense personal religious devotion and faith Complete surrender to Christ The gift of faith Self-giving, sparing nothing Pastoral psychology, but more important Biblical theology Complete faith and self-surrender Trust in God - it is not our faith - but His power that cures 18. Miscella.neous Conclusions of the Study' The general run of replies indicated that the practice of spiritual healing is fairly co:m.rnon and that the majol"i ty of those practicing it have their !I feet on the ground. 11 Also, it is not likely that the practice in the larger denominations Hill run into the exces·ses found in many marginal groups, ~J·Jhich often bring disillusionment to patients and bring Christianity intq disrepute. It t-ras fairly commonly felt that 11 Heligion should be concei'ned 1-vi th salvation of the !!£?.ole m.an, body, mind, and spirit, H that "Religion is prerequisite to mental health, 6.5 therefore to the ;;-.rhole, 11 that llThere can be no good health

1,.J"i thout religion. 11 One respondent expressed the hope that

11 eventually there 1vill be established in the church, a guild or order of healers composed of clergy, psychiatrists and physicians 'tvorldng closely together, it being taken for granted that all are deeply religious and desire to bring all available resources to .bear on the problems of religion. 11

This hope Has implied in many a shorter statement.

The reports evidence a substantial percentage of ministers in the larger denominations coming awake to the problem of health and the role religion can and should play in meeting the problem. \JIJi th some it is little more than a vague hope; ~vi th others - a fe1v only pei•haps - it is a major interest and they· are actively seeking to fulfill lrJhat they regard as the church's obligation in the matter.

Of the major denominations, the Episcopal clergy seem to be taldng the matter more seriously than the others.

Ha.ny churches are nm-J conducting regular healing services.

It is interesting to note that in every case advantage was taken of available medical skill., There vJas no disposition on the part of ministers to replace the trained physician, but rather to cooperate with him and to supplement 1-rhat he is able to do "L'I)'i th the resources of reli gion. The attitude that all healing is of God, and that He uses the physicians' skill or medicine to effect His purpose, as -v-rell as prayer and other spiritual means was emphasized· 66

c. Agencies Assisting the Church in Its Healing Ministry

There are two types of agencies serving the established churches which are endeavoring to inform and interest ministers concerning the healing mission. They are the Department of Pastoral Services of the National Council of Churches of Christ.in the u.s.A., and Clinical Training agencies. The work of each will be briefly stated.

1. The Department of Pastoral Services With the formation of the new National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. in 1950, the Department of

Pastoral Services with its st~~ding Commissions on Religion and Health, and Ministry in Institutions, has become a part of the Division of Christian Life and Work which has to a large extent taken over the functions of the former Federal Council of Churches. The associate executives connected with the work of this Department are now the Rev. Otis R. Rice and the Rev. Paul Tilden.

Some of the aims of the D~partment of Pastoral Services include! l. Encouragement of effective working relationships between doctors, psychiatrists, nurses, and clergy, through conferences, literature for each profession, and the interpretation of one profession to another. 2. Study and research on various aspects of the relation ship between religion and health. 3. Development of resource materials for laity as well as clergy on religion and health, including pamphlet literature, and feature articles for the church and general press; cooperation with the Department of Broadcasting and Films. 67

4. Development of a program for the churches in the field of mental hygiene, including such volumes as 11 The Church and 1>1Iental Health. n 5. Study and delineation of the practice of spiritual healing in the churches. 6. Education of clergy on pastoral work and personal counseling, through literature, regional conferences, guidance service to denominational and other groups; recommendation of leadership for conferences, seminars and other group meetings; bibliographical suggestions; promotion of clinical training, guidance to theological seminaries on curricula in the pastoral field. 7. Study of all types of chaplaincy service in institutions, including state, county, and local, mental, general, and other hospitals and institutions. The functions of the two Commissions encompass a number of program areas including: Religious Ministry in Hospitals, Education of Ministers for Worlc with Individuals, Fostering Cooperation between Physicians and Ministers, Fostering Cooperation between Religious and Non-medical Health Workers, Cooperation with Mental Health and Public Health Educational Activities.

2. Clinical Training Agencies Two of the major agencies offering programs of clinical training are the Council for Clinical Training, Inc., and the Institute of Pastoral Care. The Council for Clinical Training, Inc. came into being to provide a much needed period of internship and clinical study for seminarians to enable them to deal effectively with crises in the lives of individuals and groups. Starting in a general hospital, the program has expanded to include mental hospitals, pen2.l and correctional institutions. 68

The heart of the training program is the supervision of student-pastoral relationships. The student is responsible for a selected number of specified individuals but has the opportunity to become acquainted with a large number of patients in varied relationships. Careful records are kept of all interviews and at least one conference a week is held with the supervi'sor to discuss findings and inferences drawn. "Life History Studies 11 are compiled by the student and related to the ministry of the church. Lectures, seminary readings, and visits to special agencies working with people are included in·the student's program. At first the student is an observer until he becomes thoroughly oriented and then he is given opportunities for pastoral counseling. In like manner, the Institute of Pastoral Care with offices located in Boston supervises training of theological students in a number of hospitals and correctional institutions in various parts of the country. The most recent development in the clinical train ing movement has been the series of conferences called by the Pastoral Services Department for the purpose of coordinat ing, insofar as possible, the standards for the programming and accreditation of the work of the various clinical training agencies. 69

This movement offers students the opportunity to understand the deeper motivations behind people's problems and the reasons for their reaction to life situations. Thus, cooperation between medicine and religion assures keener insight into the wholeness of man and the needs for consideration of the unity of body, mind, and soul in ministering to his needs.

D. Magazines Two magazines which are directed to the healing aspect of the Church's mission are PA:::i'l'ORAL PSYCHOLuGY and RELIGIoN A:i>W HEALTH.

1. PAt>TOR.AL PSYC.tiOLuGY First issued in 1950, PAt>TORAL PSYCHOLOGY pur poses to bring to ministers some of the insights, under standings and skills of dynamic psychology, psychiatry and mental hygiene, in a way that has immediate and practical applications to the minister's work, and within the religious framework of the pastor's point of view. PASTORAL PSYCHOLOGY acknowledges a basic similarity between the profession of the ministry and that of the psychologist and psychiatrist--the goal of helping man to strengthen or re-discover his essential relatedness to him self, to his fellow man, to the universe and to God. This magazine believes that the pastor can make his ministry much 70 more effective if he has these sldlls and this knoHledge at his command.

AHare that mei'e 11 Peadingn "L~ill not do the job, but that only organized clinical training involving inten- si ve seminar 1-vork and including practice under supervision cEm achieve such a goal, this publication, ppoperly ox•iented, intends to serve the important function of stimulating ministers to s. realization of their need for further thought and training. Such knov-Jledge and skill can play a sip;nificant part in the minister's pastoral care, in his preaching, in worship, group irJork, in adrainistration, and activities of social outreach. In connection with other journals, PASTORAL PSYCHOLOGY believes there is in no sense any element of competition l~i th other publications: The PHOSPECTUS OF l PASTORAL PSYCHOLOGY state;:;~ THE JOUHNAL OF PASTOHAL CAHE and CLINICAL PASTOHAL HORK are excellent quax>terlies but they reach only a small and alx>eady a well trained group. THE PASTOR includes mex>ely a section on pastoral care in a larger magazine and reaches fe1,J but He tho dis ts. Thus PASTOHAL PSYCHOLOGY is geared to the l'"'eading and thinking of the minister who has not heretofore been reached to any extent by the books ~Dd periodicals in this field. The PROSP:SCTUS OF PASTOHAL PSYCHOLOGY by Simon Doniger Ph. D., Editor, visualizes the following· as material for a year's coverage:

• 0 • • • • l. See Appendix for PROSPECTUS OF PASTORAL PSYCHOLOGY 71

A. (1) A professional series under some such title as l'-1ethods of' Pastoral Counseling. (2) Another such series under some such title as The Application of' Dynamic Psychology to Church G-roup Hork.

B. A npersonal 11 series on the subject of' On Understanding Oneself' or The Minister as a Person. C. An integrative series exploring concreteJ.:;r the insights of' pastoral psycholo2,._y in relation to pi'eaching, coQnseling, church afu1inistration, group work, wor ship, devotional literature, social outreach and community organization as \.Jell as other offices of the church and the ministero D. A basic series on the specific areas of' pastoral counseling, through individual case presentations . covering the entire range of problems falling 1.Ji thin the minister's province. This will refer to concrete problems such as the f'olloHing: Premarital counseling l'IJ:arriage com1.s eling Counseling with the sick at home, hospital or institution Counseling Hith the aged Parent-child relationships Counseling i·Ji th the adolescent Sex e.duoation Counseling in the armed services Counseling with ·special groups such as labor, minority groups, etc. Counseling in problems of' grief' and bereavement E. Att€mtion will also be given to speci.§l:.d:. problems in helping: The Juvenile Delinquent rrhe Unmarried Hothex• The Adult Offender The Depressed Person The Homosexual, the Frigid or Impotent and other types of' personality disturbances i:Ji th 1AThom the pastor must sometimes deal.

F. An interprof'essional series in ~orhich a psychiatrist, psychologist and social worker Hill help to explore the relationship of the minister's job to the other 'helping11 professions--both in terms of' its positive and unique contribution as well as limitations. 72

Contributions by different indivlduals from the disciplines of dynamic ·psychology, psychiatry", education, .cultural anthi•opolog-y and social TrJork are contemplated. Such articles, 1-Jri tten by authorities in their respective fields, to have immediate relevance to the minister, 1~ill include: Emotional Facts in Adoption Neurotic l"Iarriage and Divorce The Implications of Psychosomatic Medicine for the Pastor Current Concepts of the I. Q. The Problem of JVIental Deficiency The Problem of Transference in Counseling Projective Test TeclLniques Play Therapy Techniques 't~dith·.Children The lVIinister's Role in Vocational Counseling 11 11 Psychological Insights into nLyingn, .A.lnbivalence , 11 11 11 11 11 "Defensiveness !I, Resistance , Guil til, Anxiety , 11 11 11 11 11 11 llDoubt , Prejudice , Sadismn, Masochism , 11 11 11 nsublimation ' Rationalizationil' Jealousyll' etc. It is hoped that, in addition to the im.rnediate and direct value of aiding the minister in his 1-Jork 1-Jith human beings, the journal may stimulate further thinking and Hri ting in this area, bringing about a really creative s~mthesis of religion and dynamic psychology, and in the end resulting in both a discipline and a literature that is uniquely the ministeP 1 s 01~n.

2. RELIGION AND HEALTH Of very x•ecent origin is RELIGION Alm HEALTH, first. published in February 1952, edited by Russell L. Dicks who is highly regarded in this field. Its purpose is to bridge the gap between religion and medicine. Dicks says of RELIGION AND HEALTH that it is prepared for laymen first, 73

and secondly for professional people:· religionists, physicians,

nurses, social "t-vorkers, etc. This publication was prompted

because of the steady increase of nervous and mental diseases,

the failure of the medical profession on the one side to

deal 1-vi th other than the symptoms of emotional illness and

the t-vi thdra1-val from the field of health by the established

church.

