Do you believe that some people can heal sickness in two minutes through the power of God?

There hasn’t been a single confirmed case of this “faith healing”. There is no such thing.

No, I don’t believe it, and nothing except solid, undeniable proof could convince me that it is real.

Nope. I firmly believe the only power they have is to separate money from the pockets of fools. What’s more, indisputable proof is only a hospital away, yet when was the last time you saw a “faith healer” pay a visit to an ICU.

No. Also, it should be said that there are many cases of people dying for believing in this hogwash. It’s poisonous.

I’ll believe it when I experience it for myself. Until then, I’ll sit and suffer with whatever meds my doctor throws at me.

Just for fun, however, you might want to ask yourself a couple of legitimate questions. Assuming that such a thing is possible…
– Why are amputees never healed?
– If someone has the power to heal like this, why aren’t they traveling around healing? Walk into a local hospital and heal kids with cancer? If they are not doing this, there are some moral implications that are not favorable to the “healers”.
– What exactly is the mechanism of these healings? Has god provided extra powers to these people so that they can perform these supernatural events? If so, then it exposes the god to all kinds of ethical problems because this becomes a god that manifests, so you are now faced with all kinds of problems of suffering, etc.

Interesting question. First I’d like to start off by answering a portion of your details.

You stated: “One healer on facebook said he is going to appear on the 700 Club. He is a past crack cocaine addict, his wife a past meth addict and now he travels all over the world allegedly healing strangers. What do you think of this?”

I think this is good. In my experience an addicted person needs something above themselves to sometimes break through the addiction barrier. Whether it’s God, a loved one, anyone that they feel will help them through addiction, I think it’s a positive step for that persons personal health.

You asked: “Do you believe that some people can heal sickness in two minutes through the power of God?”

It’s not hard for me to answer no because I’ve never known someone close to me who has had experience with being healed in 2 minutes from some crazy sickness.

I feel pretty confident it is all fake. For every faith healing experience publicized, there is another that debunks it by a person who participated in a scam such as this. I won’t rule it out as a possibility, but I need to hear or see proof from a reputable source before even remotely accepting it as fact. Even then, it might be still questioned.

Nope.

Absolutely not.

No. Remember what P.T. Barnum is alleged to have said.

Of course not.

People who call themselves are con artists. It has been demonstrated time after time. Why is it not criminalized is my question.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7BQKu0YP8Y See if this says anything. I haven’t watched it though.

Let’s break it down:

1. I don’t believe in God, so
2. I don’t believe in “the power of God”, and
3. I think faith healers are con artists and charlatans, and
4. Many of those people were not sick or injured to begin with (but were in league with the con artist) or
5. Some people can believe in their own well-being enough to overcome many frailties, temporarily, and
6. There are no follow-up interviews, are there?

I believe that God can heal people, and sometimes He uses other people to do it. That said, there are con artists out there who know how to work with the placebo effect.
I am a first-hand witness to someone dropping an opioid dependency through divine intervention. Right between doses. No withdrawal, no relapse, nada.

That’s a resounding “no”.

@Nullo Of course that is not true. Why would this God let them have a disability in the first place? Why would he allow this debate? Wouldn’t he want everyone to know? why wouldn’t he just appear to them and just do it?

Good grief, no.

No.

However, some conditions we do see the power of the mind “cure” people. Similar to the placebo effects, people can feel and be better if they believe a treatment is working. It does not work for cancer and being paralyzed and other conditions where physically it is medically impossible for an instantaneous cure, but it can work for other problems where a person feels much better and might actually be much better. Placebo has been shown to be very effective in mild depression, physical pain, and other ailments.

I do believe in miracles, defined as miracles are something that happens outside of nature as we know. What I mean to say is we are still learning about nature and don’t completely understand all that can happen, but we do know some things are impossible, and usually if science believes something to be impossible it is.

Uh, no.

@flo Plans. For instance, a person with a disability can reach the world in ways that a healthy person could not. Temporal discomfort and hardship are ultimately of no consequence for those who take the long view.

The parable of Lazarus and the rich man establishes that God could make personal appearances and wreak like it was going out of style, and it would make little difference. Heck, that was precisely what happened with Jesus. His own disciples would doubt Him in spite of a demonstrated mastery of the temporal. The masses, many of whom had likely turned up for Jesus’ sermons, were quick to have him executed.

I’ll thank you for not telling me what I believe. :D

Article here and here, if you’re interested.

No.

No.

If God, or god or dog, or whoever he/she is was what he/she was supposed to be, then why not heal everybody??? Why only heal the “believers”??? And why only the Xstian believers??? Lots of people believe in god or God or a god. Which is it that you refer to???

Seriously, is this a real question?

Oh, I forgot to ask, which God, god or dog were you referring to??? The Xstian god, the Muslim god, the Hindu god, the Native American god(s) the Greek god(s) the Roman god(s) the Mormon god, the Shinto god, mythological god(s) African tribal God (s)? some other god??? Dere’s a buncho gods out dere!

