,transcriber's notes3 ,the text of this e-book has been preserved in its original form apart from silent correction of a few minor punctuation flaws 7missing commas and full stops74 ,there are occasional spelling inconsistencies as a consequence of its multiple authorship4 ,one missing footnote marker has been inserted at what seemed an appropriate position4 ,footnotes have been numbered and relocated below the relevant paragraphs4 ,,medicine ,,and ,,the ,,church ,,medicine ,,and ,,the ,,church ,,being ,a ,,series ,,of ,,studies ,,on ,,the ,,relationship ,,between ,,the ,,practice ,,of ,,medicine ,,and ,,the ,,church',s ,,ministry ,,to ,,the ,,sick ,,by ,,sir ,,clifford ,,allbutt1 ,k4,c4,b41 ,f4,r4,s4 ,a4 ,w4 ,,robinson1 ,d4,d4 ,,charles ,,buttar1 ,m4,d4 ,,stephen ,,paget1 ,f4,r4,c4,s4 ,,bishop ,,of ,,bloemfontein4 ,,hon4 ,,sydney ,,holland4 ,,prebendary ,,fausset1 ,m4,a4 ,,jane ,,walker1 ,m4,d4 ,t4 ,b4 ,,hyslop1 ,m4,d4 ,,ellis ,,roberts4 ,m4 ,,carta ,,sturge4 ,h4 ,g4 ,g4 ,,mackenzie1 ,m4,a41 ,m4,b4 ,,edited1 ,,with ,,an ,,introduction1 ,,by ,,geoffrey ,,rhodes ,,with ,a ,,foreword ,,by ,,the ,,lord ,,bishop ,,of ,,winchester ,,london ,,kegan ,,paul1 ,,trench1 ,,tr,,bner ,,co41 ,,ltd41 ,,dryden ,,house1 ,,gerrard ,,street1 ,w4 #aiaj ,,foreword ,,by ,,the ,,lord ,,bishop ,,of ,,winchester ,,farnham ,,castle1 ,,surrey3 ,july #d1 #aiaj4 ,dear ,mr4 ,geoffrey ,rhodes1 ,the appearance of your volume is very welcome4 ,there is1 ,i believe1 a real need for such a work4 ,you are to be congratulated on the results of the energy and patience which you have bestowed upon its preparation4 ,you have a true reward in the support of writers so varied and conspicuous in distinction as those whose names you have been able to bring together4 ,you are enabling the whole reading world to judge for itself1 how the subject of #8,spiritual1' #8,mental1' or #8,faith' healing1 which during the past ten years has forced itself upon public notice1 is being regarded by able1 thoughtful1 and impartial minds4 ,there is no doubt that scientific medical men are not going to pay attention to evidence of an unscientific character4 ,they will not waste their time over it4 ,nevertheless1 to phenomena duly attested1 and to evidence scientifically recorded1 they will give the most scrupulous attention4 ,it is the detailed and accurate collection and classification of facts by those who are trained for the task and expert in its process1 that must precede generalisations upon this new1 or shall we call it1 revived1 branch of therapeutics4 ,prejudice against it will be found to exist both in ecclesiastic and in scientific circles4 ,your book will help to dissipate prejudice by the spread of better-informed opinion4 ,the time1 indeed1 is opportune4 ,the ,british ,medical ,journal of ,june #ah1 #aiaj1 has published a series of papers by men #8who could speak with the highest authority on the relations between mind and body1 as exhibited in the phenomena of disease4' #8,their opinion1' as the ,journal tells us1 #8serves as an authoritative reminder that there are bodily ills which cannot be cured by pills and potions1 but which yield to methods which1 for want of a better word1 may be called 8mental02 that cures which1 in a former day1 would have been denied by unbelievers and accepted as miracles by the faithful1 really happen1 and that they can be explained without invoking supernatural intervention4' ,on the other hand1 we are confident the ,church of ,christ will never identify itself with charlatan methods which might delude the poor and the ignorant into the superstitious idea that they can be more cheaply and effectively healed by a magic or thaumaturgic ministry1 than by the knowledge and skill of trained and certificated doctors and surgeons4 ,to quote our report in the ,lambeth ,conference of #aijh1 #8,medical science is the handmaid of ,god and ,his ,church' 7,n4,b4 not of ,his clergy1 but of that ,body of ,christ in which all true callings unite in serving71 #8and should be fully recognised as the ordinary means appointed by ,almighty ,god for the care and healing of the human body4' ,the temper of our age favours an inquiry conducted in a spirit which will neither disregard the requirements of science1 nor rule miracles out of court as impossible4 ,we need not be anxious as to the results4 ,it looks1 indeed1 as if science were only just now awaking to the realisation of its possibilities through psychical treatment2 and as if the ,church had never yet realised to the full its responsibility and its power in ministration to sickness1 and its influence over the reason and the imagination4 #8,suspect everything1' says ,st4 ,teresa1 as quoted by ,sir ,clifford ,allbutt1 #8which weakens the use of our reason2 for by such a way1 we shall never attain to the liberty of the ,spirit4' #8,prayer1' says the ,british ,medical ,journal1 in the article quoted above1 #8inspired by a living faith1 is a force acting within the patient1 which places him in the most favourable condition for the stirring of the pool of hope that lies1 still and hidden it may be1 in the depths of human nature4' ,truly1 it is a tribute to the intellectual temper of our day that two such quotations1 the one from a medieval saint1 the other from a leading article in our modern medical journal1 can appropriately be adduced in illustration of the spirit in which you have edited your volume4 ,i trust it will have many readers4 ,that it may promote the wise and temperate study