E. Stanley Jones vJri tes concerning RELIGION AND

HEALTH:

Some years ago I dreruned of a place where the best in medicine and surgery, the best in psychiatry, and the best in Christianity might. come together and work as a tesm in producing a Hell-rounded heal thy type of hwaan personality. So far the drerun is still a dream. But I 1m glad to note that a step tmv-ard that goal, · namely the issuing of this magazine called RELIGION AND HEPLTH, is being taken. I welcome it wholeheartedly. In the capable hands of Dr. Russell L. Dicks it should fill a gap in the Christian movemento It should bring into the center ivhat has been in the cults, on the margin. If the Christian answer is a total answer-- and I believe it is--the health of soul, mind and ·body is an integral part of the ans'tver. RELIGION Af,TD Hfi:ALTH -v-rill me·et a need--a crying need.l

The contents of a typical issue of RELIGION AND 2 HEALTH folloHs:

Religion and Health · tHngate IVf. Johnson, M.D. ~·!here Are the Chl"'istians Iviedical Social 1rJork ~fhen to Send for the Pastor •••~f.L. Lanier and R.L. Dicks Adult Children Can Grow Up~ •••••••••• Helen Toner The Person in the Patient • • • • • • • • Helen K. Herkimer HOi-J to Live with Higraine Headaches. lfJal ter C. Alvarez,It'I.D. God Wills Health for All ••••••••••••Earl D. Weed

• • • • 0 •

1. RELIGION AND HEALT'B, February 1952. 2. Ibid., July 1952. 74

How Old Are You? ••••••••••••• John B. Oman What and When Is Health • • • • • • • • • • .Anonymous It's Guidance They Cry For ••••••••• C.T. Ryan The .Alcoholic, the Psychiatrist and the Minister .Angus Randolph, Ivi D Faith is Catching •••••••••• Charles L • .Allen Sill~ouette-Johann Sebastiru~ Bach • • Russell L. Dicks Religion, Healing and Health Book Condensation James Dale Vru~ Buskirk, M D

E. Summary

Dr. Braden's study revealed significant facts in the healing ministry within the established denominations. 1. There is a healing ministry in all the major denominations. 2. There is a recognized need for more to be done in the way of preparation and extension of this ministry. 3. There is no conflict but rather cooperation between religion and medicine in the fulfillment of this ministry. 4. It is an undiscovered area of activity in the life and work of many ministers in the various denominations. The two health agencies working in close cooperation with the Church in her healing ministry evidence the growing interest and concern of physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, and others in the common area of healing of body, mind, and soul of man. Both agencies represent an inter-professional approach and thereby substantiate evidence to an ever widening awareness of the established churches in this field. So also do the two magazines mentioned, P.ASTORA£ PSYCHOLOGY and RELIGION AND HEALTH. The response to these magazines testify to the interest in and need for further 75 enlightenment in the healing ministry of the Church. Recent developments, therefore, point toward the realization that such a comprehensive ministry has been neglected and that there is a real need to bring it back ~ . into the fullness which it enjoyed in the days of Jesus Christ and His disciples. SU}fiV.lARY AND CONCLUSION SUI',TI1.A.RY AND CONCLUSION

A. Summary

From the brief study of the healing mission of Jesus certain factors illumine this phase of His ministry. JVIen of all sorts and conditions sought Jesus; not only the sick and the weak and the lowly, but also the 11ell and strong and the pot-lerful. In no instance did Jesus fail any one who can1e to Him. The healing and restoration of each individual were in direct proportion to that one 1 s faith in Jesus. In all instances ~oon recovery the individuals and others direct ly concerned gave praise and honor to God, thus indirectly recognizing Jesus' divine nature. In most instances recorded in the four Gospels, individuals besought Jesus. Only in a feH instances did Jesus go to individuals. There are also recorded instances of healings taking place a distance away from the scene in 1:1hich Jesus' help 11as soug...h.t. Jesus used all means at His disposal to restore health and healing. Jesus' own life attested the fact of God's 't-fill to health for all. There is no instance recorded of Jesus' being sick, although there are instances of His being hungry, thirsty and tired. Thus Jesus spoke and acted 1.ri th authority in His ministry of healing. The pmver evidenced in this phase of His ministry stemmed from (l) His own sublime trust in God as the source of life and the determiner of the destiny of man, ( 2) .confidence in Himself as the herald of the Kingdom which is opposed to the forces of evil and

76 77 all that hampers human beings, and (3) the fa:tth of those 'ltJho appealed to Him for deliverance. Jesus' lmoHledge and love of God as His Heavenly Father surpassed that of any of the prophets before Him or any folloHer after Him. The disci})les and apostles of Jesus follo"tved His example. As their faith grevJ, so also did their power increase and they caused many to believe in God through their healing ministry. HoHever, as the early company of followers decreased, so a~so did much of the warmth and fervor of the Church's pOi;.rer. To strengthen itself, the Church introduced pagan practices and ~rituals to inspii'e &,Teater faith. The Church as smned an authoritarian attitude over her folloi:Jers thus replacing the individual life-giving experience. The pastoral function of the ministry became neglected and abused. The simple lists of sins gave place to a detailed catalogue Hhich had to be systematically checked and over come. The liberating pmver of the Gospel gave way to the element of authority in the guide and in the Scriptures. Jesus released the energies of the Kingdom in His ministry of healing. The Church often left these energies untapped, resulting in a pov.rerless and ineffective healing ministry .. In the periods of the Hiddle Ages and the Refor mB.tion, the simplicity of the Gospel message -vras complicated by an ecclesiastical structure erected to meet the demands. of Christian disci-aline and vJas forced, in the latter period, 78 to return to the Ne1tJ Testament simplicity. Of significance in the earlier period 't·Jas the divorce behv-een the Church and medicine. Ho'\j<.rever, the Heformation planted seeds of reconciliation betHeen these tHO healing streams of God.

The Middle Ages attempted to meet the spiritual needs of the people through such techniques as the confes sional, penance, indulgences; i..rhere.as the Heformation aban doned the confessional and many of the other methods in favor of a re·turn to a ministry to individuals and Chr'istian community in keeping Hi th Ne'lj<.J Testament teaching and practice.

In the abandonment of the confessional, the Protestant pastor came into prominence. The role of the Protestant pastor also countered the absolute po'tver of the papacy 1'>fhlch reign ed supreme in the Niddle Ages.

Of the mon.'ks of the lvliddle Ages, St •.Francis 1vas most outstanding in exemplifyi1'lg the life and spirit of

Jesus. In direct contrast to him was the scholarly and stat(:11Y Dominic. Hany nursing and religious orders came into existence during the Hiddle Ages in an endeavor to recapture, in an unsophisticated -vmy, the compassion of Jesus for the sick. In the Reformation pex•iod, Pastor Theodor Fliedner' s

;/wrk Has of particular importance in connection 1'1}'i th his

KaiserHerth institutions. D1-1ring this period the diaconate

'tvas re-established, and later there Has the ·institution of

Church-related hospitals founded on the compassionate prin ciples of Jesus. 79

Because of the spiritual poverty of the people during the Hiddle Ages, the lay movement received consider able impetus and laid the foundation for the strong emphasis on the responsibility of the laity during the Reformation. Such techniques as anointing Hith oil, laying on of hands, shrines and relics 1-vere continued through these two periods. In the earlier period, because the faith of the Church had reached a lo·H ebb, the efficacy of these instru1nents in the healing ministry of the Church ·Has great ly impaired. The Reforn1ation restored the first two of these techniques. P8ith healing received its start in the mid nineteenth century and has continued to this day through sects and cults, many of which serve a need and then pass av-ray. Currently, the ministration of Reformed Christian ity in the area of healing is enjoying a quiet but certain re-birth. The study made by Dr. Charles Braden indicates an morakening to the potentialities in this field. viTi thin the Church there are indications that a healing ministry is in process. It is v-ridely scattered and includes all major denominations. It reveals a desire to increase and be made more effective. The potential has been discovered and efforts are being made to recapture and solidify it. This situation is further aided by the recent publication of two journals created to meet this need:

PASTORAL PSYCHOLOGY and RELIGION .AND HEALTH. The first has 80 ru11ong its readers ministers, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and others interested in religion and depth psychology. The latter is geared for the laymen first. The increase in the number of readers of both magazines givesevidence of a need being met. The Council for Clinical Training and the Commis sion on Religion and Health are the channels providing the impetus on a nation-~vide and church-tv-ide basis for qualified leadership. Both serve as hruLdmaidens in the service of the Church in its important function of healing. Thus, it may be seen that there is a healing ministry in all the major denominations today; that there is a recognized need for more to be done in the way of preparation and extension of this n1inistry; that there is no conflict but rather cooperation bet"t

B. Conclusion

In conclusion the Hriter desires to express her own convictions on the subject. There is, has been, and always will be the healing grace of God 1vorking in the regular channels of corporate worship, small prayer groups, cell groups, and other gatherings vJhere there are people 1tJ'i th similar interests and concerns. Such groups continue 81

to re-discover the pmver of intercessory prayer. Thus,

1.vi thin the various fon:ns and functions of the Church there

is the power to heal. One of the most convincing examples of this the

1vri ter Has privileged to experience in a visit to the Fourth

Presbyterian Church in Chicago. The pmv-er arising out of

the spiritual terumv-ork of the four ministers, though very

different from each other, uniting them in a unity of

spirit, '!rJas almost visible. The boys' and girls' 'toJorkers

·Here both consecrated, hap:py Christians ministering to the

total needs of their groups. The deacon's assistant -vras

a saintly young 1-voman of whom any church would be proud to

boast. She visited the sick and needy who came to the

attention of the deacons.

The whole staff of Horkers -- clergy, administrator, secretaries, clerks·, engineer .:.._ all met for daily prayer

before the day's Hork began, each taking his turn to lead.

The task of the Church and all its workers is a

single task, as Fourth Church conceives it, and so the

clergy and other trained workers, secretaries, business

administrator and engineer meet each 1'1onday morning to re

view the program of the past week and preview the progrsm for the forthcoming week. l·H th such coordination and

understanding of the Church's task it is no wonder that this church holds such influence and that its spirit is so

contagious, even to a stranger happening into its environs 82 of a Sunday. The splendid response in attendance to its m&J.y groups testify that needs are being met there in a unique TtJay which only the Church can meet.

The writer can also testify to the healing chap~els to be found in church-related schools, colleges and hospitals where Christ-centered persons teach, administer, and live in quiet but steady dependence upon God. They m-raken faith and love in discouraged and fearful souls. In penal and correctional institutions miracles of belief ta."ke place Hithin the lives of the inrnates that turn them from defiant, fear-ridden individuals to cooperative, trustful men and women. Through spiritual group therapy, in such a setting, lives are being completely re-oriented, and men and 1,vomen are returning to society willing to assurne responsibility where once they 'tvere a menace to society. From this study of the healing ministry of the Church the following conclusions present themselves: 1. There is a deeply and widely felt need for a quickening response on the part of Reformed Christianity to meet the challenge of physical, mental, and spiritual suffering. 2. Such a ministry is an integral part of the total program of the Church and is not relegated to any specially commissioned individuals but rather to all ministers in the Church.

3. The evidence of history confirms the fund~1ental character of this healing phase of the Church's ministry in 83

that it is rooted in experiential kno1,rledge of 1'\l'ha t God can do for man and therefore authoritative in nature. This has a direct and vital effect on the other two imperatives of Jesus: to preach and to teach. Lr.. The healing ministry o.f the Church exacts of the minister an ever-deepening spiritual experience of God likened only to the experience of Jesus in His compassion for the people of His day and His sanctifying Himself for their sakes. Such experience goes beyond the practice of medicine, psycho logy, psychiatry, psychotherapy. 5. Ho1>Vever, the fields of medicine, psychology, psychiatry and psychotherapy stand today as cooperating and c1J.allengine

agencies, essential in the task of restori~g the healing ministry of the Church to its proper place. 6. As the spirit of compassion in Jesus was provoked by the sufferings of the people of His day, so through the ages there has been a continuing ministry of healing by those,

too few in number, vrho felt this sa111e compassion and v-Jho,

lvi th no psychological technique but through their communion vri th Christ , by His power healed the sick. 7. Essentially, healing is effected by means of spirit or attitude, rather than technique. The therapeutic poHer of love is God-given and God-inspired, not man-engendered. 8. It is not a solitary discipline but is effective only in the company of believers; in otll..er Hords, it is not effective outside the Church. 84

9. The Reformed Christianity has a bounden duty to release this latent phase of its ministry and so fulfill its total responsibility as stev.rards of the v.rhole Christia...n faith. It has been a satisfying experience to the 'tvriter, in making this study, to discover those periods in the Church's history vJhen this aspect of Jesus 1 ministry 'tvas lost and later

1.-Jas recovered and that, in these crucial days of human history there 1vill come, by the grace of God, healing of men and nations. BIBLIOGRAPHY BIBLIOGRAPHY

A. PrimaPy Sources

·Bible. AmePican Revised Version.

