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THE QUESTION
Do you believe that faith can effect your health or is that a lot of new age nonsense?
Faith and Health
Do you believe that faith can effect your health or is that a lot of new age nonsense?
» Read more about this in the Post's Health section.
Posted by
Sally Quinn and Jon Meacham on June 10, 2008 5:38 AM
FROM THE PANEL
Faith and the Health of "My Whole Being"
As the Bible sees it – and as research increasingly confirms - a person’s “whole being” - in sickness and in health - is a physical-spiritual continuum, making this “On Faith” question - indeed - a no-brainer.
Posted by Willis E. Elliott, on June 17, 2008 2:22 PM
Pray the Lord My Body and Soul to Keep
The brain and the body have all sorts of odd interconnections which develop in multiple and complex ways, and the disciplines of prayer, scripture, sacrament, care of the poor generally make for health.
Posted by Nicholas T. Wright, on June 17, 2008 1:03 PM
Faith is Trust, Not a Cure
The Bible was encouraging prayer and the best medicine available. The same goes for twenty-first century Christians-- Prayer/Faith and the best medicine available.
Posted by Leith Anderson, on June 17, 2008 12:12 PM
Faith Alone Not Enough
I am utterly convinced that it is more than scientifically proven interventions that improve people's health.
Posted by Julia Neuberger, on June 17, 2008 11:48 AM
Faith a Symptom or a Treatment?
Faith is something one lives, not something one says or something one does. If that distinction is not grasped then much of it is nonsense.
Posted by John Shelby Spong, on June 16, 2008 9:50 AM
Living by Faith Is Good for Your Health
What I and most Christians believe is well supported by those who have carefully studied the field. I hasten to add, however, that one does not become a Christian because it’s a healthier lifestyle.
Posted by Charles "Chuck" Colson, on June 16, 2008 8:37 AM
Life is Not a Health Spa Visit
Life is not meant to be a long-term sojourn in a health spa.
Posted by James Anderson, on June 16, 2008 7:29 AM
You Want Facts or Feelings?
This question should not be seen as a matter of personal conviction or opinion at all. People’s hunches, anecdotal recollections, or personal convictions are of no more weight here than they would be about the causes of global warming.
Posted by Daniel C. Dennett, on June 13, 2008 10:14 AM
Can Religion Effect or Affect Health?
To claim to "effect" good health," to bring into being such cures, however, is an invitation to false advertising, to license false hopes (acknowledging that there can be "true" hopes), and even guilt or worse health among the hyper-religious for whom their prayer disciplines were ineffective.
Posted by Martin Marty, on June 13, 2008 9:54 AM
Faith is not a New Age Belief
In sum, faith is something that clearly has a connection with the soul and with the inner workings of man's mentality, and therefore has some influence on health too.
Posted by Adin Steinsaltz, on June 13, 2008 7:35 AM
Your Church Can Help You Get Well (or Make You Sick!)
Even as we can sin against one another in body, mind and spirit, so too can we grace one another in body, mind and spirit and help each other become more whole.
Posted by Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite, on June 11, 2008 3:52 PM
Christianity Produces a Sound Soul and Sound Body
There is more to understanding God’s creation and how we should relate to it than the nutrition label on the back of your “food product” can tell you.
Posted by John Mark Reynolds, on June 11, 2008 2:30 PM
Religious Devotion Can Bring Tangible Health Benefits
There’s considerable evidence that a religious life delivers significant health dividends in faiths that integrate a health code into their religious observance – like Seventh Day Adventists and Mormons (Latter-day Saints)
Posted by Michael Otterson, on June 11, 2008 1:03 PM
The Mind-Body Connection
I date the origins of my atheism from a visit to the hospital, at age seven, to see a playmate in an iron lung, a boy who had been running and playing ball with the rest of us. That made a permanent impression on me. I began questioning all of the nonsense I had already been taught about the existence of a loving God.
Posted by Susan Jacoby, on June 10, 2008 8:24 AM
Tending our Earthly Vessels
We read the manual for the proper care and maintenance of our cars. We can also read the "manual" for the proper care of our bodies.
Posted by Cal Thomas, on June 10, 2008 7:55 AM
Faith Healing, from Jesus to Neurotransmitters
At the very least faith induces subjective well-being with about as much reliability as pharmaceuticals, minus damaging side effects. Which is not to imply that anyone should place absolute faith in faith.
Posted by Deepak Chopra, on June 10, 2008 6:42 AM
Faith Is Real, And So Is Science
This issue is not whether or not “one believes” that faith affects our health, because it is a scientific fact that it does. The issue is what we mean by faith and how we understand the effect.
Posted by Brad Hirschfield, on June 10, 2008 5:16 AM
Faith and Mental Health
If our Faith is centered around a personality or in a set of rituals defined by someone then we are opening the door to dogmatic practices which can lead to a deterioration in mental health.
Posted by Arun Gandhi, on June 9, 2008 4:20 AM
FEATURED COMMENTS
a closer look: There is no question that chronic and prolonged stress over-inflates the 'fight or flight' mechanism that is a primitive part of our central...
jonny: The anecdotes and testimonials touting faith-healing are, of course, pandemic, and have ever been thus.
Curious, however, that supernatural...
Marilyn: I believe that those who do believe in a deity have every right to assume their good fortune and health is due to that deity's 'blessing'. ...
