Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1907-06-21
COMMUNICATED S 81
PRAYER AND FAITH HEALING (

Il In these days when thousands are
being led astray by the astounding doc
trines of leaders who either ignore or
deny the plain teachings of the scriptures
which they profess to accept as Gods
Word, or else ~wrest'' them ..unto
their own destruction, /" we see the full
filment of Divine prophecy: q Tim. A:
u Now the Spirit speaketh expressly.
that in the latter times some shall
depart from the faith, giving heed to
sedueing spirits and doctrines of devils. ,,
Many have erred from Christian faith
and been led into a hopeless tangle of
contradictions and Inconsistencies. both
IN their theories and practices, by ac-
cepting a false and pernicious creed
based upon some passage found in the
last chapter of James. els any among,
you sick1 let him call for the elders of
the church, andlet them pray over him.
amounting him with oil in the name of
the Lord, and the prayer of faith shall
serve the sick, and the Lord shall raise
him uphill 81 : go =
All intelligent Christians readily ac-
cept the Teaching of James as inter!
preted by the Bible, by reason, history
and, experience. But only ignorant
persons can assent to the absurd and
irrational claims made by certain
class, all of which are contradicted bv
revelation, reason and experience. s1s'.
FIRST That the prayer Of faith. -
in connection with ointment of doil.',
will always raise the sick, whatever
his disease; that if there is only enough
oil, faith and prayer, the patient viii
never die: also that Gods will does
not, enter into the case at all. the only
conditions required being oil, PRAYER.
faith, which conditions being met the
creature can demand of the Creator the
restoration of the sick; n
SECOND. That scripture teaches
that it is sin to call in the service of
a physician, or to use any human
means or remedies whatever in the
case of sickness.
James very properly recommends that
sick people should send for the elders to
pray for them because, being good
men, they, had power with God through
Jesus Christ, thegreat Mediator. And
James gives as the reason for this rec
commentator the fact that s.the
{. etfectual, u fervent prayer of a
righteous man''-that is, of any
righteous man, whether el6er or not
ayaileth much" So it is clear that
!. however great the faith, 4" in even the
most 'ffervent prayer or however
righteous" the man may be-, that his
prayer is not omnipotent, but limited in
power, However much it availeth.
| it is not 'teffectual'' enough to accom-
plish anything and everything, as some
unthinlking people claim. ..r--5...-
3 l. Neither does James suggest the use
of oil as a kind of incantation, or be.
cause 1T possesses a miracle working
power; because if miracle was in.
2 tended it could be wrought without it
nor does he intimate that even thi:
JUNCTION is to save the sick man, but the
prayer of faith. He simply means that
IN, the treatment of the sick, both nat
uralmeans and prayer were to be used
neither one to the exclusion of tn,
t other.
S james refers to the custom of usinf
: oil for the reason that from time i'm
r memorial oil has been celebrated fo
{ its medicinal properties, and was fire
n Iquently used by the Jews, as well as b,
t lall Eastern nations, as means o
!. healing. The Good Samaritan used OF
e and wine when he bound up the wounds
Y of the man found by the wayside. TIL
!, Jews rarely ever took a journey with
IS out taking oil with them to anoin
o their bodies. All medical men know i
l. how many ways oil is useful in tn
a treatment of. diseases, used both exte,
e nally and internally. In wasting diseases
especially where the stomach is to
weak to retain food, oils and fats
applied by friction to the skin, disappea,
and it is reasonable to suppose that the
}. are not only absorbed, but also assim
/. lated by the tissues, thus resulting in
,. positive gain in weight and fiesh-bein
:. food as well as medicine. Oils apple
= in cases of eruptiye skin diseases, a,
complained by high fever; as scarle
fever, erysipelas, measles, etc, ALA
II the burning heat ofithe skin, diminis
u restlessness and proyed soothing an
N grateful to the patient. The bestremed
r for burns and scaldsl is olive oil an
a lime water. In short, the healing use
e of oils, used externally, are too numel
N Gus to be mentioned here. so tha
James directs just what any other wis
man would do, that sick people Shout
> use natural means, while looking /
; God for an especial blessing. :,
"The prayer OF, faith always recog
, nizes the existence of both, human an
, Divine conditions, Prayer must b
e connected with a righteous life and :
trusting heart, offered to God in the
name of Jesus, and in submission /,
t the Divine will. God S will is supreme
: and is recognized by James, (as we'll a.
by John, Paul and Christ, as directing
all human affairs, relating to- both life
and death, when he says, eye ought to
; say, if the Lord will we shall live and
; do this or that. ~ s4ysst s,,sG
If God, in infinite. wisdom and good
ness, sees fit to raise up the sick and
prolong life in answer to prayer, fer
vent, humble and submissive. He will
do so, as He did inthe case of Hezekiah
and countless others 1t is always the
Christian privilege to make known his