B. Secondai'y SouJ>ces

1. Books

Boisen, Anton T.: The Exploration of the Innei' \tJoPld. Willett Clark & Co., Chicago, 1936. Bonnell, John Sutherland: Pastoral PsychiatPy. Harper and BrothePs, New York, 1938. Psychology for Pastor and People. Harper and Brothers, New York, 1948. Bonthius, Robei't H.: Christian Paths to Self-Acceptance. Kingt s CI'OV>m PPess, New YoPk, 19L!_8. Braden, Chai'les S.: They Also Believe. The Macmillan Company, Nev-J York, 19)-J-9. Varieties of AmePican Religion. ltJillett Clarke & Co., Chicago, 1936. ButtPick, George A.: PrayeP. Abingdon-Cokesbury ?Pess, Nev-J York, 19L~2. Cabot, Richard C., Dick, Richard L.: The Art of Einister ing to the Sick. The l''lacmillan Company, Nm,J York, 1936. Elliott, Harrison S. and Elliott, Grace: Solving PePsonal Problems. H. Halt & Co., New York, 1936. Hastings, John: DictionaPy of the Bible. Charles Scribnepts Sons, NeH York, 1904. Hiltner, Seward: Religion and Health. The IVIacmillan Co., Nei,T YoPk, 19U.3.

85 86

Holman, Charles T.: Psychology and Religion for Everyday Living. The Hacmillan Co., Net-J York, 19~-9

Homrig...h.ausen, Elmer G.: Choose Ye This Day. The ~V"estminster Press, Philadelphia, 1943. Jung, Carl G.: Psychology and Religion. Yale University Press, NevJ Haven, 1938. Kemp, Charles F.: Physicians of' the Soul. The }1acmillan Co., Ne;;..r Yo:>.."k, 19~-7.

Kunkel, Fritz: '1;1Jhat It l!Ieans to Grm~ Up. Charles Scribner 1 s Sons, Ne1..J York, 1943. Creation Continues. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1947.

In Search. of' lVJ:aturi ty. Charles ScJ'ibneP 1 s Sons, NevJ York, 19)~-3. Liebman, Joshua L., Ed.: Psychiatry and Religion. Beacon Press, Boston, 1948. McNeill, John T.: History of' the Cure of' Souls. Harpers and BrothePs, Ne~V York,l941. OliveP, John Rathbone: Psychiatry and Mental Health. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1932. Rogers, Carl R.: Counseling and PsychothePapy. Houghton Mif'f'lin, Boston, 1942. Schaf'f, Philip: History of the Christian ChuPch. 1rJ"m. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Nich., 19~-9. SherzeP,. Carl J.: The Church and Healing. The vJ"estminster Press, Philadelphia, 1950. Stolz, Karl Ruf': The Church and Psychotherapy. Abingdon Cokesbury Press, New York, Nashville, 19~-3. Taylor, HaPry Hilton: Faith lVIust Be Lived. RaPper and BrothePs, New York, 1951.

TozeP, A. \rJ.: i.rlingspPead (Albert B. Simpson). CentenaPy Edition, Christian Publications, Inc., HaPrisbuPg, 1943.

1veathei'head, Leslie D.: Psychology, Heligion and Healing. Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, Ne"t.J York, 1951. 87

Van Buskirk, James Dale: Religion, Healing & Health. The Macmillan Co., New York~ 1952. Worcester, E., and McComb, s.: Body, Mind and Spirit. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1932.

2. Pamphlets and Periodicals

Pastoral Psychology. Pastoral Psychology Press, Great Neck, New York. Religion and Health. Piedmont Press, Greensboro, N. c. Review or Religion. Tillich, Paul J.: The Relation of Religion and Health, Columbia University Press, New York, 1946. APPENDIX APPE~TDIX A

Definition of 'health' as given by Hasting's DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE.

1 Ivr:EDICINE Health, the state in 1r.rhich the bodily functions are perfectly discharged is, according to Sirach, the great est of earthly blessings (301~ .• 16). The word occurs 15 times in the OT (AV), but ip, different connotations. It is used tHice as the t~. of Ul'?'Ll shalom, referring to material prosperity, ( Gn ~_J2b 2 S 209); but here it is replaced by 1well 1 in the RV. Thrice in Ps 'health' in the old sen~e of 1-Jelfare is the rendering of n~~~~ yeshuah (4211, 435' 672; in the first two places RVm substitutes 1 help 1 ) • Foux· times11::J~I~. arukah (prop. the new flesh that forms on a wound) 7 is· tr. 'health,' but t healing' is better ~so RV, as in Is 58,8 and RVm in Jer. 3017 336). In Pr 3 6 1 health' in the ordinary sense of the word is the tr. offl~i'\.~"1 riphuth; but in Pr. ~_22, 1218, 1317, 1624 and Jer. ·8"15, in Hhich 1 health1 is used metaphorically, the Heb. is X~f]'~ marpe (in the last ref. RV renders 1 healing 1 ). In the NT 'heal tp. 1 occurs t-r,,rice: Ac 2731~-, where it is the tr. of. vyf.d.C.c ~ Vvv··' • The ble§sing of health was regarded as a reward of service (Is 58 ) , or ~ovi thheld on account of sin ( Jer 815 · 22). In both OT and NT the popular belief is referred to, that diseases are penal in their origin, inflicted by God on account of sin.either personal or parental (Jn 92); and coming sometimes directly from Him (Ex l-1-ll, Dt 3239), or from Satan when permitted (Job 27), or by the agencies of other ~piri ts, as those of durabness (Nk 917) or foulness (lVlk 9 2'). Diseases m~ght also be caused by envy on the part of others (Job 5 ), and the power of the evil eye is referred to in I S 18 9 as well as in the Talmud (Shabbath 67, Pesachim 112, etc.). They might also come as conse quences of gluttony, of drunkeru~ess, of vicious or self indulgent practices (Sir 3730.31), but even in these cases they were regarded as coming by God's direct interposition. Therefore healing was a divine token of forgiveness; God was the physician of His people (Ex 15 6 ), and it was their duty to look to Him for relief: hence Asa's sin in seeking to the physicians (2 Ch 162).

0 • • • • • 1. John Hastings: Dictionary of the Bible. Vol. III, p.321.

88 89

1 HEALTH This word has become greatly narrowed in meaning since 1611. Now restricted to the state of the body, it then expressed also the condition of the soul, the relation to God of the whole person. Hence in 'Norning Prayer, 1 'We have left undone those things which we ought to have done, and we have done those things which we ought not to have done, and there is no health in us,' which has retained its place since the Pr. Bk. of 1552. But in the Communion Service, 'health' of 1604, 'And as the Son of God did vouch safe to yield up his soul by death upon the cross for your health,' is tound as 'salvation' in 1162. So we find in V.Jyc., Ac 282 'Therfore be it knm-.ren to you, for to he then men this helth~ of God is sent'; and in Tind. (as well as in ~'Jyc.) Lk 19 'This day is heal the come unto this housse.' Cf. also Erasmus, On the Creed, p. 40, 'The first degre (=step) then into helthe is Credere deQm esse (id est) to believe that there is God.' This is the meaning of 1 health1 in Ps ~_2ll !t-3.::> 'Hho is the health of my c.)>UlJtenance' (Hyc. 1 the helthe of my chere'). The Heb. is 7l_!::'!ll1~, ivhich is trd 'salvation' in Ps 621, Is 561 (Syc. as us~al.'helthe,' Cov. 1 savyinge health 1 ), and elsewhere. In Ps 622 the word is used of the person, 'He only is my rock and my salvation' ( 1 saviour, ' which is Cheyne's trn in Ps ]_j_2ll 435; RVm gives 1 help 1 , which is Coverdale's word). Again in Ps 672 'That thy ;,.-.ray may be knovm upon earth, thy saving health among all nations'; 'saving health' stands for the same Heb. word (Hyc. 1 helthe 1 ; 'savynge health' being from Coverdale, v;rho uses the phrase in other places, as Is 518 'But my righteous ness shal endure for ever, and my savyinge health from generacion to generacion'). But 'health' was often used in a still wider sense, denoting the prosperity or safety of a person or a place. As expressing 'safety' it occurs in Ac 2734 'where fore I pray you to take some meat: for this is for your heal th 1 ( o-wTr,p{.(t. RV 'safety'). Cf. Ae 2720 lfJyc. 1 Sothely nether sunne nether sterris appering bi ino dayes, and tempest not li til schelvinge nj_gh, nov.r al the hope of oure heel the 1-vas don av;rey. '

0 • • 0 • •

1. John Hastings: Dj,ctionary of the Bible. Vol. II, p. 317o APPENUIX B

STUDY OF SPIRITUAL HEALING IN THE CHURCHES Charles S. Braden, Ph.D. STUDY OF SPIRITUAL HEALING IN THE CHURCHES Charles s. Braden, Ph. n.

This study grew out of a request by the Commission on Religion and Health of the then Federal Council of Churches that a local committee in the Chicago area consider the whole subject of religion and health, and try to get some graduate students interested in studying some li~ited aspect of the subject. The committee, consisting of Dr. Carroll ~. Wis~, of Garrett Biblical Institute, Dr. W.B. Blakemore, of the University of Crdcago, and myself, talked the matter over and considered various aspects of it. My own experience with the mino~ty groups, which almost all engage in religious healing, had led me to wonder whether the practice was limit ed to them or was being carried on in the larger denominations. This wonder had been increased when a very prominent minister of a large suburban church told me of a case of rds own- related in one of the lettewwhich was sent out to enlist help in the project, and to be found herewith a tt:whed. I suggested that it might be worthwhile trying to find out the facts. They agreed, so I worked out a questionnaire, discussed it with my colleagues on the committee, and sent it out as a kind of uilot study to a grouo of ministers in the Chicago region. The returns were to all of'us quite sur prising ani indicated that a nation-wide study ou~ht to be made. A small subsidy of ~lOEl was granted by the Commission on Relicion ~md Health of the Federal Council larg~ly to cover uostage and I undertook to make the study.

Sonewhat out of my particular line as an historian of religion, I think I might not have offered to make it, had I even guessed the amount of my own time and that of my part-time secretary which would be consumed by ' it. But, once committed to it, there was no turning back, and so the study

was•, made. " -It involved getting names of key persons in some thirty widely scattered areas of the United States, and securing their cooperation to the extent of being willing to mail out the questionnaire, with a persona+ letter accom panying, to from twenty to fifty ministers of the major denominations, roughly in proportion to their denominational strength in the area. It was hoped thus to reach a good cross section of about lOCr ministers of the whole country. Finally, we succeeded in getting 27 different persons to agree to help. Two apparently did not mail out their questionhaires, for we received no returns from their sections of the country. I am deeply grateful to Rll those who gave of their time and interest to the study. ·

Attached to the report are copies of the letters to key persons, the questionnaire, the covering letter to accompany it, ann a srunule of the kind of a letter some of the loc~l men sent along with the questionnaires. The questionhaires, with letters alre:=tdy enclosed in envelopes, togethe.r with a return uostage envelope a0dressed to myself, for the return of twe question n<'l.ire, were sent in a oackage to each key pereon who had then only to enclose his own personr:1.l note, address, and mail., They were already stHmoed. The· extra labor involved in my o~ of~ice i~ so preP:=tring the mRterials oaid off, I think, in the high percentage of returns.

The returns were still coming in when I made a tentative renort a year ago. Lack of time and other oersonal factors h-·we ma~e it imryossible to clo ns nuch as I would hP.ve likecJ with the mAteriRl~ I present here the final tabulations of the study and some running comments on them. A graduate stu- - 2- dent interested in the subject, Rev. Ray Neiser, has been given the use of all the material gathered thus far and will make it the basis of a thesis for the Master of Art.s degree in Northwestern University. I thin.lc a copy of this can be made available for the files of the Commission if so desired. At least it will be on file in the libraries of Northwestern University and Garrett Biblical Institute, where it may be consulted. Thereafter all the material is at the disposal of the Commission, if anyone desirffito check fur ther upon it. I personally think some follow-up of some of the cases rePorted, for Which I cannot possibly give the time, might be quite fruitful.