Don’t forget, Snake Oil and Smoke and Mirrors are still very popular. It’s the new “modern.”

@Kardamom I think that we can infer that the OP is referring to the God of the Bible, since it references The 700 Club, a Christian outfit.

What you must understand is that there are two sides here: God’s side, and Satan’s. People who are not on God’s side are by default on Satan’s turf. That brings some restrictions into play. God doesn’t act in non-believers’ lives quite so much because they are effectively in enemy territory. At the same time, Satan has no direct power over the lives of Christians.

Having faith in a random god isn’t the same as being a follower of Christ. This is about allegiances. Since there is only one true God, then all the rest are fakes – hollow at best, demonic at worst – puppets of the enemy. In what war has faithfulness to the enemy kept a POW out of the POW camp?
Fortunately, you have the option of changing sides at any time, up until you die.

Where do you get that God must heal people, anyway?

No. Fraudsters and Lunatics, all of them.

Things sometime happen that cannot be explained. I don’t know what causes them and neither does anyone else.

@Nullo,

God doesn’t act in non-believers’ lives quite so much because they are effectively in enemy territory.

And the good Samaritan? Whose turf did he come from?

Of course if a miraculous cure occurs in a believer, they say it was the result of divine intervention even if science was also involved.

Conversely if the cure occurs in a non believer, it is without a doubt the result of science.

But really who knows if the cure would have occurred even without scientific intervention???
It’s sort of like is sex better for circumcised or uncircumcised men, how can you be sure?

@Nullo Enemy territory? There are plenty of Atheists and non Christians who are good people who have wonderful lives. There are many believing Christians who have extremely difficult unjust lives. How do you work that out in your head?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hs2ZmX1CGiE&feature=share
This is the big guy who said the 700 Club called him this week. Pete Cabrera, jr.

@Aster, would you believe me if I said a magic rock cured my cancer?

Why or why not?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3-2rr2RPSg

I don’t watch Youtube videos, sorry. Can you describe what you find to be so convincing in the video?

I mean, you are aware that scam artists and fraudsters exist, right?

Here magician and atheist David Masters crashes a faith healing tent revival, and teaches the congregation how the pastor faked the growth of legs to relieve back pain.

Informative, enlightening and entertaining.

I also recommend http://whywontgodhealamputees.com

@Seek_Kolinahr I liked the so called leg lengthening video but didn’t see anything happen! I guess they just wanted it to be true so they believed it. Fake.

@Jeruba The Good Samaritan was on the same turf – he was geographically proximate. I am using geography metaphorically, you understand.

@JLeslie See that bit about plans. Additionally, things are rockier when you’re closer to the front lines. Christians are promised that they won’t ever be faced with more than they can handle. Satan attacks people that he perceives to be a threat, both healthy Christians and seekers; he’d rather his atheists stay content and not go looking to God for solutions to temporal problems, so he tends to leave them alone. The healthy Christian turns to God for help in those cases.
Which is not to say that everything is divine or satanic; I believe that some things are just life.

Everything is just life.

@Nullo, but he was not of their “kind.” He was other. Not of the Right Way. And that was the whole point. Must have been a spawn of Satan, then?

@Nullo
1)One thing is sure: it is impossible you would be one of the victims of these con artists. You would laugh at them in their face if one of them proposed you let them heal you if you became paralyzed for example. Yes or no?

2)This “God” sounds no different from a regular sociopath the way you are describing him.

Added: Okay maybe you wouldn’t lagh in their face.

Not even a little. It’s a sham geared toward fooling naive and gullible religious people…and unfortunately they are easily fooled.

Also, I’d immediately discredit anyone who appears on the 700 Club. They’re all idiots.

Whoa and wow, @Nullo.

I had never seen that expressed so starkly as you put it:
What you must understand is that there are two sides here: God’s side, and Satan’s. People who are not on God’s side are by default on Satan’s turf. That brings some restrictions into play. God doesn’t act in non-believers’ lives quite so much because they are effectively in enemy territory. At the same time, Satan has no direct power over the lives of Christians.

So those of us who are “other”, whether “other religion” or “no religion” are of Satan? No middle ground, no reasonable allowance for ”{Sniff}, eh, that’s their way”? Truly black and white, then? I guess that makes judgment about others a lot easier; no thinking involved.

=========
Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump. I said, “Don’t do it!”

He said, “Nobody loves me.”

I said, “God loves you. Do you believe in God?”

He said, “Yes.”

I said, “Are you a Christian or a Jew?”

He said, “A Christian.”

I said, “Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?”

He said, “Protestant.”

I said, “Me, too! What franchise?”

He said, “Baptist.”

I said, “Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?”

He said, “Northern Baptist.”

I said, “Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?”

He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist.”

I said, “Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?”

He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region.”

I said, “Me, too!”

Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?”

He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912.”

I said, “Die, heretic!” And I pushed him over.”

^^ Ha Ha and Amen!!!