of spiritual and mental1 as well as of physical1 forces and disorders1 is my earnest hope and desire4 ,that it may also tend to correct shallow and superficial delusions on the part of ignorant persons who imagine that they can dispense with scientific knowledge1 and ignore the facts of mortality in suffering1 disease1 and death1 is an expectation which ,i pray may be fulfilled4 ,wishing1 therefore1 your volume all success1 ,i am1 dear ,mr4 ,geoffrey ,rhodes1 ,yours very sincerely1 ,herbert ,e4 ,winton4 ,,editor',s ,,preface ,i have to acknowledge my indebtedness to a host of kind people for help in compiling this book4 ,first of all to the many clergymen and doctors who assisted me in finding suitable contributors for the different chapters1 and then no less to the contributors themselves who1 in spite of the exigencies of professional duties1 managed not only to write for these pages but to take part in many editorial discussions often entailing lengthy interviews and correspondence4 ,the ,bishop of ,winchester's work in connexion with this book has not been confined to the ,foreword which appears under his name4 ,i have had the benefit of his ,lordship's advice and help throughout1 and he has spared the time to read all the essays in manuscript4 ,my thanks are also due to ,sir ,thomas ,barlow and ,sir ,clifford ,allbutt for assistance in reading the proofs of the medical chapters4 ,messrs4 ,macmillan and the ,editors of the ,hibbert ,journal and the ,british ,medical ,journal have kindly allowed me to make extracts4 ,g4 ,r4 ,,contents ,,page ,,foreword v ,by ,,the ,,lord ,,bishop ,,of ,,winchester4 ,,editor',s ,,preface xi ,,introduction3 ,,part ,i4 #c ,,part ,,ii4 #ca #a4 ,,the ,,relationship ,,between ,,medicine ,,and ,,religion #cc ,by ,,sir ,t4 ,,clifford ,,allbutt1 ,k4,c4,b41 ,m4,d41 ,,ll4,d41 ,f4,r4,s41 ,regius ,professor of ,physic at the ,university of ,cambridge4 #b4 ,,religion ,,and ,,medicine ,,in ,,the ,,hospital #dc ,by ,hon4 ,,sydney ,,holland1 ,chairman of the ,london ,hospital4 #c4 ,,the ,,surgeon1 ,,the ,,clergyman1 ,,and ,,the ,,patient #de ,by ,f4,r4,c4,s4 ,,medicine ,,and ,,religion #ea ,by ,,charles ,,buttar1 ,m4,d41 ,sometime ,president of the ,harveian ,society4 ,,the ,,patient #fi ,by ,,stephen ,,paget1 ,f4,r4,c4,s4 ,,the ,,relation ,,of ,,priest ,,and ,,doctor ,,to ,,patient #ha ,by ,,jane ,,walker1 ,m4,d41 ,physician1 ,new ,hospital for ,women4 ,,faith ,,and ,,mental ,,instability #ajc ,by ,,theo4 ,b4 ,,hyslop1 ,m4,d41 ,superintendent of ,bethlem ,hospital4 ,,medical ,,aspects ,,of ,,mental ,,healing #aag ,by ,h4 ,g4 ,g4 ,,mackenzie1 ,m4,a41 ,m4,b4 ,,our ,,lord',s ,,attitude ,,towards ,,sickness #age ,by ,w4 ,,yorke ,,fausset1 ,m4,a41 ,vicar of ,cheddar and ,prebendary of ,wells4 ,,the ,,principles ,,of ,,modern ,,christian ,,healing #bje ,by ,w4 ,,yorke ,,fausset1 ,m4,a41 ,vicar of ,cheddar and ,prebendary of ,wells4 ,,the ,,church ,,and ,,mental ,,healing #bbg ,by ,,ellis ,,roberts4 ,,the ,,eucharist ,,and ,,bodily ,,well-,,being #bde ,by ,,arthur ,w4 ,,robinson1 ,d4,d41 ,vicar of ,all ,hallows ,barking1 ,examining ,chaplain to the ,bishop of ,london1 and ,rural ,dean of the ,east ,city of ,london4 ,,prayer ,,and ,,mental ,,healing #bfi ,by ,,arthur ,,chandler1 ,d4,d41 ,bishop of ,bloemfontein4 ,,the ,,metaphysics ,,of ,,christian ,,science #bhi ,by ,m4 ,,carta ,,sturge4 ,,introduction ,,part ,i ,,medicine ,,and ,,the ,,church ,,introduction ,i ,in the ,middle ,ages practically the only homes of learning were the monasteries4 ,here all the knowledge of the time was taught and all the studies carried on1 so that under the same roof the theologian1 the chemist1 the artist1 and the artificer sat side by side1 and consequently each drew from and modified the study and practice of the other4 ,in ,england1 at least1 the dissolution of the monasteries changed this order1 and though the brilliancy of the ,renaissance for a time obscured the loss to society in general1 in the backwater of the eighteenth century both religion and medicine drifted into distinct circumscribed professions4 ,the dawn of the nineteenth century saw an enormous revival of interest and study in both directions1 but the newfound energy with which the two spheres of learning were pushed forward1 proved in the end inimical to the highest interests of the community1 for religion and medicine found themselves carried farther and farther apart4 ,before the stress of life became as severe as it is to-day1 most common complaints could be overcome by rest and ordinary treatment4 ,but under modern conditions of extreme complexity healing can no longer be conducted on such simple lines1 and as time has gone on the effects of this divorce of medicine and religion have made themselves felt4 ,in correspondence with a more highly organised state of society1 man has become a more highly organised being4 ,he has developed faculties in excess of the man of1 say1 fifty years ago1 and the exercise of these faculties1 that depend for their operation on the nervous system1 entails a strain on that system to which it was not exposed half a century back4 ,the more elaborate the machinery the more ways in which it may get out of order4 ,man to-day is prone to a dozen nervous complaints whose existence our forefathers were happily able to ignore4 ,owing to climatic and other conditions that need not be discussed here1 these nervous disorders first forced themselves on public attention in the ,united ,states of ,america4 ,the overworked