The cure of disease by supernatural means, through faith in divine power. The role of faith healing in the Christian church is based on numerous examples in the OT -Naaman and Hezekiah, for example ( 2 Kings 5:14 ; 20:5–7 )-and in the NT , especially acts of healing performed by our Lord ( Mark 1:30–34 , 40–42 ; 2:1–12 ; etc.; John 9:1–7 ) and the apostles ( Acts 3:1–11 ; 9:32–41 ; 14:8–10 ). The power to heal was one of the special gifts of the Spirit entrusted to the church ( 1 Cor. 12:28–30 ; cf . Mark 16:17 , 18 ), and the sick were invited to ask for special prayer by the elders for healing ( James 5:14 , 15 ). It is evident, however, that God did not see fit in all instances to grant the request for healing, even when the petitioner was worthy and had, presumably, met all the conditions ( 2 Cor. 12:7–10 ).
From the first, Seventh-day Adventists have recognized faith healing as “a doctrine that the Lord taught” ( Review and Herald 4:100, Oct. 4, 1853; cf . 74:10, Jan. 5, 1897), and occasionally specific instances of such healing have been reported in the Review and Herald (17:204, May 14, 1861; 26:166, Oct. 24, 1865; 27:198, May 22, 1866; etc.). From time to time there have been articles on the Bible principles of faith healing and warnings against counterfeits ( ibid. 24:67, July 26, 1864; 62:331, May 26, 1885; 64:35, Jan. 18, 1887; 68:642, Oct. 20, 1891).
On the importance of discriminating between the true and the false, G. C. Tenney wrote in an editorial: “While we believe fully in the ability and willingness of God to hear the prayer of faith, and that He can and often does restore the sick in answer to prayer, still we are bound to say that we have no confidence that a very great deal that passes for faith healing is what it pretends to be” ( ibid. 72:230, Apr. 9, 1895).
He cautions that Satan is able, under certain circumstances, to perform miracles of healing, and that in many cases of reputed faith healing the basic cause of the malady is a state of mind. It is “misleading,” he said, to credit these “mind cures” to divine power. He warned against the danger that the sick may be led “to ignore rational measures for recovery” ( ibid. ).
Various writers have discussed the principles on which faith healing can occur. In 1901, L. A. Smith stressed the importance of cooperating with the laws of health: when a sick person “is violating these laws, and from such violation suffers in health, he cannot reasonably expect the Lord to remove the consequences until he himself removes that which brought on the consequences.” The man who “refuses to do what he can do for himself, and tries to have it performed by prayer” is expecting the impossible. “This is not faith. . . . God does for man what man cannot do for himself” ( ibid. 78:474, 475, July 23, 1901).
Of the prerequisite experience of those who pray for the healing of others, E. Hilliard wrote: “Divine healing is not done through those who are living in open transgression of the moral law. Restoration to health, through the agency of those who knowingly disregard the requirements of heaven, is not from God” ( ibid. 97:8, Aug. 5, 1920).
Other writers point out the importance of seeking competent medical counsel and help, and the fact that the answer to prayer for healing may come as a gradual process or by the application of principles of healthful living and the use of natural remedies, and often through the skill of competent doctors.
Probably the most extensive coverage of the subject was a series of five articles by Roy F. Cottrell in the Review and Herald from May 12 to June 9, 1949. This series discusses the example of Christ, human beings as the temple of the Holy Ghost, health principles and the dedication of one’s physical faculties to God, the prayer of faith, conditions for answered prayer, faith versus presumption, the ministry of pain, and the marks of “Healing, Counterfeit and Genuine.” Cottrell also dealt with the psychosomatic relationship between the physical and the spiritual.
Seventh-day Adventists believe that the invitation and promise of James 5:14 , 15 are valid today, and that authentic instances of healing still take place. However, SDA s also believe in the principle known as “the economy of miracle”-that, at least under ordinary circumstances, God does not employ supernatural means to accomplish that which humans themselves may achieve by natural means at their command. These natural means include intelligent cooperation with the principles of healthful living and the use of natural remedies and medical knowledge now available. Therefore, special prayer should be accompanied by an intelligent use of the aforementioned means. This does not in any way demonstrate a lack of faith, and it may be that God ordains healing to take place as human effort cooperates with divine power. Furthermore, in general only those who purpose to order their lives in all respects in harmony with God’s revealed will may expect God to hear their prayers.
The extensive medical and health work of SDA s around the world—sanitariums, hospitals, and clinics; schools of medicine, dentistry, nursing, and various fields of medical technology; health education and publications—testify to the church’s belief in the importance of health as one aspect of the gospel message and of Christian living, and of their practical concern for health and healing.
Seventh-day Adventists believe that special prayer for healing should be accompanied by heart searching and renewed dedication of the life. There should be not only full and firm faith in God’s willingness and power to heal but also complete resignation to God’s will, and willingness to accept what His infinite goodness and wisdom shall deem to be best. The ultimate miracle—restoration of the sinner—ought always to be expected even when restoration of the body may not come to pass.
Seventh-day Adventists do not believe that the claims of the popular “faith healers” are valid, or that their methods are worthy of the name Christian or in harmony with the principles of faith healing set forth in Scripture. In view of the scriptural warning against false miracles, especially in the last days ( 2 Thess. 2:9 , 10 ; Rev. 13:13 , 14 ), it is always well to test presumed cases of healing closely by the principles concerning faith healing set forth in Scripture.