Testing Prayer: Science and Healing

by Candy Gunther Brown

When sickness strikes, people around the world pray for healing. Many of the faithful claim that prayer has cured them of blindness, deafness, and metastasized cancers, and some believe they have been resurrected from the dead. Can, and should, science test such claims? A number of scientists say no, concerned that empirical studies of prayer will be misused to advance religious agendas. And some religious practitioners agree with this restraint, worrying that scientific testing could undermine faith.

In Candy Gunther Brown’s view, science cannot prove prayer’s healing power, but what scientists can and should do is study prayer’s measurable effects on health. If prayer produces benefits, even indirectly (and findings suggest that it does), then more careful attention to prayer practices could impact global health, particularly in places without access to conventional medicine.

Drawing on data from Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians, Brown reverses a number of stereotypes about believers in faith-healing. Among them is the idea that poorer, less educated people are more likely to believe in the healing power of prayer and therefore less likely to see doctors. Brown finds instead that people across socioeconomic backgrounds use prayer alongside conventional medicine rather than as a substitute. Dissecting medical records from before and after prayer, surveys of prayer recipients, prospective clinical trials, and multiyear follow-up observations and interviews, she shows that the widespread perception of prayer’s healing power has demonstrable social effects, and that in some cases those effects produce improvements in health that can be scientifically verified.

Genres: Christianity, Religion

384 pages, Hardcover

First published April 30, 2012

Reviews

[LAMONT D · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all, there is a lot to like about this book. It may not be for everyone, but it is heavy in thought and notes contained at the end of the book (physically the book is quite heavy as well). AS the back of the book offers from Dr. John R. Pettet - Harvard Medical School: "The book ... avoids the temptations to privilege either theology or experience over science, or to reduce observed phenomena to material explanations." She is focused mainly on several ministers (Randy Clark and Heidi Baker) coming out of the Toronto Blessing movement from years gone by. In generality, it does appear that the charismatic movement tends to believe more in healings through prayer versus the Western thought in many denominations. Even though I personally believe in prayer and God's ability to heal today, and my church has testified to that fact in recent years, I have not personally experienced it myself. The one time my wife and I followed biblical direction by having the elders anoint oil on her head for our baby with their prayers, she ended up having a miscarriage anyway and our grief was profound, but our faith stayed strong. I do think it would be hard to quantify and document someone being healed, whether physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually for that matter. The evidence is in the fruit so-to-speak. The author does document what she believes are proof of such physical healings though the debate would be how much was actually attributable to the prayers of that person and others. Some quotes from the book: "The simplest explanation tends to be the most accurate; Critics nevertheless remind us that separating helpful spiritual practices from their traditions has both practical and ethical risks." And my favorite quote from the book from Carl Sagan: "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence." Chew on that for a while I would say.

[Roland Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant analysis of contemporary pentecostalism. See my full review here: http://andthewordsbecamebooks.wordpre...

[Manar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came across this book while writing my research paper and it made me forget I was doing homework, I had to read the whole thing. 5 stars because I referenced so much from it.

[Sue Caulfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read. Raises more questions than answers.

[Adrian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Brown's book "Testing Prayer" functions within the intersection of religion and science. Specifically, understanding empirical claims of healing by prayer. I found the text extremely approachable to the non-scientific audience. I learned some key figures: randy Clark, Heidi Baker, and Wimber all of which are important in Pentecostal networks. Additionally, I appreciated the historical notes on the Toronto blessing and the vineyard movement as part of the context of prayer as a global healing practice dissemination. Overall, I think the author summarized it best as the idea that people will continue to pray for healing, therefore science should try to make sense of some of the healing and understand how prayer can help meet the needs of people all over the world.

[Elizabeth Licitra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading the history the Toronto Blessing and its affect on global Christianity (first chapter). I had no idea. I enjoyed the progress of the book as it took in a wide scope of Christianity around the world in regards to prayer and health. I enjoyed reading of the author's interviews and experiences in American and to more distant countries: Brazil and Mozambique. She was the researcher who submitted test results to a medical journal several years ago regarding prayers for the blind and deaf. Truly fascinating to read her account of gathering this data and the challenges she faced. By the end of the book, I wasn't sure if she is a Christian, and I think that made it all the more interesting to read. I was just happy for the difficult questions she asked, and her reflections on the answers she didn't receive (example: those who wouldn't submit their medical records).