What Is Faith Healing / Spiritual Healing

Faith healing is “An effort to cure illness or to improve the status of a patient by the using of spiritual powers or by the effect of the personality of the healer. An important thing in determining the fate of an illness is belief, or faith, in the probability of recovery, but ‘miracles’ a happening to faith healing are assumed to be due to some natural process. The psycho socio influence of such customs can be powerful, and unjustified hopes for miraculous cures are commonly aroused.” (Youngson, 2005)

Faith healing  is also the activity of prayer and gestures (such as laying on of hands) that are said to cause divine intervention in spiritual and physical healing, especially the Christian practice (Smith et al, 1995). Believers say that the healing of illness and disability can be brought about by religious belief through prayer and/or other customs that, according to them, stimulate a divine presence and power. Belief in such divine intervention comes from religions. (Andrew, 2005)

Both “cure” & “heal” are words having similar meaning that used for restoration of health. Healing in a patient takes place through a process that draws upon powers of nature, science & physician. (Szawarski,2004) Prayer is defined by the National Centre for Complementary & Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) as an active process of appealing to a higher spiritual power, specifically for health reasons; it includes individual or group prayer on behalf of oneself or others. Prayers are sometimes for divine intervention to achieve specific health outcomes, such as fewer postoperative complications or shorter hospital stays. (Churchill, 2007) Spirituality has many forms and can be practiced in many ways. Prayer, for example, may be silent or spoken out loud and can be done alone in any setting or in groups (as in a church or temple). Regular attendance at a church, temple, or mosque may involve prayer which focuses on one’s self (supplication) or on others (intercessory prayer). In this type of setting, the entire congregation may be asked to pray for a sick person or the person’s family.

Faith healing is also called “Spiritual Healing”. It is a healing of soul by state of mind that is highly improved in thoughts and feelings. It is a concept of highest degree of belief in the power of Divinity and full dependence for any kind of treatment of diseases or solution to problems. Also, the belief in supernatural powers leads to total dependence on them for all types of cure. (Hunter et al, 1976)

The Association of American Medical Colleges (Wetzel et al, 1998) defines spirituality as a broad one: “Spirituality is recognized as a factor that contributes to health in many persons. The concept of spirituality is found in all cultures and societies. It is expressed in an individual’s search for ultimate meaning”.

Ananda Rajah G & Hight E, (2001) explained that important aspects of spirituality are love and peace that individuals derive from their relationships, nature and God. Spirituality can be described as latent constructs; as it cannot be observed directly but can be inferred from some of their elements. (Miller & Thoresen, 2003)

Faith healing is an old tradition. Despite differences in religions, faith healers who claim to heal the sick through religious belief exist throughout the world. Some claim to be gods, prophets, or intermediaries between the physical and metaphysical realms. South Asia is no different in that regard.

Spirituality gives a person’s life ultimate purpose. For many persons, it might be a belief in God as expressed and lived out in a community of faith with others of like mind. For some others, spirituality might be the belief in many gods as an expression of the divine. Still for other persons, it might be their own relationship with their God, or a relationship with the universe and nature, or an understanding of a relationship with a higher power or supernatural thing. Spirituality can also be considered as that thing which an individual belief sacred. (Neusner & Jacob, 2000)

These beliefs and understandings are influenced by race, ethnicity, religious status, culture, nationality, gender and worldview, etc. Spirituality often gives an individual hope to try for wellness and happiness during calamity and diseases.

There are Spiritual differences between any two persons having same faith and ethnicity. Their life stories are unique, so their spiritual background is different and their understanding of life’s situations is also different. Spiritual differences are also influenced by faith, culture, tradition and/or a system of beliefs, be it Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, or even Atheism. (Neusner & Jacob, 2000)

Faith healing is an international fact and play a vital role in maintaining social state and social system. The structural functionalist observed that each custom and belief of a society has a limited role that helps to maintain the structure of the society and strengthen different parts of society, so that society remains conserved. (Hunter et al, 1976)