Reasons on the basis of which the Church today is entitled to believe that it
does possess the authority and power to heal.
Matt 10:5-8 heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out
devils
Mark 3:13-15 they might have power to heal, and cast out demons
These works (erga) of which Jesus speaks include his work of healing.
This suggests that they understood that it was the intention and desire
of Jesus that they should do so. They would not do what they had no
authority to do. The fact that they did continue to heal the sick must
mean that they believed that they still had the authority to heal the
sick in Jesus name
Their example is therefore part of the basis and authority for the
church to engage in its ministry of healing today.
After Jesus promised his disciples that they would do the same works
as he did, he goes on immediately to say:
Whatever you ask in name, I will do it, that the Father may be
glorified in the Son John 14:13
This suggests that when they came to do the same works as he had
done, they could request the power to do them through prayer.
These reasons provide the basis on which the Church today may
legitimately claim that it has the authority to heal the sick and to
engage in the ministry of healing.
The Church in its healing ministry must, however, insist on the wholeness
of the human being in all aspects of that being, and not least in the
spiritual aspect, and seek to recover the spiritual dimension of human like
of which former generations of western society were very much aware.
In the Hellenistic world, medicine did not enjoy a very high status.
Among the Greeks the influence of Hippocrates had already waned, and
with a few outstanding exception medicine was practiced on the basis of
theories.
However, with the fall and destruction of Corinth in 146 BC, the Roman
power over Greece became supreme and Greek physicians began to
migrate to Rome although they were not held in very high repute there.
The practice of medicine was beneath the dignity of a Roman citizen and
was left to slaves and foreigners. Its pharmacophoeia of effective drugs
was small, its instruments few and crude, and the basis of its practice was
often superstition.
On the other hand, there is another view which regards modern medicine
as no more effective in the control and treatment of disease than primitive
medicine was, and dismisses its claims as myth.
The concept arose out of the Christian teaching about the nature and
destiny of human beings and the Christian concern for ones neighbour.
The Christian view of the human being gave human personality a status,
worth and dignity independent of the state and superior to the state,
which is should be the function of the state to recognize and preserve.
This means that any service provided by the Church as part of its
ministry of healing must take account of those services which are already
provided by the state in a national health services.
If Christian believers fall ill they are to call for the elders of the
congregation to come and heal them (James 5:14). Also members of
the congregation are to pray for the sick amongst them that they may
be healed (James 5:16)
1. Those who had been given the gift of healing by the Holy Spirit
(1cor. 12:9
2. The elders of the Church who were called for by the sick (James
5:14)
3. The ordinary members of the Church who by confession to each
other and by prayer for each other could produce healing (James
5:16)
The emphasis in all these references is not the individual but on the
Church as a community.
Those who are given the gift of healing are placed by God in the
Church to manifest and use their gift for the common good (1 cor
12:7,28
The elders and Church members are spoken of by James in the plural
which suggests that the authority to heal is not vested in them as
individual but in the Church as a corporate body which they
represent in their ministry of healing.
When we discussed what the epistles had to say about healing, we took
the view that the gift of healing was neither natural and supernatural,
but shared the characteristics of both spheres.
It was given by God to certain individuals as a natural endowment
which was then supernaturally enhanced by the Holy Spirit once they
become Christians.
Healing is possible in some cases on the basis of this natural
endowment, Only in this way can we explain how healing results from
the activity of the traditional healers of Africa and elsewhere, or how
exorcism results from the practice of non-Christian exorcists such as
Jesus himself recognized in Matt 7:22 and Luke 11:19.
It was never used in the casting out of demons, and so has no place
in Christian exorcism. It may be used combined with prayer or
accompanied by other methods of healing.
It is not stated where Jesus and apostles applied their hands when
they touch the sick.