The most serious problem raised by the questionnaire in the minds of r esnondents was the definition of the term "spiritual healing" itself. We struggled not a little over that matter - Dr. Wise, Dr. Blakemore, and myself - and probably we did not get the most satisfactory possible definition. We did, by the term "spiritual healing," for present purnoses, mean "healing effected through other than the recognized methods of scientific medicine and those of the trained psychiqtrist, thRt is, healing wrought directly through religious faith in some sense." To a number of those who received the ques tionnaire the definition seemed to set religion over against scientific heal ing as though there were no relationship between them. Again and again we had called to our attention that all healing, whether by the scientific physi cian or the psychiatrist, is of God and that religion may play a very signi ficant role, not apart from, but along with the use of every available scien tific and psychiatric technique. It was not, I need not say, the intention of the Committee to draw a sharp line between the~ for a great many who answered the questionnaire evidently got whRt we really meant to say, ann they renorted cases specifically inwhich the ministry of faith, cooperating with that of scientific medicine, was effective in producing healing.

A few seemed to think that we meant only spectacular healing and many disclaimed their ever having bRd any such spectacular results, but did allege a habit of practicing spiritual healing in a broader sense, and sometimes very effectively, both with the physician, and after the uhysiciA.n han anparently failed.

Now for the final report, first in tabular form. It will be noticed that the first percentage column is the percentage of the total number sent out which were returned. Probably two of the key persons did not send out their questionnaires at all, so tmt the returns from ministers who actually received them shou1rl be slightly higher than given. There was a great unevenness in the returns in the various areas, ranging from?. 5% to 73. 3. The one group re ported as lOOIJb was given out in a class at Garrett, and so is quite different from the ones mailed out.

The other percentage columns are that of the number of healings in pro nortion, not to the number sent out, but to the total number who rePlied. In the commenb.rv on the table, the proportion of healings to the total nUI!lber sent out is indicated, but there seemed little point in figuring this for each separate areA.. AREAS

• Boston 27 671.2 7 7 26 15 5 20 74 • Chicago (New) 11) 11 25.5 2 2 9 9 • Chicago (old) 24 16 66.6 3 6 9 6 1 7 Da.U.as 30 12 4o 5 5 41.6 6 1 7 58.4 Denver 40 23 57.5 10 10 4'3.4 8 5 1) 56.6 30 16 53.3 2 1 3 18.7 11 2 13 81.3 Durham 15 6 ~~ 3 3 50 .3 3 50 • Florida 4o 18 45 6 1 7 .39 10 1 11 61 • Houston 4o • Los Angeles 4o 16 ~J 5 5 31.3 7 4 11 68.7 .• Madison 30 22 7.3. 3 4 4 18.1 12 .3 15 81.9 3 • Mir;neapol:1Js 3') 17 56.6 2 1 3 17.6 12 2 14 82.4 • Montana 4o 27 67.5 13 13 48.1 13 2 ll.. 51.9

Nashville 30 15 50 . 2 2 4 26.~ 11 11 7.3.4 • New York 4o 25 62.5 9 1 1( 4o 1.3 2 15 60 Philadelp:b.ia 4o 18 45 7 1 8 50 9 1 10 50 Portland. 30 18 60 9 1 lC 5lJ.5 5 2 7 38.8 1 Rural (1) 4o 22 55 4 1 5 22.5 16 16 72.7 1

St. Paul · 4_'1 22 55 14 14 6.3.6 5 .3 8 36.4 San Francisco L{'i 17 L,2. 5 4 4 23.5 8 5 13 76.5 • Tacoma 50 23 46 4 4 17.4 17 2 19 82.6 • To1ed~ I 5f 9 18 4 4 44.4 5 5 55.6

Toledo II 30 18 60 5 1 6 .3~ • .3 11 11 12 M.6 • Washington, T•. C. .30 15 50 7 1 8 5 '3 • .3 5 1 6 46.7 1 • Rural (2) 2:3 23 100 .3 .3 13 20 20 87 • Utah .3 7.5 .3 .3 100 • Miscellaneous .3 1 1 2 2 • Total • 992 460 46. 7 142 18 160 JL •• 5 24B 46 294 63.9 6 - 4-

The table shows that a total of 982 questionnaires were sent out to 27 different key persons who had agreed to distribute them for us. Two areas returned no questionnaires at all, leading to the probability that theywere never sent out. We sent only one follow-up letter and have made no further check on these two - largely for lack of time. Of these q82, 460 were returned, an unusually high percentage, 46.7. This was no doubt due to the personal letter of the key persons who sent them out in ef-lch R.rea. The average return in questionnaire studies is about one third, while this approached the half mark.

On the 460 who replied, 142 gave an unqualified 11 yes-" answer to the question, "Have you ever as a minister attempted to perform a spiritual healing?" Eighte8n qualified their affirmative answer somewhat. ThRt means that 160, all told, have hRd such experience at least once. This is 34.5% or a little more than one-third of all those who responded to the questionnaire and 16.2%, or almost one in every six, of the 982 to whoo questionnaires were sent. If, as is ' probablcr, 70 of these never reached ministers at all, then the Percentage of the 912 is 17.5, well over one-sixth.

Of the 460, only 248 gave an unqualified "no" answer to the question. This is just under 54%. Forty-eight, or 10.4% of our resPondents, qualified their negativ~ answers. Their qualification was something on this order: " ••• if you meA.n this ••• No "and then they would go on to allege either personA.l practice or very definite knowledge offue use of religion in attempted healing, usually trxough the method of counseling, or s]mply prayer with the specific design to heal, which is re:!l.lly to sA.y th..ve known or witnessed. This is almost 21% of all 982 ministers to whom questiJnnaires were sent. That, I trQnk, is rather a striking figure.

Now whA.t would hvebeen the answer of those who did not resPond? Obviously9 no one can know that certainly. Would the percentage of the non-resoondents have been somewhat similar to that of the respondents? I am going to venture a guess ••• that had all of the ministers responded, the percentage of the 11yes 11 answers would have been considerably higher than that actually recorded. This is only a guess but I base it on a little checking among people in the nearby ~rea who did not respond. My theory is that most PeoPle who took a categori cally negative attitude toward it answered in a larger percentage than other ~~se simply because it entailed less effort. They were specifically urged to reply even if their answer was a negative one, ano the negative answer implied no effort save that of writing their name, church, answering on or two easy questions, and 11 no 11 to the main question. A positive answer, on the other hand, meant the use of not a little time and then called for A. substA.ntial descrip tion of a case in which they had engaged in spiritual heA.ling. Knowing my own ~articular habit on receiving questionnaires, I can easily iiDRgine that a lot of them are still on ministers' desks awaiting an oPportunity when they will find time to answer properly.

In confirmation of this, I spoke to one personal friend in my local commun ity about the questionnaire I h"d sent. He said, liMo, I haven't sent it back - 5- but I h~ve practiqe4 ~piritual he~~n~ ~n some occasions," and he p~eeeded to tell me a most interesting o::tse. ! as!Sured him it wasn't too la~:e to write it out and send it in and he promised to db so. It has never arrived. I think that would probably be the eXperience of a great many exceedingly busy ministers. I spoke to another very eminent mini. ster again in my loc~l area who said frankly he hltc'!n' t answered because he harln' t hac1 time. But I said, "Have you ever prac ticett spiritual healing?" and after dis cussirg what was meant by the term, he s aio, liYes, I have, 11 and told me a specific instance. Now, would the experi- enc.e of a.great many others be similar? I for one believe thA.t it wou_ld be. If there had been half the percentage of healings among those who did not an swer as among our actual respondents, the total number would h~e reached about 251'1, or 25.4%. That is, it seems wholly probable th::tt as many as one-fourth of all ministers of the larger denominations do resort to spiritual healing on occasion. This is, I think, rather a surprising figure. I confess that I am myself surprised.

The table tells for each area the p&rcentages reported. It mA.y not be without significance that in the St. Paul area the percentage,of healings was 63. 6. Glenn Ol::trk,- ·known for the Camps Farthet't Out, and for his own belief in and practice of healing, was my key person and he may have sent question naites chiefly to ministers of his own acquaintance, as most other key persons did, and so included :m undue proportion of those who sympathized with his· own beliefs and uractices. It is interesting that Minneapolis, just next door, reuorted only 17. 6% as h:::~.ving done any spiri tMl healing.. Washington, T'.G., with 53.5% heA.lings, anc'! Philadelphia,with 50% stand next in percentage rank of healings, but Montana, lA-rgely rural or small town ministers, fell only a little behind with 48.1~. A widely scattered group of rural ministers registered the lowest percentap,e of A.ny group, with but 13~ of those reporting having done any soiritual he::tling. See further the spread of healings according to the size and locA.tion of the churches on pages 5 anr. 6. I h::tve often wished, when it was too late, that I had included a question as to the educational attainments of those engaging in spiritual healing. If there is any correlation between the educational background of the minister ~nd the size of the church, it seems likely thAt itwas not, chiefly, the men in the lower educational brackets who have pr::tcticed healing by spiritual meAns. Some interesting facts emerge as one summarizes the answers to the vA-rious questions of the healing questionnaire, for examule: In what kind of churches did the heRlings t~ke place? Were they the poor churches, the little churches, or did these occur in all kinds of churches? The results show the following: That out of the 160 cases of reuorted healings, 29 took pl::tce in aity churches with a membership between 200 and 500; 27 in city churche~ between 50~ and 1000; and 4 in churches of like size in small towns. The next lRrgest number reuorted r;ras 13 in city churches from 1000 to 1500 membership, and a like num ber in small-town churches of from 200 to 500 membership. This gives a total of 42 out of 160 or slightly more th~n 25~ in churches between 200 and 250 mem bership, but there were healings in churches of ::tll sizes. In city churches of less than 200 membership, there were 11 healings. In small town ::tnd coun try churches under 200 there were 3 others, mAking 14 in churches of this size. There was but one healing reported in any church under 100 members. As to the lA-rger churches, there "1'19re 10 healings in churches between 1500 A.nd 200C mem ~rs, 9 in churches with more than 2000 members. It is cle::trly to be seen that h~alings occurred in city churches more than otherwise, but this may be due to the fact that a greater number of questionnaires were circulA.ted among city uastors. To-divide the healings into only two g.r-oups there were in churches -6-

under 1000 membership, 89 healings, or 56~. In churches of more than 1000 membership, there were 32 or 20%. A substantial number did not answer the question. That is, substantially more than on~half of the healings took place in churches under 1000 in membership and 61, or 38~, in.churches with 500 to 1000 members. The total of all those under 500 was 59, or just under 37%.

As to the economic level represented by the churches where he~lings oc curred, only 11 were in the low income group; 54 in the lower middle group; 39 in the middle group; and none at all in the upper class. This latter fact may be of some interest. \Vhy should no he~lings have occurred in the several, though not numerous, churches of this class from which rePorts were sent in? Dominantly, it is in the middle class and upper middle where the great number occurred, a total of 104 counting, 11 of which were said to be ml'lde up of the upper middle and upper income classes.