business or professional man has no time in the rushing life of the great growing cities of ,america for rest4 ,carried off his feet by the tide of prosperity1 he becomes the slave of his inventions instead of being their master4 ,his sense of proportion becomes atrophied and he fails to maintain a correct balance between thought and action4 ,a purely materialistic medicine that ignores thoughts and feelings as being outside the scope of diagnosis is powerless to prescribe for such a case4 ,and it is small matter for astonishment that patients of this description have been drifting into the hands of ,christian ,science and kindred cults in their search for relief4 ,these systems of philosophy or religion 7if such they can be called7 lack1 however1 that element of completeness without which no guide of human conduct can maintain its hold4 ,and as it becomes realised that these irresponsible and often mercenary societies are propagating views diametrically opposed to the common-sense conceptions of the patients1 their power will be broken and the cures cease4 ,meantime ,christian ,science undoubtedly does overcome some cases of nervous trouble1 but these in no sense outweigh the mischief done by its followers in denying the sick medical care4 ,we must clear the ground before we can commence building1 and it may be well to examine briefly the #8faith and works' of ,christian ,science before proceeding to discuss the relationship between ,medicine and the ,church4 ,opening ,mrs4 ,eddy's handbook at random we come across these two explanatory statements3 7#a7 ,it is not scientific to examine the body in order to ascertain if we are in health4 7#b7 ,to employ drugs for the cure of disease shows a lack of faith in ,god4 ,there is nothing new1 of course1 in these two statements1 nor anything peculiar to ,christian ,science in them4 ,they are put forward by the majority of persons with these views1 whether they belong to the ,peculiar ,people or to ,christian ,science4 ,with ,christian ,science1 as with all these unorthodox and irregular religious healing societies1 it is almost impossible to find any matter that is sufficiently definite to enable one to form any conclusion of their objects4 ,they talk glibly about having effected cures of various kinds of diseases1 but on their own showing there is absolutely no evidence to prove that the individual ever had that disease or any other form of disease4 ,mr4 ,stephen ,paget has very kindly allowed me to make one or two extracts from his invaluable work dealing with ,christian ,science4 ,he has1 at great pains1 collected cases of ,christian ,science cures as reported in their own official publications4 ,it is only necessary to read a few of these to see the absolute hopelessness of getting at the bottom of them1 not merely from a medical standpoint but from the point of view of common sense4 ,i would ask any person of average intelligence to read the following five testimonies to healing that ,mr4 ,stephen ,paget extracted from ,mrs4 ,eddy's weekly journal1 the ,christian ,science ,sentinel1 and inform me if they convey any impression whatsoever to his or her mind3 #8,mrs4 ,r4--,healed of 8sense of fatigue1 and throat trouble40 ,also1 when knocked down by a bicyclist1 she 8suffered no pain at all1 and had little sense of shock40' #8,mrs4 ,e4--,was healed of the pain of a burn4 8,the healing went on rapidly1 and in a very short time all manifestation of the trouble disappeared40' #8,mr4 ,w4--,cured of drinking and smoking1 and of 8stomach and throat trouble40'#a #a ,a good case of a drunkard converted4 ,the healing of the stomach and throat troubles1 of course1 followed the giving-up of the drink4 #8,mamie ,d4--8,i seemed to have burned my hand very badly40 ,healed4' #8,mrs4 ,p4--8,many physical ailments have been met and overcome by ,truth40' ,and yet if they will refer to ,mr4 ,paget's book they will find hundreds of similar instances4 ,in an appendix to the second edition of his work ,mr4 ,paget quotes the whole of the correspondence in connexion with the absent treatment of the ,hon4 ,a4 ,holland-,hibbert's mare1 in #aijj4 ,this curious correspondence needs no comment4 ,the following is an account in extenso of an alleged cure by ,christian ,science taken from an article in the ,twentieth ,century ,magazine1 published in ,boston1 ,u4,s4,a41 ,october #aiji4 ,the contribution in question is from the pen of the editor1 ,mr4 ,b4 ,o4 ,flower4 ,i leave my readers to form their own opinion on this remarkable testimony4 #8,on the morning of the dedication of the ,chicago ,church1 ,november #ad1 #ahih1 ,i was in my bedroom in the third story of our house 7the house is three stories and basement74 ,i was getting ready to go to the morning service1 and my little daughter1 five years old1 was playing about1 when suddenly ,i felt a silence4 ,i instantly noticed that the child was no longer there and that the window was open4' #8,i looked out and saw her unconscious form on the ground below1 her head on the cement sidewalk4 ,instantly ,i thought1 8,all is ,love40 #8,as ,i went downstairs the entire paragraph in 8,no and ,yes10 page #ai1 beginning1 8,eternal harmony1 perpetuity1 and perfection constitute the phenomena of ,being10 came to me and took up its abode with me1 and with it the clear sense of the great gulf fixed between the child and the lie that claimed to destroy4 ,the child was brought in1 and as she was carried upstairs she cried4 ,as she was laid down1 the blood