Healing and Christian Faith

October 18 is the feast of Saint Luke the Evangelist, also known as Saint Luke the Physician. According to Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition, Luke was a medical doctor who was a friend and co-worker of the Apostle Paul. The miracles performed by Jesus and by the Apostles’ remind us that healing played a prominent role in the early days of the Christian faith. This healing work has continued throughout Church history into the modern day.

Modern medicine, hospitals, and counseling can trace much of their development and origin to the Church. Today, healing in all its modern and scientific forms is offered by many sorts of people, and many sorts of institutions. For this Christians should be thankful, trusting that God uses individuals and institutions regardless of their belief as channels of His healing power.

The supernatural work of healing, which has manifested itself in every century of the Church, is met with more skepticism today than it was during the time of Jesus. Today, we are aware of many scandals and charlatans, people pretending to be so called “faith healers,” and so for many of us, the idea of miraculous healing is hard to accept.

These doubts have not stopped many Christians from continuing to pray for healing, whether through doctors or through the miraculous intervention of the Holy Spirit. Prayer chains, healing services, and specialized healing ministries (see here for example) continue to fill the Christian landscape in North America.

God may indeed work His healing power through these sorts of services and through our prayers, perhaps in the way we want, perhaps not. As one man said, “I have prayed hundreds, if not thousands of times for the Lord to heal me and He finally healed me of the need to be healed.”