DISEASES HEALED - STJ..IIMA.RY

On tabulating the variety of diseases reported healed, I found I had listed sixty-four which were different enough to note separately. On closer examination many of these fell into broad general classes. It was interesting to note that the l~rgest number of physical healings were of cancer of one kind or another; of the lung~ three; of the spine, two; of the mouth, one; duodenal, one; of the bone, one; and just cancer, otherwise not specified, ten; or a total of eighteen all told. Did the patients really h~ve cancer? In almost every case the informant declared that the diagnosis had been made by a competent doctor and that there h~d been medical attendance for a longer o~ shorter period. One case of cancer of the lungs had persisted two years, had been properly diagnosed and treated by a physician. After the healing, which· consisted of laying on of h~0s, some ritual, and nr~yer at a healing service, X-ra.y tests disclosed th

Wbat shall one make of such reports? These are not anonymously given. Nor~e they the more or less spontaneous testimonies given in a nublic meet ing, where one t s enthusiasm, perhaps ~>timulated by other testimonies, m:l;ght. lead him to exaggerate his statements, but they are written st::~.tements, _made deliberately, in reply to specific questions, and signed. The vrriter has these and hundreds of cases of all kinds in his fiJ_es. Lack of time and mane::- has made it imPossible to make a nersonal check on the cases renorted, but there is no reason why someone might not do so. At the very least, there are reuorts of what minsters firmly believe has lmnpened as a result of their ministry of healing. -7- But to go on with the summary; heart trouble is a close second among the healings. Fifteen cases were reported. Now, heart disease, or reart trouble is of various kinds. Sometimes the particular variety is specified, such as coro nary thrombosis, or rheumatic heart. In the case of the coronary thrombosis, the

patient, a man of 5C 1 had been so diagnosed and. treated, but he was hopeless of cure. He was healed. through prayer, the renort states, and lived six years. In the case of the rheumatic heart, professionally diagnosed and treated, the p~tient w~s hopeless of cure, but through the use of prayer and. affime.tion, immediate improvement was registered and in three weeks, the patient left the hospital. She lived for a year and a half, when there was a recurrence of the difficulty and death ensu eel.. She was apparently given a year and a half longer life through the

ministry of healing. Most of the cases renorted healed were p2rmanent1 though four out of the fourteen seem not to have been so. But in every case there was a substantial prolongation of life. Only two of the four cases renorted as tempo rary experienced a recurrence. of the same trouble. Five cases of paralysis were reported healed. One tWkyear-old child was seized with infantile paralysis according to a physician. On the narents' initia tive, the Presbyterian minister in a mid-western city prayed for the chilo and talked with the parents. He reports a complete and permanent cure with no muscu lar impairment. A Methodist minister in the same area renorts the case of a woman of 55 years of age, whose case had been diagnosed and treateo by a physician, but who was hopeless of cure. Group prayer was the method employed and the result was permanent recovery. From the nation's capital, A Metho0ist ana a Lutheran pastor each reports successful permanent healing of a Paralysis case. Neither case was described in detail. Four cases of tuberculosis were renorted as healed. One was by a Methooist minister in a western city (Denver). The patient had been in bed a year and a half, haCl had adequate medical treatment, but despaired of recovery. Through p:rayer an<'l laying on of hands, it was reported, he recovered immei'!:lately and in two nays was at workl The recovery from tuberculosis was pe.rmanent, but the pA-tient suffered from heart trouble later on. The minister renorts that this was but one of many heRlings. Anoth'!r minister, again a Methodist, in a southern city, renorted the cRse of a girl of 19 who hA.d been in bed for six months, treated by a medical practitioner, and hopeless of cure. She took the initiative in requesting spirit ual healing. By use of prA.yer 9 anointing, and laying on of hRnds, she was healed. The next morning the pain left her and she arose out of her bed. The healing was permanent. In the list were several cases of pneumonia, two of spinal meningitis, two of arthritis, and several of stomach ailment, just wmt kind not always indicated, e:lr cept in one case, ulcers; another was nervous stomach. There were three cases of al coholism, two of brain clot or brain hemorrhage, two severe burns, several crushed or broken bones as a result of acci0ents, two malignant throats, ann a wioe scatter ing of single renortec'l cases of such nisaases as croup, yellow .iRunc'lice, kiilney trouble, varicose veins, broken ear drum, concussion, rupturec'l anoenilix, intestinal blockage, diabetes, influenza, Malta fever joint diseRse dropsy, infestion, chron ic asthma, mastoid, shoulc'ler pains, excess:r.ve2 bleecling after1 chilo birth, etc. It is clear that according to these renorts sniritual healing is not confined merelym functional ailments. Not a few of these are definitely organic in ch11.racter. · As might be supposed, a consider.,ble number of the healings woulCl h.·we to be classified as mental, Rnd here the informants are on safer ground, for Rlmost no one doubts the effectiveness of so-called snirituRl heRling in such cAses, Some 20 healings, about 1~% of the total, were of this kinn. They Rre variously rescribed as snirit-po~session, extreme anxiety, hallucinations, neuroses, depression, frus tration, abnormal fears, nervous breakdown, schizoph\l:'oni"~, neurasthenia, extreme nerve-strA-in, extreme melA-ncholy, anCl nervous fatigue. As mif2'ht be exnecte0, the cases of the patient suffering from evil snirit possession hac'! not been medically diagnosed nor treated, but he recovereo permanentlyl On the other hRnn., all but one of the mental cases had been diagnosed and profesmonally treated. About half were hopeless of cure. In (continue~ next nage) -8- all but three cases, however, the cure was reported as permanent. In two cases other illnesses were reported as having occurred later. One had occasional 11 low periods."

Here it is of interest to know what methods the ministers used in ef-· fecting the cures. In every case, save one, prayer was used; in four cAses, laying on of hands; in two, anointing with oil; four employed some type of ritual; fourteen used affirmation; thirteen, .forgiveness; and only six used. other methods. What were the-se methods? Only two specified what they were. One was "counseling, 11 the other "listening." Might one not have expected counseling to anpear more frequently? Or were the cases too anvanced for this to be effective? It is understandable th~t bringing in the element of forgiveness might give release from guilt feelings which lay at the real root of the unhanpy mental condition. I am personally a little at a loss to explain the frequency of the method of affirmation. Possibly some light on this may come from the summary of frequencies of method used. in all cases renorted. Tabulation of the healing methods used. for all cases - the number, it will be recalled, was 160- is as follows: prayer, 117; laying on ofhands, 37; anointing, 26; rituals, 18; affirmation, 49; assurance of forgiveness, 57; and other methods, 24; in most cases not specified, though three did specify reading scripture, one listening, and one counseling.

If from these be subtracted the numbers ustng each separate method for mental cases, the result is: 98,33,249 14, 35, 44, 18. The percentages of the non-mental cases using each method (140) is ~s follows: 70, 23.6, 17~1,

10, 25, 31.49 12.8. While the percentage of the 20 mental_cases using each method_. is 95, 20,10,20, 70, 65 9 and. 31.6. Thrown into tabular form: MET"tiOD Total non- 'fo using Total %using mental each mental each

Prayer 98 70 19 95 Laying on of hands 33 23.6 4 20 Anointing 24 17.1 2 10 Rituals 14 1n 4 20 Affirmation 35 25 14 70 Forgiveness 44 31.4 13 65 Others 18 12.8 6 31.6 There is not a very close corresPondence of percentages in the use of any methods, but note the very large difference in the percent~ge of the ment·al cases using affirmations and forgiveness as healing techn1ques.

As to the ages of persons healed, there was a good spread. From 1 to 5, 4; 5 to 10, J; 10 to 15, 5; 15 to 20, 4; 20 to 29, 9; 30 to 39, 25; 4o to 49, 2n; 50 to 59, 17; 60 to 69, 16; 70 to 79, 11. A gre~t majority were above _3.') 1 89 all told while only Z5 were under 30. As to sex of the persons healed, it turned out tMt there was not much diPference, 51 healings of the male sex, and 59 of the female. What conclusion may be drawn from this I don't know, except th"'t about an equal number of men and women seemed to be benefitted by the healing mi ri stry. F'rankly9 I confessthat I exoected the women to be in larger proportion than men, though I am not sure why I exoected. that to be so. -9-

Classified according to denominations, the Methodists turned out to be the most numerous practitioners of healing. This may be accounted for by the fact that in two or three cases, the local representative who sent out the questionnaires was a Methodist, and mistook my directionsre to the desired denominational spread of the study, sending all questionnaires to Methodists. I regret this, but it cannot be helped. Out of 123 who re ported healings and also indicated their denomin"ltional affi J.iatioas.!+6 were Methodists. The next largest number, 19, were Episcopalia::1B1 Frasby terians followed closely with 18; then the Lutherans with 14; the Baptists with 7; Disciples with 5; United Brethren with 3; CongregA.tionaly Evangeli cal and Reformed, and Nazarene each with 2? and the 5 others were but one each.

Asked as to the result of the suirituaJ:, healing eXPerience, by far the 11 greater number reulied, nrecovery or "comnlete recovery11 ; some "immediate relief"; others, "gradual improvement"; a few "little improvement"; a very few "little change."

Were the healings permanent or only temporary? It may well be asked what one means by permanent. No instructions were given, so perhaps there is no uniformity in the meaning of the words as interpreted by the respond ents. Of.l25 who answered the questions- and a substantial·number failed to do so - 99, or almost 80~, reported that it was uermanGnt, or stated a term of years which I personally interpreted in that way. Perhaps I was wrong, but any case reported as having occurred as much as two years before the renort with no recurrence, I interpreted as permanent. As indicated elsewhere, two doctors insisted that the malady might rave been simoly dor mant, healed, but not cured, even for a still longer term of years. Several specifically indicated a neriod of four or even six years without any recur r ence. Six gave a qualified statement such as nto date, no recurrence, 11 without indicating the time lapse. Four were uncertain. Ten stated definite}y that the healing was temnorary. Two said 6 months had elapsed without re curren~e; one, eight months; one, a year.; one, fourteen months; one, "only a few weeks .. " These might of course, with the passage of time, Prove to be permanent.

Three questions were asked concerning the sick individu~l Rside from the nature of the disease. These were as to whether or not a physician had diagnosed the case; second, as to whether adequate medicRl tr~f-ltment had be~n given; third, as to whether or not the case was hopeless of cure. Answers to these were as follows: out of 122 wbo answered concerning the diagnosis, 113 said definitely yes, that a physician or nhysicians hnd mP..de the diagnosis. In several cases it was stated that two or more had so done, in at lenst two cases th'3.t the natient had qeen to Rochester, Minnesota, for diagnosis. Only seven answered no, t11r'lt it had not had proper medical diagnosis and two vere uncert~in. It would seem to i.."ldicate, therefore, that these cases were bona fide cases of illness of the sort discussed in the question, if the diagnosis of the physicians involved was to be trusted. That physicians sorr,etimes make rcist::tkes we are all aware.

I was discussing with two nhysicians within the week about this study, and told them of the number of cancer cases th.

well, he just did not have the disease he was supnosed to have. One ~f the physicians went on to say that of course the cancer might have become dormant or its growth retarded so that there seemed to be a cure. ''Well," I said, 11 some of them reported that after seven years there had been no recurrence of the disease. Had they not then been cured?" The reply was "not necessarily." They agreed that they might have been healed, but not cured. All this led to the consideration as to what one means by permanent or temporary healing.

Of 124 reporting, 114 stated that the patient had had adequate medical treatment. Only four said that they had not and six ~re uncertain. In reply to the question as to whether or n~ the case was hopeles~ of cure by any other means, 55 said definitely, "yes," 26 said "apparently 11 seven stated tra t the doctor had so thought, one said tlprobably. II That is, a total of 8.3 gave an affirmative.answer. Only 14 said definitely "no." One doctor said 11 no," and 16 were uncertain. Apparently then, the far greater portion of the healings were cases in which either the patient or the family or the doctor considered the case rather hopeless, and yet the cases were reported healed.

As to the question - "whose was the initiative when spiritual healing was attempted" - 44 answered, "the patient"; .39, "the minister;", 10, "the f11.mily 11 ; 16, llboth the minister and patient. n In 5 cases the physician sug gested it, and in one case some other person. That is, in a total of 60 cases, the patient either alone or with the minister took the initiative.

