Fw: Can prayers heal?

From: Randy Isaac

Today's NYTimes carried this article. If the link doesn't work for many of you, and if there's enough interest, I'll paste the whole article in a subsequent post.
I'm interested to know your view of the quality and credibility and value of "prayer research".
Randy

Can Prayers Heal? Critics Say Studies Go Past Science

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/10/health/10prayer.html?ex=1098413232&ei=1&en=4a11147347747a25

The Israelites were always wanting to know God's name, his essential characteristics that would allow them to use him for their purposes. In prayer, we request of God but cannot command God. Science is applicable to the realm in which God has given humanity creaturely powers of dominion. Those powers, however, do not extend to the subjection of God himself to our scrutiny.

On the other hand, God chooses to reveal his generosity to humanity and that can be noted. If it is taken notice of more carefully (that is, through a systematic sociological study), then that has got to be honoring of God, to be willing to look for and acknowledge his goodness in answering our requests of him.

So this kind of study can be tricky business. It depends on what the motives are.

Dennis Feucht
Received on Wed Oct 13 19:51:47 2004