Abstract
This paper considers the nature of faith healing in today's society and traces its development through a belief in shamanism in traditional societies, noting how religion and medicine are often fused, with the religious leader also being the medicine man who knows the secrets of healing. Christians have faith in the healing power of prayer and depict Jesus as a healer as well.

From the Paper
"Religion and medicine have had a long relationship. In modern times, the two are often at odds, with some believing more in faith than in science and others taking the opposite view. In traditional societies, religion and medicine are often fused, with the religious leader also being the medicine man who knows the secrets of healing. Christians have faith in the healing power of prayer and depict Jesus as a healer as well. Certain groups place a greater emphasis on faith than medicine, such as Christian Scientists, who do not take their health issues to doctors but to God."

Tags:faith, healing, shamanism

Abstract
A comprehensive analysis of the legality of parents denying their children access to health care on the basis of their involvement in a "faith healing" religion such as Christian Science or Faith Tabernacle. The paper explains that for some residents of the United States, traditional medicine is not religiously acceptable in the face of sickness. On the contrary, these residents are so strongly against medicine that they will not even allow their children to see a doctor if they suffer from life threatening illnesses. It discusses how many followers of these religions are denying the use of traditional medicine and joining a movement that shies from what society considers the norm for treating sickness by putting their belief in God's ability to heal their family's illnesses. The paper argues however, that parents' religious convictions about the disuse of any type of medicine for their children should not be allowed as a legal means of denying their children this medicine because these convictions often cause the needless deaths and suffering of many children whom medical care would have helped.

From the Paper
"For centuries America has debated to what extent church and state should be separated. More recently the argument about the disuse of medical treatment for religious reasons and the resulting deaths of the children of certain religious organization's followers has arisen. Since the seventeenth century when settlers came to America to escape religious persecution and seek religious freedom, the issue of separation of church and state has been in debate (Council 1). However, not all religions were given equal rights before the Bill of Rights was created: in Boston anyone preaching outside the established church could be fined or banned from the settlement (Weiss 11). Also, in areas that practiced South Anglicanism, those who spoke out against the Christian faith were sentenced to death (Weiss 11). However, the first amendment to the American Bill of Rights, which was passed in September of 1789, changed these discriminatory practices on a federal level and caused less religious discrimination to occur (Weiss 31). This amendment states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof" (Bartlett 3). This amendment did not, however, guarantee the protection of United States citizens from state religious discrimination; but the fourteenth amendment, which was passed at a later date, did (Weiss 32). Opponents for and against parents' rights to deny their child medical care based on religious convictions are eager to solve the question of the relationship of church and state and the necessity of parents to obtain medical care as required by state governments. This issue has thus become a pressing argument that must be solved quickly because many children's lives are at stake."

Tags:abuse, children, christian, faith, healing, illness, law, medicine, science, tabernacle

Abstract
This paper presents an in-depth study of faith healing from the perspective of Christian Science. According to the paper, Christian Scientists are not "believers, further showing how they are not leading true Christian lives by jeopardizing their health and the health of their children. The paper then presents the method for the study. Next, it shows how many Americans believe in the power of prayer, yet it shows survey results which demonstrate that prayer is seen as helpful in addition to traditional medicine. The paper notes that Christian Scientists have resorted to faith healing to the serious detriment of their followers in general and young children in particular who were denied the opportunity to benefit from modern medical interventions. Various references are made to Biblical quotes about faith healing, and how they are interpreted by modern, mainstream churches. The paper then openly states its position of faith healing, which it sees as tantamount to murder when medical treatment is denied, particularly to children. The paper concludes by stating that that the faith healing practices that are prevalent in today's society are far from the ideal presented in the Book of James.

Outline:

Aim of the Dissertation
Background
Statement of the Problem
Method
Introduction
Chapter 1 Faith Healing: Biblically Defined
Chapter 2 Faith Healing: A Christian Science Perspective
Chapter 3: When Faith Healing Fails God's Children
Chapter 4: Drawing the Line, Faith Healing or Murder
Parameters
Outcome

From the Paper
"The general problem to be considered by the proposed study concerns the dogma of Christian Science as it relates to faith healing. Christian Scientists have alleged that all aspects of their theology is distinctively Christian, established upon the Scriptures and is continuous with Biblical revelation. Part of the purpose of this dissertation is to nullify their position as Believers. According to Scripture, faith is people acting in accordance with God's known purpose. Their misunderstanding of Biblical revelation has led the Christian Scientist to misconstrue the true meaning of "Faith Healing" as instructed in James 5: 14 - 16. Should Christian Scientists be allowed to martyr their children for their religious beliefs? Do mainstream Christians have a responsibility to intervene against senseless suffering and death of Christian Science children in instances when it could have been avoided? Can the world look the other way and not place boundaries and limitations on 'religious freedom' when it endangers the lives of children who are not free to make life altering choices of their own? "

Tags:alternative medical therapies, Christian Science, Distant Intercessory Prayer

Abstract
In this article, the writer examines the HBO documentary 'A Question of Miracles' made by Anthony Thomas. Through this study of the film, the writer discusses contemporary faith healing and the role religious belief may have on the treatment of disease.

From the Paper
While filming this HBO documentary, filmmaker Anthony Thomas traveled around the world, interviewing faith healers and people who believe their health had been miraculously restored because of their faith in God. Most of the film focuses on two men who claim to be successful faith healers, Benny Hinn and Reinhard Bonnke."

Tags:question, of, miracles

Abstract
This paper takes a look at the Buddhist approach to faith healing, with the author giving his own perspectives on various methods to help the ailing. Practitioners of faith healing or therapeutic touch are described along with their methods and professional backgrounds. A large section of the paper is devoted to the history of Buddhist faith healing. Additionally, the Dalai Lama's view of healing and the role of karma is presented as the outlook of Tibetan Buddhism. The paper concludes that Buddhist faith healing is just one of many diverse approaches that should be respected by those working in health care.

