Prayer as healing

Randy commented, in part:

"At the 2004 ASA annual meeting, I recall one talk where a physician
reported on the healing effectiveness of prayer. During the Q&A he
reaffirmed a comment that had raised a lot of eyebrows during the talk:
it
didn't matter to whom one prayed or whether the god to whom the prayer
was
made actually existed, the prayer was just as effective. Is prayer in
the
alternative medicine camp?"

There was a book published on this a few years back -- I reviewed it for
PERSPECTIVES in 1998. The review is on the ASA web site or on my site at
www.burgy.50megs.com/factor.htm (The site is inactive today but should be
up 12/23).

That question was addressed very well, IMHO.

The citation is THE FAITH FACTOR, PROOF OF THE HEALING POWER OF PRAYER by
Dale A. Matthews, M.D. with Connie Clark. New York, NY; Penguin Group,
1998. 322 pages, index, footnotes. Hardcover; $24.95.

Burgy

www.burgy.50megs.com/progress.htm (A Short History of Progress)
Received on Thu Dec 22 17:01:04 2005