was spurting from her mouth1 and had already covered her neck and shoulders4 ,i instantly said1 8,there is one law--,god's law--under which man remains perfect10 and the bleeding immediately stopped4 ,the child seemed to relapse into unconsciousness1 but ,i declared1 8,mind is ever present and controls its idea10 and in a few moments she slept naturally4 ,during the morning she seemed to suffer greatly if she was moved at all1 and her legs seemed paralysed1 lifeless4 ,in the afternoon1 all sense of pain left1 she slept quietly1 and ,i went to the afternoon service rejoicing greatly in my freedom from the sense of personal responsibility4' #8,when ,i returned she sat in my lap to eat some supper1 with no sense of pain1 but still unable to control her limbs1 which presented the appearance of entire inaction4 ,at eight o'clock she was undressed without inconvenience1 and there was no mark on her body but a bruised eye4 ,during the day she had not spoken of herself4 ,at eleven o'clock when ,i went upstairs1 ,i found her wide awake and she said3 8,mamma1 error is trying to say that ,i fell out of the window1 but that cannot be4 ,the child of ,god can't fall2 but why do ,i lie here8 ,why can't ,i move my legs80 #8,the answer was1 8,you can move them4 ,mind governs1 and you are always perfect40 ,in a moment she said1 8,i will get up and walk40 ,it seemed to require one or two trials to get her legs to obey1 but she rose1 walked across the room and back and climbed into bed4444 ,she then sat up1 ate a lunch1 fell into a natural slumber1 and woke bright and happy in the morning4' ,the ,archbishop of ,canterbury gave a solemn warning in connexion with this question at a recent conference at ,lambeth ,palace1 and the following statement from the medical side is important4 #8,christian ,science seems to present one fundamental point of difference from all other forms of spiritual healing4 ,this is1 that whereas the cures said to be wrought at ,lourdes and other shrines are attributed to the direct action of ,christ1 exercised at the intercession of ,his ,virgin ,mother or ,his ,saints1 ,mrs4 ,eddy and her disciples claim1 as far as we understand the teaching--which is not only obscure in itself1 but often inconsistent--to cure disease by the same power of healing that was given to ,christ4 ,in the sacred book of the sect we read3 #8,our ,master healed the sick1 practised ,christian healing1 and taught the generalities of its divine ,principle to ,his students2 but ,he left no definite rule for demonstrating ,his ,principle of healing and preventing disease4 ,this remained to be discovered through ,christian ,science4 ,a pure affection takes form in goodness1 but ,science alone reveals its ,principle and demonstrates its rules4'#b #b ,science and ,health4 ,by ,mary ,baker ,g4 ,eddy4 ,boston4 #aijh4 ,p4 #da4 ,she tells us that #8when ,god called her to proclaim ,his ,gospel to this age1 there came also the charge to plant and water ,his vineyard4' ,what she calls her #8sacred discovery' was made in #ahff1 and since then it has become widespread in ,america and in this country4 ,it does not commend itself to the ,latin mind1 which is nothing if not lucid and logical4 ,its methods and results are fully discussed by some representatives of the most advanced medical thought in the present issue of the ,journal1 and we have nothing to add to what they say4 ,to anyone who wishes to see the whole case against ,christian ,science put most clearly and convincingly from the medical point of view1 we cordially recommend ,mr4 ,stephen ,paget's book on the subject4#c ,it is attractively written1 well #8documented1' and informed with the true scientific spirit4 #c ,the ,faith and ,works of ,christian ,science4 ,macmillan and ,co4 #aiji4 ,the book is now in a second edition4 ,we need say only one thing more about ,christian ,science1 which1 to speak plainly1 is a repulsive subject1 inasmuch as it shows1 in a way no other form of spiritual healing does1 the depths of degradation to which the human mind can sink under the weight of superstition4 ,that it cures cases of the kind that have been healed at all sorts of shrines--pagan1 ,christian1 ,buddhist1 ,mohammedan--from time immemorial1 it would be idle to deny4 ,that it brightens the lives of some persons who have no aim in life1 and have nothing to do but evoke pains and ailments by thinking of their health1 is also true4 ,but1 none the less1 its pretensions go far behind anything that is credible1 except by such as accept ,tertullian's paradox1 ,credo quia impossibile2 and1 instead of courting the light as other methods do1 it seems to love the darkness4 ,we have asked over and over again for facts that would convince a trained mind1 but none are forthcoming4 ,christian ,science may1 indeed1 be described as faith with the least possible amount of works and the largest possible number of words4 ,here are fair specimens of the kind of facts which forms all the evidence vouchsafed to us of its healing efficacy2 they are taken from the ,christian ,science ,sentinel of ,may #bh1 #aiaj1 p4 #ggg3 #8,a short time ago ,i was taken sick with fever4 ,my mother asked for ,christian ,science treatment for me1 and ,i was almost instantly cured4 ,i have been reading 8,science and ,health1 with ,key to the ,scriptures10 by ,mrs4 ,eddy1 and have been benefited in business and in health ever since4 ,i am very grateful for ,christian ,science1 and thankful to ,god1 whence all good comes4 #8,,fred4 ,,werth1 ,dallas1 ,tex4' #8,some time ago ,i was attacked by stomach and bowel trouble4 ,a ,christian ,science practitioner was called1 and my ailment soon left and ,i was again able to resume my duties4 ,i am very thankful for the good done me and others1 and praise ,god for speaking to us through ,mrs4 ,eddy4 #8,,tillie ,,werth1 ,dallas1 ,tex4' ,there is nothing new in ,christian ,science except the colossal impudence of its pretensions4 ,mark ,twain spoke in ignorance when he said3 #8,the ,christian ,scientist has taken a force which has been lying idle in every member of the human race since time began4' ,we have shown that it was not left to ,mrs4 ,eddy to discover this force1 and that1 so far from lying idle1 it has been active in temples and churches1 at shrines and tombs1 for thousands of years4 ,in one thing ,christian ,science has probably a unique record of achievement3 beyond any sect or system that we know of it has succeeded in exploiting human imbecility and turning airy nothing into solid cash4#d #d ,british ,medical ,journal1 ,june #ah1 #aiaj4 #8,every false system of philosophy1 of ethics1 of morals1 and of religion is floated on the vast ocean of conduct1 of character1 and of conviction by some element of truth4 ,this corresponds to a water-tight compartment in a vessel which is in danger of being sunk1 through dishonest contracts1 imperfect mechanism1 ignorant seamanship1 or the stress and strain of storm4 ,but for this compartment1 the ship would disappear in the gurgling green of the ocean4 ,in the moral ,order1 and in all our controversies1 there is this unsinkable truth4 ,it keeps afloat all with which it is for the time united1 until the balance is lost4 ,then the system is submerged4 ,but the truth sails on4'#e ,in the case of the system we have had under examination this truth is the power of the mind over the body and the efficacy of faith4 ,christian ,science undoubtedly cures certain kinds of neurotic troubles1 just as it may do incalculable harm by teaching that scientific medicine is not only useless but mischievous4 ,if its followers confined themselves to merely enunciating the truth on which the flimsy superstructure is founded little could be urged against them4 ,as we have seen1 however1 by a careful examination of their official records1 they contradict the cardinal doctrines of the ,christian ,churches1 and encourage a disregard for all bodily complaints that is not merely foolish in the extreme1 but where the sufferings of others are concerned1 distinctly brutal1 and in either case often leads to the most disastrous results4 #e ,dean ,lefroy on ,christian ,science4 ,this indictment is a serious one4 ,but then the claims of ,mrs4 ,eddy's supporters are so portentous that they cannot be lightly dismissed1 and we must not forget that1 as the ,bishop of ,birmingham points out in a letter printed further on in this volume1 both the ,church and the medical profession have played into the hands of ,christian ,science by ignoring the facts that ,mrs4 ,eddy has been occupied in distorting4 ,however much it may have been possible in the past for the doctor and the parson in dealing with the less nervous1 more easy-going type to look upon him as composed of two distinct and separate parts1 body and spirit respectively1 having no intimate relationship and amenable to quite different influences1 such a view of men and women is to-day out of the question4 ,to entertain it for a moment is to court failure4 ,mind and matter act and react upon one another1 and more than this1 without faith all human enterprise would be stultified4 ,faith plays no less important a part in medical treatment than it does in the more commonplace affairs of life4 ,this aspect of the question cannot be better expressed than it has been recently by ,professor ,osler4#f #f #8,from the ,regius ,professor of ,medicine1 ,oxford4 #8,nov4 #ahth1 '#ji4 #8,dear ,sir1-- #8,the question as you say bristles with difficulties1 but no doubt in the stirring of the pool healing in some form or another will be the outcome4 ,you are of course at liberty to use any writings of mine4--,sincerely yours1 ,w4 ,osler4' #8,nothing in life is more wonderful than faith--the one great moving force which we can neither weigh in the balance nor test in the crucible4 ,intangible as the ether1 ineluctable as gravitation1 the radium of the moral and mental spheres1 mysterious1 indefinable1 known only by its effects1 faith pours out an unfailing stream of energy while abating nor jot nor tittle of its potency4 ,well indeed did ,st4 ,paul break out into the well-known glorious panegyric1 but even this scarcely does justice to the ,hertha of the psychical world1 distributing force as from a great storage battery1 without money and without price to the children of men4' ,three of its relations concern us here4 ,the most active manifestations are in the countless affiliations which man in his evolution has worked out with the unseen1 with the invisible powers1 whether of light or of darkness1 to which from time immemorial he has erected altars and shrines4 ,to each one of the religions1 past or present1 faith has been the ,jacob's ladder4 ,creeds pass2 an inexhaustible supply of faith remains1 with which man proceeds to rebuild temples1 churches1 chapels1 and shrines4 ,as ,swinburne says in that wonderful poem1 ,the ,altar of ,righteousness3 ,god by ,god flits past in thunder1 till his glories turn to shades3 ,god to ,god bears wondering