From the Paper
"Faith healing is associated loosely with Buddhism and other religions, although to say that faith healing is a Buddhist practice would be the same as saying that hydrogen is an African-American element. Faith healing is often called by different names in the literature, such as laying on hands and therapeutic touch. Some are positive in regards to the practice of therapeutic touch. "A recent review of the literature shows that there is no convincing evidence that the alleged healings by TT are anything more than the placebo effect," says Wallace Sampson, M.D., Editor of the Scientific Review. "Most writings on TT are speculation and commentary, which simply do not address the core question: Can TT practitioners detect alleged 'energy fields' or not?" (Thompson, 1998). The author then decided to answer this question with a scientific experiment and when conducting it found that the faith healer he highlighted could not detect these energy fields at all."

Tags:prayer, alternative medicine, Buddhism, Dalai Lama

Abstract
This paper contends that the religiously-based denial of providing medical care to minors that results in their injury or death should be criminalized to the fullest extend of the law. It argues that those that refuse to provide their children with necessary and appropriate medicines should be viewed as what they are: cowards who hide behind the First Amendment, gullible fools easily lead by personal testimonials and purposely ignorant of proven science, selfish parents who sacrifice the health and well-being of their children to bolster their own spirituality; criminally negligent child abusers.

From the Paper
"The FDA was formed in response to the spate of deaths caused by untrained persons marketing patent medicines that promised miracle cures for any number of chronic ailments but which were filled with harmful chemicals and compounds. Today, the FDA continues to regulate and perform exhaustive testing on new pharmaceutical drugs and medical procedures, not allowing the public to come in contact with them until their efficacy and safety has been proven satisfactorily. Faith healing should be subject to the same rigid scrutiny. In this author's research for this paper, she was unable to find a single accredited study enumerating the magical healing powers of prayer. She did find, however, countless studies regarding the efficacy of insulin and dialysis treatment in diabetes, and even more regarding the almost invariable successes of treating pneumonia with an antibiotic. "

Tags:Child, Abuse, Medical, Care, Religion

From the Paper
"Faith healing is the peculiarly Christian, particularly American, form of transcendentalism that remains as one of the few traditional entities of our culture surviving the transition from the 19th to 20th centuries. As the hallmark year of 2000 approaches, and with it the 21st C., faith healing promises to be with us still, surviving once again the slings of an empirical science that can create super-colliders that will find God (Begley, 1993, p. 57), ducking as always the arrows of the mainstream religious organizations with their claim to philosophical superiority. Identified as a phenomenon based generally in the right-wing sphere of the political spectrum, faith healing draws condescending scorn from the liberal end of the community. Science, the American religious establishment, and the liberal community do not have the right to do so."

Abstract
The paper discusses how today's nurse brings her faith, beliefs and skills to each and every patient served, utilizing many resources, many of which can be God, and spirituality, based upon the patient's religious preferences. The paper shows how using passages from the Bible and looking at how Jesus lived his life can help a patient focus on his or her life and how sickness can be healed.

From the Paper
"The nurse of today brings to nursing her own faith, beliefs, and nursing skills, ready to take care of any patient or client that is entrusted into her care. A strong faith in God and knowledge about the Bible and Christianity can only create positive outcomes for a patient in need. This paper will cover some of the resources available to the nurse of today who wants to take a Christian approach to her nursing care, and how faith can be integrated into health and wellness. It began with Florence Nightingale in 1837, who wrote in her diary that God had spoken to her and called her into his service (Tomey and Alligood,...)"

Tags:nursing, faith, health

From the Paper
"As early as 1876, the philosophy of the Christian Scientists regarding health and the body was presented by Mary Baker Glover. This Christian Scientist in the book entitled Science and Health evidenced a profound faith in the Spirit (Peel, 1958). That is, she held that human life must be redeemed, rather than being ignored; that faith must be proved by works; that an acceptance of the Spirit as the very Life of man could begin at once to banish from experience the grosser forms of illusion, including all the ills that flesh is heir to. It looked on the healings of Jesus as natural manifestations of his divine consciousness of reality, and declared that the same Truth He knew and embodied could produce - and was producing - the same results today in the healing of physical disease, as..."

Abstract
This paper is an attempt to give a hermeneutical perspective to the synoptic gospel stories of the Gerasene Demoniac though the use of textural criticism, addiction/recovery criticism and African-American/minority criticism. It is also an attempt to show how the nature of suffering and its attendant existential process inherent in the addiction process is a vital tool of the faith dynamic.

Outline:
Abstract
Introduction
Analytical Sections
A Textual Critique of the Three Passages
Critique of the Accounts Through the Lens of Addiction
"Stony The Road We Trod": A Co-Minority Perspective
Conclusion

From the Paper
"Just like the demon's could not help but tell the truth of themselves, and of Jesus, I think that "possession" by addiction is the process whereby our "dark side" as Jung would say, tell us the truth about ourselves through our actions and the destruction they cause when more conscious parts of ourselves can't or won't tell ourselves those truths. The crucible of suffering in ever greater degrees of addiction forces us to "call out" the reality of ourselves and the reality of our lives just as the demons "called out" or "named" Christ. In a related, 12-step spirituality is very clear, just like Jesus wanted to make sure that people would not fixate on him at the expense of their faith relationship with his Father, so 12-step adamantly refuses to become captured in one concept of the divine or the religious which would lead to what the program refers to as "spiritual bypass"' fixating on the spiritual outcome at the expense of the spiritual process. "

Tags:christ, gospel, luke