Then we wanted to know how the exoerience had affected the patient and the minister himself. The reaction onthe.Patient was in the great majority of c11ses that it 11 made them more religious, II 6.3, out of the totRl of 107 answering the question, or slightly more thA.n h11lf. Only 6 reoorted ''no chA.nge. 11 Four "returned to the church, 11 two "joined the church, 11 fourteen reported- 11 strengthened faith" and there were other scattering replies such as 11 good, 11 "deep peace," "deeper dedication," etc. Concerning the effect on the minister himself, the reolies were greatly -aaried. ·or the ?2 answering, .32 said it "strengthened their faith"; 8 re ported 11 deep gratitude"; 7 were "humbled" by the experience; 4 were "wakened to new possibilities." One said he was "ouzzledtt; two, "startled"; three · "surprised," and there were scattering replies such as "awed, 11 11 challenged, 11 "mimulated," "inspired," "walked on air," n~illed," "sense of guilt at not trusting . .God more, n "profomdly moved," etc. One "determined to use it with caution 11 and four rePorted 11 no effect at all." ' At the suggestion of one member of the committee, Dr. C~rroll 4.. Wise, we inserted the question whether the patient had experienced other illnesses since. Particularly in mental cases, Dr. Wise felt that it might be signi ficant to know whether or not the patient experienced some other form of ill ness subsequently. The reply on this question was as follows: out of a total of 99 answering this question, 69 said definitely thA.t no other illness had occurred; three said nothing serious; two said there had been occasional slight illness; and 1.3 said defimtely, yes, that other illnesses had occurred. A total of 18 said that some illness, slight or otherwise, h.qd occurred as over against 69 completely negative answers.

To discover whether ministers were accustomed to practicing spiritual healing in their ministry, the question was .,sked, 11 have you had many such experiences?" Conceivably one might be involved .in a single such exoerience - 11- and never have another. The answer_s were interesting. Of 115 persons who answered the questions, 17 said definitely "no"; and .3, "none so defini te 11 ; that i~ 1~% of the 160 who renorted successful healings. Twenty-eight said simply 11 yes," without giving any indication of the number in which they had engaged. Twenty-five additional specifierl "several"; 21 "a few 11 ; 2, "not manyn; 1, "a number"; 2, nvarious 11 ; 1, 11only two"; but one answered "over 4oo. 11 All these, a total of 84, or slightly more than 50% of the 160 who reoorted healings, had been involved in more than the one reoorted case. At least 30, or almost 20%, by their own reoort, had experienced from "several" to many healings, 28 na few, 11 at least. Or, seen in relation to the total number of resoondents, 470, just under 18%, had experienced more than the one case of healing reported. That is, a little less than one in five ministers among those returning the questionnaire h9. d had not simoly one experience - 24.4% had had the experience at least once - but repeated experiences of healing. In terms of the whole number of questionnaires sent out, 9.30, the percentage is 12• .3.

The question was asked "Were your other healing experiences all success ful?" To this, 11 renlied affirmatively without qualification; 5 said "some"; 11 six said "many ; three, "nearly a11 "; one renlied "25%"; and there were other scattering qualified answers. Fifty-eight said aefini tely 11 no, 11 which might well ~Bve been expected. Only 89 answered the question.

To question 8, "Do you make a definite nractice of spiritual healingln 44 out of 116 answering the question gave an unqualified negative reoly, and two~ qualified negative renlies. On the other hand, 46, or a little over .39%, gave an unqualified ·ttyes" answer to the question; and 25 a qualified affirmative reply. C0 nsic1ering the unqualified 46 affirmative answer~.s in relA.tion to the 160 ministers who reported healings, just under 29% profess to practice healing with some regularity. If the 25 qualified yes answers be added, making a total of 71, then the percent rises to. slightly more than 44% of the total number renorting at least one healing.

To the question, "Do you preach healing as an integr.

One hundred and eighteen ministers answered question 10, "Do :,au think the healing ministry should be an integral part of the regular work of the pastor?" Of these only four answered "no." Ninety-two gave an unqualified "yes" answer, with an additional 15 qualifying their affirmative reply. Seven were uncertaih. That is, just under 8f'% of this group had no doubt that it should be. In relation to all those reporting a healing, over 55% thought it should be part of the regular work of the pastor. This was slightly under 19% of all respondents to the S:;udy.

I had thought t~~t oerhaps some who did not report any healin~ experience - 12- night register an opinion on this point, probably in the negative, but the number who did so was negliW.ble. A small number of such persons did defi nitely answer 11 yes11 to the question, though they themselves did not practice it. But the number here also was negligible ..

Our final question, 14 WA.S "Would you be interested in the formation of a seminar of, say, half a dozen or more reinisters of your area to discuss re ligion and health?" We wanted to know if any substantial number were interest ed in a better understanding of the matter. Also we thought such replies might actually lead to the formation of some seminars where the interest was expressed and leadership available. Here is the result of our inquiry. Names of the persons in each area will be furnished the Commission if there is a desire to follow the matter further. Here we only indicate the number in each area.

Atlanta area, 5; Boston, 11, Chicago ; Dallas, 7; Denver~ 10; Duluth, 6; Durhaml, N.c., 3; Florida, 9; Madison, 3; Minneapolis, 6; Montana (widely scattered); New York, 3 positive, 2 qualified; PtiladelphiA., 9; Portland, Oregon, 10; rural ministers, widely scattered, 14; St. Paul, 15; San Francisco, 6; Tacoma, 6; Toledo, scattered, 16; Washington, n.c., 7.

It thus appears that there is interest in such a seminar in a number of centers, 1liJhRt does the Commission wish to do about the matter?

In the course of the study a great many cases were described in consider able det~il. Some of those will be of interest. Here is one from a LutherRn minister in an eastern city.

11 I c."lnnot say thA.t I hA.ve at any time directly resorted to sp~ritual healing except in the sense of directing the sick person's attention to the fact of God and the relRtionship of m~m to Him in the way of faith. I want to cite two in stances out of many in my experience where the fact of spiritual tealing was a factor. I got a call from these folks asking me to visit their father, who hA.o become very ill A.nd very little hope was given of surviN"al. I made the visit and fo:UoweC! the usual procedure of getting acquainted; learning the nature of Lis illness; having him express his feelings, etc. etc; then

some quotations from the Word of God •••• 9 prayer and benediction. In pronouncing the benediction, I always place my hand on the patient's head, always with the knowledge that it is not my blessing, but God's. I should mention thA.t before the benedic tion I ask the patient to join me in praying the Lord's Prayer. During this prayer I hold the patient's hand in mine. Two dA.ys later the patient was well. 11 Six months later I receive(! a call :from the same peonle. Their little girl WA.s at the City Hospital C ntagion '!Vard. She hl'l.d spinal meningitis. I WA.s t0ld that the doct;rs held very little hope for her recovery. I felt rather bewildered as I thought of ministering to a child of five. In speaking with the child I got no response. I took it that her throat was in flamed and so she :found it diff'icult to speak. Try as I might, I got no response to ;=my question. I asked her to repeat TNow I lay me down to sleen,' but no resnonse. I beoame emba~ rassed as she may never have b8en taught the prayer. I tried to help her sense the presence of Jesus, the Friend of children. Then followed a simole prayer, the Lord's Prayer, and the Benediction. How relieved I was when I had said good bye to hear the little girl recite the whole p:rayer, ;Now I lay me •••• 1 At our morning worship the next day I prayed a special prayer for her and asked my congregation to remember her in their daily prayer. The next day I was informed tr.a t the little girl would get well. A month later the parents came with their girl to a special service at which time they had the girl present a thank offering to one of our institutions. TIThe father stated so many times to me after that, 1You worked a miracle. t I told him it was no miracle on my part, but the 11 power of G0 d.

A Baptist minister in a mid-western city wrote of a case that occurred in his ministry. A young woman he had known in a former pastorate in an Oxford group circle was hapnily married and had two chil~xen, when her hus band felt it necessary to go to the Mayo clinic for diagnosis of an illness from which he suffered. Let her letter to the pastor describe the case: 11 They operated on rr.y husband Thursday•••• and removed what they could of the tumor. Then Friday he got the reoorts on the fixed sections ancl. the tumor proved to be the wildfire t;ype of cancer, for which they say nothing can be done. 11 0n Saturday, they had a consultation, and again on Monday and finally decided not to remove the entire bladder .

Then, writes the pastor: ''While there I received the enclosed letter which e xolains itself • His case was made an object of prayer by some of the circle that had at one time been so close. The counle returned home to await what would happen. After a short time instead of dying he gained ground. They returned to Mayo andhe was re-examinen. After the examination the doctors declared the cancer had gone. He is today a well man. 11 This kind of thing I have had happen rrore than once. I believe very firmly it was a healing by the Divine touch."

An Episcopalian minister in an eastern city reported a case healed which was clearly mental in nature. He sent the physician~ diagnosis of the case which was in part as follows: "I first saw Miss Smith June 1939 and saw her at varying inter vals up to the middle of June 1944. My diagnosis was 'depression with paranoid delusion- ha.llucinations.' From my history I shoul.o. say that this p~tient had been depressed when I last saw her on June 12, 1944. At various times she har'l suicidal tendencies and made a suicidal attempt in September 1941 by takinP.: an overdose of sedatives. "Her delusions included such ideas as the following. She thought that the church looked upon her with disapproval ~nn that the Rector and other members of the staff considered her immoral. For a number of years she thought t~~t the movie actor, Gary Cooper, was ~ boyhood friend of hers and was trying to get in touch with her and that the church prevented his doing so. At one time she thought th'lt this actor wanted to give her money through the church ~nd thA.t the church had prevented his doing so. Later she o.ecided that the movie actor friend was Walter Pidgeon, not nary Cooper. For several yeA.rs she felt till t there was a 'fr~me-up 1 in the church against her and that one Particular secretary was most in terested in having her removed from the ~hurch. She felt that sermons were at least occasionA.lly directed specifically ::o.t her. In 1941 she tolo me that for years some man ran across the roof at night andthen slid down the drain-pipe. In 1944 she said that men were trying to pick her un nn the street; and th<1t taxis stopped, that the door would open, trying to induce her to get into the cab. During the period in which I knew her she was in a sanitarium at leA.st twice, without lA.sting benefit. 11

He thought she had been studied enough to give a fA.ir diagnosis, she had had A.dequate medical trr;atment, but for some reason had never M.d shock therapy, so far as he knew. He did not regardher as hopeless of cure, he h.:1.rl mo~~ patients suffering like delusions and depression for ye~rs who were yet healed. - Her healing was effected through a special healing service held weekly in the church. The patient herself wrote supplementing the nastorts descriP tion of her case in part as follows: liThe gre.

Young man, in misunderstanding with wife, attempts to take his life. Shot himself. Bullet penetrated section of heart. Doctors held out no hope. Request for a minister. I answered call. Patient sure he was going to die. Had not been sleeping. After some talk I continued: nQuess you wouldn't <'lo that again, would you, Charlie?" 11No, I wouldn't, but I won't have another ch::mce, 11 he said. "I wouldn't say that. There are two things I want you to remember - First - you have a great God. who created you, who can heal you, who loves you anc'l who may, if you deeply Wish it, give you another chance. Second - you have 8~cellen~ doctors and nurses who are reaoy to do everything to ~t you well and make it possible for you to h'1. ve another chance. Do you believe that?" 11 Yes," he said, "I bel:ie ve it!" 11 Do you want that?" 11 Yes," he said, "I want it.n 11All right," I said, 11 we are now going to have prayer. Then I want you to go to sleep. I will come in again tomorrow to see you anc'i I will keep coming each d.qy until you get out of here." That is precisely what happened. I went each day. He finally got out. Now, when I was sent for, the doctors gave him only a few hours to live. At Easter, which came a few months later, I received him and his family into the church. Case 2 - Woman, age 38. Called from lunch to administer communion to wife of member of our church who was dying. Met doctor in hospital hall. "Is it so 11 serious, doctor?" I said. IIYetr, 11 he replied, " a matter of hours. I went in. The nurse was there. Before c6mmunion, I talked with patient. She was conscious and able to talk. !!Quite sick, a-en't you?" I said. "Yes, very sick, 11 she replied. 110ne of the interesting experiences in my l:i:ffe :1a :1 minister is in watching folks come into a hosPital sick, so very sick, even as you Are, anc'l then in a short time finding thA.t they go out in good health. " · IIThat is wonderful, 11 she said. -"'16-

nWell, I said, nthat is for you, too." 11 0h, I wish it were, 11 she replied. 11 Tell me, 11 I asked, 11 you have a little daughter, don't you?" 11 Yes, 11 she said, "She is just ten years old." "Just at the time when she needs you most, don't you thinki'" "Yes, she does.n "All right, 11 I said "Remember you have a great and powerful God remember the doctor and the nurses are doing everything to help. We are going to hue communion and prayer, then I want you to promise me that you will make a hard fight to stay ~ound for your husband and your daughter. You will do that, won't you?" 11 I promise, 11 she said. After communion and prayer, I promised to come in the next day. She promised to try hard to be there. She made a complete recovery. The doctor, meeting me subsequently, said: !!Well - I didn't do it. God did. According to my time schedule she should be in heaven now but instead she is at home and in good health. 11

Cases like these could be given in considerable numbers, if there were space available. On reading them over, one notes that in every case advantage h::1s been taken of available medical skill. There is no disnosition on the part of ministers to replace the trained physician, rather to cooperate with him and to supplement what he is able to do with the resources of religion. This is good. It is Proper. Over and over again the statement hA.s been mn.CJ.e thn.t all hPaling is of God, and that He uses the physicians' skill or medicines to ef fect ffts purposes, as well as prayer and other spiritual means. So long as this attitude is preserved it is difficult to see how other than good can come of a minister's use of spiritual healing in his ministry.