witness how his gospel flames and fades4 ,more was each of these1 while yet they were1 than man their servant seemed3 ,dead are all of these1 and man survives who made them while he dreamed4 ,and all this has been done by faith1 and faith alone4 ,christendom lives on it1 and countless thousands are happy in the possession of that most touching of all confessions1 #8,lord6 ,i believe2 help ,thou my unbelief4' ,but1 with its ,greek infection1 the ,western mind is a poor transmitter of faith1 the apotheosis of which must be sought in the religions of the ,east4 ,the nemesis of faith is that neither in its intensity nor in its effects does man find any warrant of the worthiness of the object on which it is lavished--the followers of ,joe ,smith1 the ,mormon1 are as earnest and believing as are those of ,confucius6 ,again1 faith is the cement which binds man to man in every relation of life4 ,without faith in the ,editor of the ,journal ,i would not have accepted his invitation to write this brief note1 and he had confidence that ,i would not write rubbish4 ,personally ,i have battened on it these thirty-six years1 ever since the ,mc,gill ,medical ,faculty gave me my first mount4 ,i have had faith in the profession1 the most unbounded confidence in it as one of the great factors in the progress of humanity2 and one of the special satisfactions of my life has been that my brethren have in many practical ways shown faith in me1 often much more than 7as ,i know in my heart of hearts7 ,i have deserved4 ,i take this illustration of the practical value of the faith that worketh confidence1 but there is not a human relationship which could not be used for the same purpose4 ,and a third aspect is one of very great importance to the question in hand--a man must have faith in himself to be of any use in the world4 ,there may be very little on which to base it--no matter1 but faith in one's powers1 in one's mission1 is essential to success4 ,confidence once won1 the rest follows naturally2 and with a strong faith in himself a man becomes a local centre for its radiation4 ,st4 ,francis1 ,st4 ,theresa1 ,ignatius ,loyola1 ,florence ,nightingale1 the originator of every cult or sect or profession1 has possessed this infective faith4 ,and in the ordinary everyday work of the doctor1 confidence1 assurance 7in the proper sense of the word7 is an asset without which it is very difficult to succeed4 ,how often does one hear the remark1 #8,oh6 he does not inspire confidence1' or the reverse6 ,how true it is1 as wise old ,burton says3 #8,that the patient must have a sure hope in his physician4 ,damascen1 the ,arabian1 requires likewise in the physician himself that he be confident he can cure him1 otherwise his physic will not be effectual1 and promise withal that he will certainly help him1 make him believe so at least4 ,galeottus gives this reason because the form of health is contained in the physician's mind1 and as ,galen holds confidence and hope to be more good than physic1 he cures most in whom most are confident'2 and he quotes ,paracelsus to the effect that ,hippocrates was so fortunate in his cures not from any extraordinary skill1 but because #8the common people had a most strong conceit of his worth4' ,faith is indeed one of the miracles of human nature which science is as ready to accept as it is to study its marvellous effects4 ,when we realise what a vast asset it has been in history1 the part which it has played in the healing art seems insignificant1 and yet there is no department of knowledge more favourable to an impartial study of its effects2 and this brings me to my subject--the faith that heals4 ,apart from the more specific methods to be dealt with faith has always been an essential factor in the practice of medicine1 as illustrated by the quotations just given from ,burton4 ,literature is full of examples of remarkable cures through the influence of the imagination1 which is only an active phase of faith4 ,the late ,daniel ,hack ,tuke's book1 #8,the ,influence of the ,mind on the ,body1' is a storehouse of facts dealing with the subject4 #8,while in general use for centuries1 one good result of the recent development of mental healing has been to call attention to its great value as a measure to be carefully and scientifically applied in suitable cases4 ,my experience has been that of the unconscious rather than the deliberate faith healer4 ,phenomenal1 even what could be called miraculous1 cures are not very uncommon4 ,like others1 ,i have had cases any one of which1 under suitable conditions1 could have been worthy of a shrine or made the germ of a pilgrimage4 ,for more than ten years a girl lay paralysed in a ,new ,jersey town4 ,a devoted mother and loving sisters had worn out lives in her service4 ,she had never been out of bed unless when lifted by one of her physicians1 ,dr4 ,longstreth and ,dr4 ,shippen4 ,the new surroundings of a hospital1 the positive assurance that she could get well with a few simple measures sufficed1 and within a fortnight she walked round the hospital square4 ,this is a type of modern miracle that makes one appreciate how readily well-meaning people may be deceived as to the true nature of the cure effected at the shrine of a saint4 ,who could deny the miracle8 ,and miracle it was1 but not brought about by any supernatural means4'#g #g ,british ,medical ,journal1 ,june #ah1 #aiaj4 ,if1 then1 faith is so important an adjuvant to ordinary medical treatment1 we see at once that