CORRESPONDENCE

Evening Post, Volume CXIV, Issue 103, 28 October 1932, Page 6

CORRESPONDENCE

CREDULITY OR TRUE FAITH ?

(To the Editor.) Sir,—Referring to Canon James's sermon on the evening of 23rd instant, com-mon-sense people will no doubt be asking themselves a few obvious questions. Thus: Did Christ send people to a physician, or 'heal them Himself? If Christ could heal people's bodies 2000 years ago, is it credulity (or true faith) to believe that He can heal people's bodies now? If Christ had intended His "ministry of healing" to be continued by doctors, why Qid He use prayer instead of (not merely in addition to) the medical knowledge o£ the day? Does Canon James believe that Christ's "ministry of healing" is "continued" by a doctor who, for example, rejects Christ and all His works? It Canon James does believe this, is his belief well founded and approved by his Church?

If, however, Canon James does not regard an anti-Christian doctor as a suitable person to continue Christ's "ministry of ■ healing," why does the report of his sermon omit this highly important fact? How does Canon James propose to safeguard Christ's "ministry of healing" from being brought into disrepute by .doctors who, though highly skilled, do not conform to Canon James's religious views? Does Canon James think,- tor, example, that all medical students should be subjected" to theological tests? If he says these tests ought to be made, will his yieivs be approved by the British Medical Association? -Is it possible that Canon James has got a little mixed, and has scarcely done justice either to Christianity or to the doctors? Does Canon James believe that Ghrist cannot, and/or will not, heal the body to-day?: If so, does he charge Christian Churches generally with credulity,", "superstition,". and. "thinly veiled magic" when'they offer prayers for bodily health (riot merely for "peace of mind," etc.) to- God, "instead of to the medical profession?—l am,: etc., ■'■ .;•■'■'.■■•■.. 'V; -. ,• ,-. ..■;. LAYMAN. • Wellington, 28th October, 1932. ;..'-. • ; ~/ (To the Editor.) Shy—May I also in unison with your correspondent, '"Light," express amazement at Canon James's ideas of "Faith Healing." In these days .of advanced thought, Christian psychology, Christian science, etc., it is really astonishing to think the canon can be so behind the times.? It has been proved and attested over and over again with the utmost authenticity that diseases of all kindseven broken bones—are healed and completely cured by faith healers, or rather faith healing. Canon James states that ■what he most deplores is the statement i . a*, "a** .'djsease is contrary to God's will" and that "it must always be con.trary to His will that anyone should be ill." Surely Canon James must have a very narrow vision of the Almighty if he thinks disease and sickness, which is-evil and the outcome of evil, is part of the Divine plan. If so, why call-in a doctor? Where is the logic? -If it is God's will for us to be sick, surely, according: to Canon James, we should bow to the Divine will and suffer in silence!

Christ said: "I come that ye should have life and have it more abundantly." This, one would assume, means physical as well as spiritual life; to my mind the spiritual is the- source of the physical life. The body is but the temple of the spirit, and of itself, but a lump of clay, and the faith healer, recognising this, endeavours to reach that spiritual consciousness in the individual he is healing by faith. We are told that "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence o£ things unseen," and surely, i£ this is to be believed, we can bring into evidence a healthy condition in a sick person, provided they have sufficient faith. The New Testament is full of Christ's healings by faith, and ive are told that '"'whatsoever I do ye shall do and greater things shall ye do." Therefore the faith healer is only carrying out instructions. He endeavours to awaken the faith in the one ■.reality—it is not merely an intellect tual conception; the healing process is .a process of spiritual realisation. A quickening of the spirit withW the person who may be afflicted, so. that he- or she may "tune in" and contact with the Infinite Spirit, and when this is achieved and they are continually "in tune with the Infinite," there can be no'disease, no sickness.' Canon . James says the' Master's ministry of healing has been continued bycountless students searching for causes and 'remedies . for .the... scourges that have ■afflicted mankind, etc. But are they looking for the real cause^— the "Unseen" with which faith healers and faith healing deals? To the uninitiated, _ this may be hard to understand, but to those who have discovered the "hidden secret" and understand what faith healing'-. really means —it is just truth.—l am, etc., ■-.."■' ' MOKE LIGHT.