Why does the “Christian God” whoever or whatever that is, always seem to take precedent in the U.S.? Do Christians really not understand that there are plenty of people in the U.S. and in the rest of the WORLD who believe in different Gods, gods, godesses that pre-date or came into being at around the same time as Jesus and his folks???

It bums me out that Native American Gods/gods are totally discounted in this discussion. And why @Nullo, who was clearly born and raised in the U.S. (forgive me if I’m wrong) believes in the white, light reddish brown haired, bearded son of God (same person if you believe in the trinity) dude called Jesus, but can’t even consider the possibility of South American deities or Asian deities or African deities. Why??? Why are those other Gods/gods not valid???

I’m pretty much a fence sitter on this subject. But I do find it interesting that practically every civilization or group of people at any point in time and any place on the face of this earth believed in some sort of supreme being or higher power. If it is all a figment of one’s imagination, then it is intriguing that this “figment” seems to pop up so consistently and persistently. And really I don’t think the christian god is the top dog, it just depends on where you are and which believers are surrounding you.

Since @CWOTUS is telling jokes, how about this one, this guy was telling some others why he was an atheist. It seems he was on an expedition in the artic. He somehow became separated from his group and was wandering about, freezing and hopelessly lost. In his desperation he called out to god and pleaded for divine intervention, asked for god to show him the way out. Alas, there was no flash of lightning forthcoming, no miraculous sign pointing the way to salvation so that proved to him there was no god. One of the listeners said well you are here telling the story, if god didn’t help how did you survive. So he says, well god didn’t help me, if it hadn’t been for those eskimoes just happening by I would have frozen to death. Makes you think a little bit, doesn’t it???

@rooeytoo – I fail to see divine intervention playing a part in that story. First of all, anyone on an arctic expedition should have considerable survival training or they don’t belong there in the first place. If they have that training, it should be no surprise to them that someone happens to already live in the area he’s exploring. So, that’s all that story makes me think. I did chuckle at @CWOTUS’ joke, because I grew up in a United Pentecostal Church, International church, and they used to condemn the Assemblies of Our Lord Jesus Christ Pentecostal Church people as unsaved heathens because the latter allowed people to watch television and wear open-toed shoes on the pulpit.

Also @Kardamom – I’m kind of a fan of using American gods as examples. Quetzalcoatl is a personal favourite when debating Pascal’s Wager. Just to be safe, I’ll repent, take Communion, and rip out the beating heart of a virgin so the sun will rise tomorrow.

@Seek_Kolinahr – I am truly sorry you found no humor in my joke, it got a great laugh at the gathering where it was related to me. And actually I thought there were many areas up there that were completely uninhabited so unlikely to meet even eskimos. I don’t know if the lost guy had survival training or not, it was a joke about the guy not recognizing indirect help from god not a biography.

My favorite god is the one, I think in PNG, where they dress up a big goanna in golden vestments and worship it. At least it doesn’t tell them to wear black from head to toe and sweat your asses off in the tropical heat.

@Nullo: “God doesn’t act in non-believers’ lives quite so much because they are effectively in enemy territory.” See now this makes no sense to me because what better way would there be to move non-believers to His territory than acting in their lives? I think many Christians denominations do a lot of filling in the holes with their own theories in order to justify their beliefs. If one repeats this stuff often enough one starts to believe it.

To the original question, no I do not believe a “faith healer” can cure someone in two minutes through the power of God. I think these people are charlatans and hucksters who use the name of God for their own profit. It is pathetic and despicable.

@Kardamom I have maintained for a while now that Jesus Christ seems has the best public relations people. Very few people have even heard the name Bahá’u’lláh and even fewer have heard the story of the White Buffalo Calf Maiden. Rather sad if you ask me.

So, if I go to a bigger venue, like The Mall of America, can an ordinary looking and acting guy (whatever that means) get rid of my bone spurs, add more synovial fluid and cushioning and sand the patella down in my left knee? I’d be happy to spend an hour if necessary.

@gailcalled I think God would look down at the fact that you used science in order to determine your specific problems. It seems in my vast experience with faith healing that God’s favourite things to heal are “low blood” (Evangelist for “you’ve been here since 7am and probably need to eat something”), addiction (particularly for cigarette smokers, and their “proof” is telling the smoker they can’t taste the nicotine in their mouths, right?), and generalized pain (which is often helped out temporarily by the endorphin rush generated by the experience).

Also, evangelists hate it when people don’t play along. This one guy spent an hour every time he came through town trying to “heal” one man’s deaf ear. The dude just would not lie and say he was all better, no matter how many times the evangelist smacked him on the side of the head with his microphone/magic wand. It got to be rather comical after a while.

@Seek_Kolinahr: I’d know I’d feel a lot better is an evangelist smacked me hard enough with his microphone to allow me to sue him. Money always makes me hear better and have more flexibility in my knees.

Lucky that the faith healer didn’t destroy the hearing in the other ear. The conductive bones in the middle ear are the smallest in the body and easily breakable.

edit; “if an evang.” and not “is.” I swear that spell-check is now worse than a poltergeist.

@Seek_Kolinahr I loved that video of the faith healers!