religion that stands for faith in its highest and purest form should represent a tremendous recuperative force4 ,we have said that medicine and religion had become estranged--the one given over to a rigid materialism1 and the other so busy with men's souls that it forgot their bodies altogether4 ,this book is a humble attempt to bridge over the gulf4 ,there is a great movement that has its roots in history that is already written and that will go on into the far distant future1 around about us4 ,it is a movement that stands for ,idealism and ,optimism4 ,it is the harmonising of all kinds of human experience into one great philosophy4 ,scientific medicine is coming to reconsider its position and to realise its responsibilities4 ,this synchronises with a broadening of the basis of ,christian teaching4 ,without abandoning any of the cardinal tenets of their faith1 the churches are coming to see that ,christianity is a much more wonderful truth than they had ever dreamed2 and1 instead of there being any conflict between ,christianity and science1 science1 like all work for the good of humanity1 must be an integral part of the ,church's service to mankind4 ,medicine and religion had a common origin in pagan temples1 and we have already seen that in medieval times all such learning was the monopoly of the monks4 ,healing by means of influence on the mind of the patient is no newer a branch of the art than surgery or treatment by drugs4 ,history abounds with instances of cures effected at shrines by means of relics1 and by saints4 ,of all modern pilgrimage shrines the one in the ,pyrenees is by far the most famous4 ,that cures actually take place at the ,grotto of ,our ,lady of the ,immaculate ,conception at ,lourdes is undeniable4 ,the cases have been medically diagnosed and the certificates may be examined in the ,record ,office at ,lourdes where such documents are preserved4 ,whether such cures differ in character from other cures by what is termed suggestion is an open question4 ,in fairness to those who believe them to be due to the direct intervention of the ,almighty it is perhaps only right to give here the opinion of ,mr4 ,butlin1 the ,president of the ,royal ,college of ,surgeons1 who recently said3 #8,when such cures take place in the presence of vast masses of people1 although it may be possible to explain all the steps through which the emotion has produced the 8cure10 how can we be surprised that the people fall on their knees before ,god and bless ,his holy name for the miracle which ,he has wrought8 #8,i defy anyone to read ,zola's story of the cure of ,marie le ,guersaint1 written by a sceptic 7,zola's 8,lourdes071 without being moved by it and without feeling convinced that all true ,catholics who were present1 priests and people1 with the unhappy exception of the ,abb ,pierre ,froment1 truly believed that ,almighty ,god had been moved by the intercession of ,our ,lady of the ,immaculate ,conception to display ,his divine power by instantaneously restoring the health of the poor girl who had lain paralysed upon a couch for seven years4 ,in the eyes of all who witnessed it1 it was a miracle1 for every medical man who had seen her had1 with one exception1 believed her to be suffering from a damaged spinal cord4 ,there is therefore no excuse1 in such a case as this or in ninety-nine out of one hundred cases which are cured by faith1 to impute dishonesty and deliberate deception to the priests and the people who proclaim such cures to be the work of ,god4 ,from the little ,i have seen of the priests actively engaged in the grotto at ,lourdes1 ,i can feel no doubt that the most of them honestly believe that the cures which they have seen are genuine4 ,i would no more think of accusing them of deliberate deception than ,i would accuse my own relative of it4'#h #h ,british ,medical ,journal1 ,june #ah1 #aiaj4 ,we have spoken of a great movement1 that tends to bring into closer co-operation all human effort and to consecrate it to one ideal--the service of mankind4 ,we are here more particularly concerned with a smaller movement that exists within the greater4 ,it has made itself felt at ,church ,conferences and at ,medical ,councils4 ,it is a movement to bring the medical profession and the ,church into a closer practical connexion to fight disease4 ,that such an intimate co-operation is not only desirable but possible1 the thoughtful chapters contributed to this book by eminent authorities go to show4 ,as regards the general principle underlying this joint work for the sick1 the ,archdeacon of ,london recently gave expression to what would appear to be the feeling of the leading ecclesiastics and foremost physicians in his charge to the clergy of his archdeaconry in the following words3 #8,religion and medical science should always co-operate1 while the ultimate responsibility must lie with the accredited physician4' ,when the scheme for the present volume was drawn up over a year ago1 it was felt that some authoritative statement was needed to guide the public in thinking out the topical questions of ,spiritual ,faith or ,mental ,healing4 ,there has1 in recent years1 been an endless series of books issued from the ,european and ,american presses on this subject4 ,some of these publications being obviously the hand-books of societies whose name spelt their own condemnation1 thinking people passed them by1 but1 on the other hand1 much literature of a very misleading character has been placed on the