Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1901-07-13
FAITH AS A HEALING FORCE,

FAITH As n iEhbfNp fCh''"
Truth can suffer nothing permanently
from the PRONUNCIATION Of error False
hood may and does prevail for a time
but eventually II will be overcome ana
its effects viii be removed; for truth
Is mighty ana will conquer Its opposite
Attention has been largely directed to
the subject Of healing by faith through
the different fads that have held sway
for season and blinded the eyes Of
mankind to the real healing principle
which was taught by the Hebrew pro-
phets and was exemplified notably In
the ministry Of Jesus Of Nazareth
christian Science"as IL is improperly
called, has stirred up the minds Of a
multitude on the healing question
That there are thousands of people who
have been relieved Of various COM
plants through the influence OF Chris
ton Scientists, win not be disputed by
fair and well-nformed investigators
What the force Is by which this relief
has been administered Is another queiI-
ton.
In "Eyerybody's Magazine for July
there is a thoughtful paper By I'r
Thomas Jay Hudson. which he calls "A
Psychopathic study" and in which he
endeavors to explain the power by
which all healings, cures, and so-called
miracles have been accomplished In
every age of the world and by all the
workers Of wonders. No matter whether
the process has been called Mesmerlsm
Animal Magnetism, Fetichsm. Hypno-
tsm, Mental Suggestion, Christian
Science or by any other title, he argues
that the one fundamental law Of mental
healing IL the same. That law he al
leges Is Faith. He declares that Christ
was endowed with an intuitiye know
ledge OF the laws Of the human soul"
and this he aiIirms 'ls demonstrated by
the facts OF experimental psychology"
The writer endeavors TO show that Je.
sus announced "The healing power re-
sides within the patient, and not In any
extraneous agency; that faith Is the en-
erglzing principle Of the soul and that
when faith Is perfect all things are pos.
sible"
On this theory he imagnes he has
taken the ground from under the feet
of christian Scientists" and all the
professors OF the mental healing art.
the pretended workers OF miracles and
practlsers of occultism. In support Of
his theory he quotes some OF the say
ings Of the Savior who said to his pa
tlents with insistent iteration. "Thy
faith hath made thee whole" and he
deduces from this the conclusion that
"All that the healer does, or can do
all that Jesus did. or pretended to do
WAS to induce In the mind Of the pa
tient the necessary mental condition. TO
stimulate, by appropriate acts ANA
words the energlzing principle Of His
Foul--faith.' lie states further. "No
act or word OF Jesus initiates, in the
slightest degree, against that one om-
phatlc declaration" lie goes on 10
show that this is ''rhe very antithesis
OF the christian Science" of modern
times, In that Jesus declared that "the
healing power resides in the patient,
whereas modern Christian Science
teaches us. first, that there Is nothing
10 heal and secondly that God him
self interposes ana does the healing"
II Is strange that such reasoning
mind as that Of the writer Of the ar
ticle we are considering should not
have perceived its own error while at
lacking the mistakes of christian
Science His argument is singular
mixture Of truth and untruth. That
Christ taught the doctrine, emphati-
cally, that faith is a spiritual force by
which all possible things can be ac-
complished. and declared TO persons
who were healed under His touch. Thy
faith hath made thee whole" Is per-
fectly true as far as Il goes, but II is
not the whole truth. The other part Of
II is that the power OF faith may exist
In the healer as wen as in the healed,
and sometimes is exercised by the for
mer without any faith or even con-
sciousness IN the latter
Christ sometimes healed people at
distance who did not know Of Ills word
or action. For instance, the servant
of the Centurion luke VIII g.l0l He re-
auscitated persons who were dead and
knew nothing Of His administration.
There was the son Of the widow OF
Main, the daughter Of Jalrus and many
others, luke vii, l2-l5. viii il-45). There
was also the raising OF Lazarus. when
Christ rebuked the winds. withered the
hg tree, walked upon the water. ana
fed the multitude with a few loaycs
and fishes. the power OF faith was In
Himself and 1t was this faith that he
promoted In Ills disciples.
The same scriptures from which DR..
Hudson quotes 10 show that people in
biblical times were healed because Of
the faith that was aroused in them,
also give many instances Of the exer.
else OF the power OF faith that was
either In the servant OF God who em-
ployed II for the benefit of the afflicted,
or in their friends or both. without
any active energy In the soul Of the
patient. Little children were restored
by this faith In the operator without
any on the part OF the infant operated
upon The faith which can move