In the answers to questions 11, 12, and 13 which ha0 to ~6 not with specific cases of healing but attitudes toward sniritual healing, some very interesting observations and advices were inclucled. Here only a few sample answers can be given. Asked "What kind of preparation do you think is requi site for such a practice?" some of the answers were: "Thorough ground work in nsychology"; "thorough grounding in psycho somatic medicine"; "should be appreciative of the work of the M.D. 11 ; llpsychia tric trBining, clinical e:xperiencen; "study of God's wor<'l. ana books relateo. to Psychiatry"; "a thorough understanoing of psychology and social pathology and l::tws of health"; "professional training in pastoral counsel ing11 ; 11 acqu.-'lintance with the best literature and experience in the field"; "stuoy of the nrinciples of healing"; "clinicA.l trA.i'1ing under supervision"; all these and many more of the sort having to do with knowledge of the nA.ture of illness, etc. But there were many th:1.t stressed spiritual preparation: "Great humbling of oneself"; 11 absolute purl.ty anCl falthH; "a mature prayer life"; "life in cl.evotion to Christ"; 11 intense personal religious devotion and faith"; "complete surrenoer to Christ"; 11 the gift of faith"; "self-giving, sparing nothing11 ; "pastoral nsychology helps, but Biblical theology is more important"; "complete faith anc self-surrender"; 11 trust in God - it is not our faith - but his power that cures 11 ; anCI scores of others of somewhat similar nature were given.

To the question 11WhA.t kind of saf'eguards should be thrown about it? 11 all sorts of answers were given. One sA.id simply 11 none." Another said rrno publicity"; - 17-

another "every safeguard" without specifying any. One CleclaredthRt he feared regimentation, another that it should never be done for a fee. One cautioned, "Do not teach people they can all be healed of all their diseasesn; another that "God's will 're accepted, no matter what the result is. 11 Others said: "never attempt the work of an M. n. or a psychiatrist"; "remember that. the minister is not a physician hence not a nsychiatrist11 ; "a sane theology and full use of medical science 11 ; "no spectacular adver tising, patient initiative"; "Never, never put the burden on the nerson1s faith. The healer should take the blame for failure"; "Only qualified per sons should be permitted to practice,." One even -went so f::tr ::ts to say 110ne should be licensed both by church and state." Another de0lared: 11 It ought to be mA.de a normal service of the church, rather than a fanatical nractice"; still another, that there should be lfcareful s ureening of all practltioners - with seminA.ry and medical school approval.n While not all answers are at this level, the generA.l run of replies reveal thA.t while the practide of spiritual he::tling is fairly common, the majority of those practicing it h::tve their feet on the ground. It is not likely that the practice in the larger denominRtions will run into the ex cesses found in many marginal groups, which often bring disillusionment to patients and bring Christianity into disrepute.

The question "What suggestion do you have concerning the place of religion in health?" brought no new or stA.rtlihg answers. Fairly common was the feeling that "Religion should be concerned with salvation of the whole man, body, mind, and spirit. 11 Common also was the :IDea thA.t "religion is prere quisite to mental health, therefore to the whole." ·one nuts it strongly, thus: "There canbe no good health without religion." One resoonf.ent ex Dressed the "hope that eventually there will be est.

I thiru{ it cR.n be said that the Eoiscopal clergy seem to be tRking the matter more seriously than the.others. Not the least interestingresults of the study has been the discovery of the way in which some churches now con duct regul::tr healing services. A most interesting descriotion o.f what is being done in one of the Boston Eoiscopal churches may be found in the dio cesan magazine The Church Militrtnt for January 19?1. A nwnber of interesting publicA.tions l!R.ve been -received showing the profound concern of at least a segment of some of the leading denominations. I sug~est thR.t a useful ser vice which the Commi.sslon might perform would be the assembling of a library on spiritual healing wldch would bring together all of this mR.teriRl. I suspect that a brief article ruu in the denominRtioual Jourw'l.ls lotting it f • ..... - 1 -

be known that there is this interest would bring a substantial number of books and pamphlets, or at least the titles of such and where they could be purchased. Then it rr~ght cost a little money to nurchase at least the books~

If this report were not already too long, I would add the description of some of the rituals of healing that are being employed. But enough has been reported, I think, to make it perfectly clear that rel1gious healing is not being wholly left to the marginal religious groups; th~t there is a profound consciousness of the close relationship between religion and health, and a halting but real beginning is already being made by a not inconsider able number of ministers, fully conscious of their limitations, toward the fulfillment of that ministry. Wise direction should be given to these peo ple and probably the Commission on Relir:-ion and Health of the National Coun cil of Churches is the group to take the leadership in the matter. How they should proceed is not wholly clear, but I suspect thAt a major task is that of getting a safe consideration of any preparation for such a ministry in our theological semin.~ries. But that wouJ_d not be all. They could develop seminars in various centers for the study of the subject by interested, already functioning, ministers. Our survey reveals th::tt in a number of centers there is already a group of from 5 to 12 men who have indicated such an interest. Is there not here an open door of opnortunity which the Commission might well enter? How this could be done needs careful study, but I would person~lly suggest the possibility of employing a full-time, well-prepared person who could either lead them himself or seek out anry ' secure leadership. Since our study was only a samnling in any given area, it is easily pro b::tble tha.t there is a very substanti::tl nu1nber of ministers beside those who definitely indicated an interest in such 11. seminA.r. I could envision an annual reminar meeting for the Chicago area, either at Garrett or the University of Chicago, either during a pastors' week, or on a given day of the week over a period of one or two months. Rut this is something to be worked out by the Commission.

My task I now consider ended. This is my final reoort. r.et.-cer 'to !toy per.:J0:115 vo enlist their cooperation.

Northwestern University Evanston, Illinois Dear Fellow-Minister:

I have recently been named to a committee, set uo uncer the Commission on Religion md Health, of the Federal Council of Churches, to s tucly spiritual healing from every angle. An amazing amount and variety of' sniritual he~1ling goes on in the religious world, much of it widely publicized and "ballyhooed"; but probably there is also a great deal of it of w~ich the worl0 never heRrs. Although much of it takes place chiefly aJJ)ong the cults and smaller Christian sects, there is a growing interest in it among the ministers of the larger denominations, and. some of us believe that probably a large number of ministers now and then practice it.

A very distinguished ministerial friend told me recently that while visiting a long ailing member of his church, he felt moved to say to her: 11 In the name of the Lord, I say to you rise up and walk. 11 In obedience to his word she did so, and was healed. Was this only an isolated exnerience, or do other ministers practice spiritual healing also? It seemed like a good idea to try to find out. So we asked a number of representative ministers in Metropolitan Chicago to fill out a questionnaire similar to the one en closed. The results were so significant that the national committee re quested us to send it out to a selected group of ministers in some thirty different areas of the u.s.

You are one of the ministers shosen to receive the questionnaire. ~e very much hope that you will cooperate with us in the study. Even if you have never had an exnerience of spiritual healing, please return it with only a notation to that effect. That will give us a more accurate picture as to what Percentage of pastors do at times practice sPiritual healing. By the term spiritual healing we shall, for present nurposes, mean healing effected through other than the recognized methods of scientific medicine and those of ~he irained psychiatrist, i.e. a healing wrought directly through religious faith, in some sense. Any published summary of the rr.aterial gRthered will be made without dis closure of the names of those involved, either minister or patient, so that no one need hesitate to give information. · It is believed by some of those on the committee that the church in gen eral has allowed the cults, the charlatans, and secular scientific medicine to take over almost exclusively a very imPortant function with which the church ought to be deeply concerned - with which it was certHinly very much concerned in its earlier phases. Such a study as this might be of some help in the modern approach to this interesting and vitRl area of the life of the church in the modern world.

An early return of the questionnaire is requested. A business renly envelope is enclosed. 1 Sincerely yours, (Signed) Chas s. Braden Charles s. :&"aden Professor History and Literature of Religions Coverjng letter to accomPany questionnaire NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY Evanston, Illinois

November 29, 1950

Dear

I hope you will regard this letter as personal, although for economy rea sons it was necessary that it be mimeographed.

The Commission on Religion and Health of the Federal Council of Churches has set up a National committee to make a comPrehensive study of Spiritual Healing. Since you have been suggested as one interested in this area, I am writing to ask your cooperation in an inquiry as to what, if any, prActice of Spiritual Healing is to be found currently within the major Protestant Churches in America. We already know fairly well whRt the cults ::md marginal groups do. As a first step in the study we drew up the enclosed questionnaire and covering letter, which we distributed among a small number of selected minis ters in the metropolitan area of Chicago. Our report on this Pilot study to the annual meeting of the general committee resulted in their request that we make the study on a national scale. Accordingly we have chosen key persons in some thirty widely scattered areas or the United StHtes Rnd are asking them to coop0rate with us in getting information :from a relatively small number of representative ministers in their own areas. Specifically we are asking thR_t they: (1) select :from 25 to 4D ministers in their own areas to whom questionnaires will be send, (2) mail out these questionnaires accompanied by a brief personl'il note. This we hope will insure a much larger Percentage of returns than if they werA sent out from my &fice only. Using this method in my own community, returns were nel'lrly 70%; (J) droP one follow-uP card, if necessl'iry, to those who delay in resnonding.

We will assume all cost or mailing. We will gll'lnly send you .o:t report or the tabulated results o:f the questionnaires from your own loc::J_l arP.a, if you wish, and will see that you are advised, at leHst, of where the nublicl'ition of the final report is made. I very much hope you will be able to do this. The committee believes thAt there is a significant amount of soiritual healing going on within the church now. Knowledge of the actual facts will be an important consideration in fu ture studies in the general field of religion and health. I enclose terewith a stHmped, self-aodressed envelope for your convenience in renlying. I will appreciate hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

Cordially yours,

Charles s. !Taflen Professor History :=md. Literl'!ture of Religions QUTTISTIONNAIRE

Spiritual Healing in ~Churches

Name • ...... IJ • • • • • • • • • • AdCl.re ss • ••••••••• ~ •••••• do •••••••••••••

Denomination .• ...... 8. Local Chu..--rch • ...... , •

Approximate membership of your church•••• Check whether: City ( ),Suburban

( ), Small town ( ), Country ) ). Check which item most accurately r'lescribes the general economic level of your membershin: Low income ( ), lower mic10le

( ) , upper mior'lle ( ) , upper ( ) •

1. Have you ever, as a minister attempter'l to perfrxrm A. sniri tw:tl healinCJ"?,. •••• If you have ~ simnly 11.nswer ~' anr'l drop in the mail. It is quite as imoortl'lnt for this study to have negative as well as positive replies, Your answer to questions 11-lL.. would bo armreciated, but R.re not necessA.ry.

