Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1915-02-11
PRAYER AND HEALING.

Editor Honolulu Star-Bnlletin.
Sir: In your issue OF January %,
under the title. THE Real Benefit of
Prayer" Is epitomized the finding of
an English medico-theologfca COM
mission or committee, consisting of
ten doctors and ten diyines. which
finding purports to be the result of
three years Investigation of the be-
ing commonly referred to in Christian
lands as The Almighty" for the pur-
pose of determining whether there is
any evidence that 4he is moved by
prayer to heal the sick.
The twenty curators of soul and
body find that as a matter of fact the
god whom the Christian world has
selected as its object of worship eth.
er cannot or win not youchsafe any
answer to petitions of this nature, but
that certain limited results are indi
reetly obtained through the sugges-
ton of help that comes to the deluded
patient from the otherwise quite fu.
tile petitions OF himself or others,
though this suggestion is not suffi-
GENTLY powerful to affect organic dis.
abilities. -. -
Z = rs &. . -as E. .s d .
Having thus squelched any presump-
tuous claim on the part of the deity
to butt into" the domain of the reg.
ularly licensed medical practitioners.
the ten doctors do the square thing
by the ten divines by subscribing to
the conclusion that spiritual minis.
tratiop should be recognized equally
with medical ministration as the most
potent form OF suggestion >
1t may well be doubted, whether The
investigations of the twenty were car
ried on with any burning desire to
reach different result from the one
obtained. Human nature is prone to
find what it is looking for, and is usu.
ally able to do so. So far as the ten
diyines are concerned, the Book which
they presumably profess to believe
furnishes conclusive proof df they do
believe it) that. in the words of one.
James, THE prayer of faith shall save
the sick and the Lord shall raise him
up" Had these latter day represen-
tatives OF the church followed in spirit
and in deed the example OF the found.
er. of that church and his earlier adj
herents they could have determined
in less than three years whether the
words Of James are true, and they
might possibly have found that they
are. - -
The rediscoverer of the system OF
spiritual healing known as Christian
Sciences has stated FsScience and
Health With Key to the Scriptures. :.
page IL 1.-THE prayer that reforms
the sinner and heals The sick, is. an
absolute faith thatSall things are pos /
sible to God, a spiritual understanding
of him, an unsettled love. Il will be
noticed that the three essentials of
this prayer are faith understand
ing. love. It has been established
beyond peradventure and is no longer
open to doubt from those who care to
examine the proofs. that this kind of
prayer heals every skindS Of disease,
organic or functional, known to suf-
fering humanity. even in these days
when pitiless and Unsuitable microbe
lies in wait In every nook and corner;
and there are thousands who can testi.
fy to this. Even the twenty investi-
gators admit that suggestion cannot
cure organic disease: but unless the
almost countless diagnoses of celebrat,
ed physicians and surgeons are wrong
such disease is being daily cured by
the sort Of prayer above described, and
will continue to be 80 cured in spite
of the wisdom of this world" and OF
the Twenty.
w. H. SMITH,
Christian Science Committee on Pub
Iication for Hawaii