2. If you M.ve, please rtescribe in some detail at least one c<~se of spiritual healing in which you have engR.gec1, answering the following-:

a. Age A.nd sex of person.

:b. Nature of illness, 0 escribing the symptoms.

c. How long hafl he been ill?

d. H11.d 11. qu11.lified physicirm c1iagnoseCi the CA.se?

e. lhd the PA.tient h.Ft.il adequate scientific merUcal attention?

f. Was the person deenly religious before the healing?

g. Was he hopeless of cure by any other means?

h. Was the initiative yours or the patient's?

i. What method did you use? (1) Prayer

(2) Laytbng on of hands

(3) Anointi~ry with oil

(4) Use of some ritual

(5) Making of affirmations

(6) Assurance of forgiveness

(7) Other

j. What was the result? -2- k. Was it temnorary or permAnent?

1. What was the reaction of the patient? More religious, etc. m. How rti0 it react on yourself?

n. Has the patient iievelonecl any other illness since then? If so rtescribe s~nnptoms. 5. Have you ha0 many such eXPeriences?

6. Have they all been successful?

7. If not, how Dio the patients react?

8. Do you make a definite practice of sniritual healing?

9. Do you preach it ~s an integral part of religion?

10. Do you think the healing ministry shoulcl be an integral nart of the regular work of the pastor?

The primary interest of the ::tucly is in the first ten questions, but answers to the -:remaining four will"1)"8"warmly anpreciate~ ------"- --'------11. What kinc'l. of preparation do you think is requisite for such a prA.ctice?

12. What kino of safeguards should be thrown about it?

13. wt1at supgestions ~o you have concerning the place of religion in health?

14. Woulo you be interested in the formA.tion of a semin~.ry of' say a half a c'lozen or more ministers of your Area to ::tuC!y ann rliscuss religion anc'l health?

Please use ao~itional sheets of paper if necessary in repl~~ng. Innicate by number the questions you are nnswering. Return to: Professor Charles s. Brar.en 629 Noyes Street Evanston, Illinois APPENDIX C

PROSPECTUS OF PASTORAL PSYCHOLOGY

by Simon Doniger Ph. D., Editor PROSPEC'lm OF PASTORAL PSYCHOLOGY

by

, Editor

Purpose and Scope

The purpose of this new ion i~ to bring to ministers some of the insights, understandings and skills of psychology, psychiatry and mental hygiene, in a way that has immediate and practical applications to the minister's work, and within the religious framework of the pastor•& point of view.

We believe that there is a basic similarity of goals between the profession of the ministry and that of the psychologist and psychiatrist--the goal of helping man to strengthen or rediscover his essential relatedness to himself, to his fellow man, to the universe and to God.. We believe too that the pastor can make his ministey much more effective if he these skills and this knowledge at his command.

We are aware that mere 11 reading11 will not do the job.. Only organized clinical training involving intensive seminar work and including practice under supervision can achieve such a goal. We are convinced, however, that a properly oriented publication can serve an important function.. It can stimulate an awareness of the role that such knowledge and skill can play in the minister's pastoral care, in his preaching, in worship. group work 9 in administration, and activities of social outreach, thns stimulating an awareness of hi@ need for further thought and training.

A journal can also help the pastor to ~erstand the role his own personality plays in his work; and we believe it can help him achieve a recognition of the complexity of human behavior and motivation$ enabling him to approach his tasks in human relations with greater understanding, with greater humility, with greater skill.

Sponsoring and FinanciAg

The monthly jotLrnal, Pastoral Psychology, is being underwritten and financed by The Pulpit Digest Publishing Company. Any losses will be carried by this company. If, as is hoped, the new journal becomes self-supporting in a year or two, the first excess of income over expenditures will be used for improvement and expansion of PASTOliAL PSYCHOLOGY. The company has appointed the author of this prospectus to be editor of the journal, and has given him complete freedom to handle it editoriall~ so as to achieve the aims stated hereino

Promotion and publicity for the journal will be handled by !he Pulpit Digest Publishing Company, which has unparalleled facilities for this purpose.

Need for this Publicatiqa

Although there are already three publications whose goal is similar to this, we are convinced that none of these is prepared to perform the general function we envisage for PASTORAL PSYCHOLOGY. thorough consideration and consultation with individuals who are themselves active cipants in these publications, it is clear that there would in no sense be any element of competition between our journal and the other publications. THE JOURNAL OF PASTO'RAL CARE and CJ,INICAL PASTORAL WORK are excellent quarterlies but they a small and alread~ a well trained group. TH~ PASTOR includes merely a section on pastoral care in a larger magazine and reaches few but Method':sho intend that PASTORAL PSYCHOLOGY shall be geRred to the reading and thinking of the minister who has not heretofore been reached to any extent by the books and periodicals in this field.

Editorial Advisory !oard

We are well aware of the difficulties in the project we have undertaken of achieving "mass" circulation and yet retaining the inherent integrity and significance of the materials with which we are dealing. We know of the dangers of "overpopularization" on the one hand, and on the other of becoming so pedantically profound in our effort to be "meaningful" as to lose our readers by the wayside.

We are also aware of the difficulty of integrating material stemming largely from secular sources with the work and viewpoint of the minister, and of making it signifi cantly and uniquely his own rather than something appearing alien, borrowed or superimposed. We know that it will require much editorial skill as well a~ the utmost sensitivity to our readers' needs if we are to accomplish this purpose. But we believe it can be done, with proper help and direction from the real experts in pastoral psychology.

For the purpose of receiving such help we are in the process of organizing an Editorial Advisory Board of pastors and representatives of other professions who, as a result of their own training and experience, are experts in this field, and there fore equipped to guide us from the professional point of view. This Board, which will be active, will meet annually or semi-annually to evaluate both our past perform ance and to give direction to our future work. It is our hope that individual members of the Board will also participate actively through articles, book reviews and features in the journal.

The cost of Board meetings, including any expenditures incurred by individual members, will of course be borne by the journal. There will be a nominal annual remuneration for such membership, which we hope will become more commensurate with the services rendered as soon as our publication begins to pay for itself. Articles, accepted for publication, will be paid for.

A Pastora1 Consulting Editor From the beginning we plan to engage as a part-time member of the editorial staff a minister who as a result of his training and experience personifies, as nearly as possible the synthesis of religion with dynamic psychology, psychiatry and mental hygiene.

The pastoral consultant will serve as a liason officer between the advisory board and the editorial staff, seeing trmt all material in the journal is in line with the best theory and practice of pastoral psychology. His services should enable us to orient, focus and so integrate our materials as to make them both accurate and relevant.

Content Two points of policy seem important to us. We hope, on the one hand, to avoid the use of materials which are so general in nature as to have no immediate practical significance for the minister. On the other hand, we want to deal with practice in a way which elicits relevant theory and does not exclude it. We believe in the importance of theory as a base for intelligent practice, but we hope that this theory w'll evolve and grow out of practical working content.

In terms of this perspective we visualize a years' material somewhat as follows: 1. Basic material in one or a series of articles, possibly extending throughout the year, preferably written by a single author and created specifically to meet the needs of the ainister:

A. (1) A professional series under some such title as Methods of Pastoral Counseling.

(2) Another such series under some such title as The Application of Dynamic Psychology to Church Group Work.

B. A •personal" series on the subject of On Understanding Oneself or The Minister as a Person.

C. An integrative series exploring concretely the insights of pastoral psychology in relation to preaching, counseling, church administration, group work, worship, devotional literature, social outreach and community organization as well as other offices of the church and the minister.

D. A basic series on the specific areas of pastoral counseling, through individual case presentations covering the entire range of problems falling within the minister's province. This will refer to concrete problems such as the following:

Premarital counseling. Marriage counseling Counseling with the sick at home, hospital or institution Counseling with the aged Parent-child relationships Counseling with the adolescent Sex education Counseling in the armed services Counseling with special groups such as labor, minority groups, etc. Counseling in problems of grief and bereavement

E. Attention will also be given to special problems in helping:

The Juvenile Delinquent The Unmarried Mother The Adult Offender The Depressed Person The Homosexual, the Frigid or Impotent and- other types of personality disturbancee with whom the pastor must sometimes deal.

7. An interprofessional series in which a psychiatrist, psychologist and social worker will help to explore the relationship of the minister's job to the other "helping" professions--both in terms of its positive and unique contribution as well as limitations. In addition to bas by series of articles, we plan to have different individuals from the discipl of education, cultural anthropology and gocial work~ We believe articles on the following, written by authorities in , will be of immediate relevance to the

Emotional in Neurotic Marriage and The Implications of for the Current Concepts of the I.. Q. .. The Problem of Deficiency The Problem of in Projective Test Techniques Play Therapy Techniques with Children The Minister1s Role in Vocational Counseling Psychological Insights into "Lying", "Ambivalence"~"Defensivenesi, ~esistance"t "Gnilt1 , ~Anxiety", "Doubt", "Prejudice", 11Sadism", "Masochism", "Sublimation11 , "Rational.ization11 , "Jealousy", etc.

In terms of this broad. educational program we submit, as a concrete e:x:ample of future issues, an outline for the first issue of PASTORAL PSYCHOLOGY:

Article I. Religion and Psychiatry- By a minister- A concrete exposition of the synthesis and application of the insights and understanding of religion with those of dynamic psychology and psychiatry, with suggestion of their relevance to every area of the minister's work, ~reaching, eounselisg, group work, worship, xhnrch administration and communitl leadership.

Article II. Psychiatry and Religion - By a psychiatrist - A similar exposition from the point of view of a psychiatrist.

( above two articles are general and exploratory in nature; they serve as an introduction and orientation and should not be considered typical. From here on we will try to avoid the inevitable generalizations inherent in such introductory material.)

Article III Basic Elements of Pastoral Counseling - By a minister - The first of a series of articles covering intensively and extensively the entire area of pastoral counseling.

Article IV. The Psychological Meaning and Use of Prayer - By a minister.

Article V. The Psychological Use of Devotional Literature in Pastoral Care - By a minister

Article VI. Understanding Ruman Nature - By a psychiatrist - The first of a ser:l.es exploring the process of emotional growth and development through infancy, childhood, adolescence and adulthood.

Article VII Understanding Oneself or - By a minister The M,ni~t~r As A Person First of a series of articles exploring the nature of the relationship between the minister and people in terms of hh own personality and its effects--and what he can do about it.

VIII. The Pastoral Problems Forum~ A section for presentation and discussion of problems as they co~e from readers. ~ first issue will define the purpose and procedure of this feature. IX. Reviews of Relevant Literature, Eaucational Films, Radio, Movies of special significance, etc.

X. Notes and News Reports of current activities such as clinical seminars, conferences, educational courses of special interest to the minister, etc. (The above is, of course, only a tentative outline, subject to change, at the suggestion of the Ed.i torial Advisory Board.)

Our Contributor!

Within recent years the ministerial profession has developed a small but increasing group of significant thinkers and writers in this area.. It is to this group that we will look as the primacy source for articles. To the extent that our materials demand it, secalar authors from the fields of PSU"chia.try, psychology, Ct1l tural anthropology, social work, education and other studies will also be brought in. It is our hope that, in addition to the immediate and direct value of aiding the minister in his work with human beings, the journal may stimW.ate further thinking and writing in this area, bringing about a really creative synthesis of religion and dynamic psychology, and in the end resulting in both a discipline and a literature that is uniquely the ministe:J;" 1 s own ..

Procedures and Sched.ule

We are anxious to go to work on this project immediately. It is our hope that with good cooperation from our Board and contributors of articles we can go to press before the end of the year. This means that we are looking forward to the first meeting of the Editorial Advisory Board during the first half of November, 1949. The major items on the agenda of this first meeting will be:

1. An evaluation of both the purpose and methods of our prjected publication, as defined in this prospectus.

2. An evaluation of already submitted and planned articles as well as new suggestions by the Board.

). Engagement of a Pastoral Consulting Jldi tor ..