market and purchased by many in the belief that they were learning from it the official views either of the ,church or of the medical profession1 or of both4 ,the qualified medical practitioners of this country do not lightly decide to give expression to their views on therapeutics in books issued to the general public1 and whenever they circulate opinions it may be taken for granted that they are the result of patient investigation of facts and of carefully thought out conclusions deduced from those facts4 ,if one may be allowed to indicate in a general way the position taken up by the doctors who have written for the following pages1 it is one of scepticism towards quasi-miraculous healing as a practical means of combating disease1 but at the same time it is an attitude of extreme cordiality towards the minister of religion--in his capacity as a messenger of hope and expert in peace of mind4 ,of all the weighty evidence that has been gathered together to build up this book1 the opinion of ,sir ,clifford ,allbutt forms no unimportant section4 ,few of us can escape sickness altogether1 and although some illnesses may be blessings in disguise1 nevertheless our desire for health is only second to our desire for life1 and it is right that it should be so4 #8,the highest spiritual life depends on the best bodily health1' ,sir ,clifford ,allbutt tells us4 ,the ,bishops at ,lambeth admitted with regret that #8sickness has too often exclusively been regarded as a cross to be borne with passive resignation1 whereas it should have been regarded rather as a weakness to be overcome by the power of the spirit4' ,that there exist potentialities of healing apart from physic to-day no one can refute1 but it is to be feared the ,church and the medical profession have much lost ground to recover1 through having in the past ignored those psychic forces that are now the object both of scientific inquiry and of theological study4 ,the marvellous chemical discoveries of the past few years have revolutionised scientific conceptions4 ,new theories of matter and of energy are being framed to explain the result of new researches4 ,the wonders of radio-activity have converted the scientist from a materialist who believed in nothing unrevealed by test-tube or microscope1 into an idealist prepared to argue from the unseen to the seen4 ,just as there are in the world of physical science forces whose existence we are only now beginning to recognise and whose capabilities are still unknown to us1 there are undoubtedly psychic forces in man that are capable of development1 but of whose exact nature we at present are ignorant1 although we can trace their effects4#i #i ,the biologist who used to expect to discover the source of life by dissection and analysis would be rather astonished at the modern tendency among scientific men to substitute doctrines of #8energies' for #8atoms4' ,as ,dr4 ,putman has pointed out1 the modern physicist scarcely feels the need of atoms for the world of his conception4 ,we may even go a step further4 #8,energy' is #8immaterial1' #8consciousness' is #8immaterial4' ,may they not accordingly have a common denominator8 #8,in the case of vital truth 444 it may be necessary for a writer to say some hard things1' but criticism1 prompted by no petty spirit1 but by a noble desire to bring out the best1 will never be resented by right-minded people4 ,two great and noble professions are about to make a combined attack on sickness and suffering4 ,they have too great a sense of their responsibility to enter upon such a campaign lightly4 ,much counsel is needed before the allies can give battle4 ,the respective spheres of action of the cleric and the doctor have to be mapped out2 so that all the efforts of the one may support and never hamper the other4 ,it will be seen that the medical contributors1 not unreasonably1 seriously deprecate any attempt on the part of the minister of religion to invade the province of medicine4 ,such intrusion is none the less dangerous because it may be unintentional4 ,all #8treatment1' whether it be by means of drugs1 surgery1 or hypnotic suggestion1 must necessarily be a matter for the doctor and those working under his immediate direction3 and for them only4 ,in so far as he may be concerned with physical disabilities the priest must inevitably defer to the physician4 ,at the same time the value of spiritual ministrations in sickness is emphasised on every page of this book4 #8,probably no limb1 no viscus is so far a vessel of dishonour as to lie wholly outside the renewals of the spirit1' says ,sir ,clifford ,allbutt4 ,but we may go further than this in certain directions4 ,remembering that the health of mind and body are mutually dependent1 and that troublesome thoughts may bring sickness in their train1 we see that there may exist sicknesses that are not amenable to medical treatment only4 ,these are among the ills that the ,british ,medical ,journal has told us cannot be cured by pills and potions alone4 ,dr4 ,jane ,walker writes pertinently on this1 under the heading of #8,the ,relationship of ,priest and ,doctor to ,patient4' ,as she points out1 when a character has to be remoulded1 it is the priest rather than the doctor who can best help the patient4 #8,a true and philosophic religion raises the mind above incidental emotionalism and gives stability1' says ,dr4 ,hyslop3 this is the stand-point adopted by all the eminent theologians who have written for this book4 ,mental and physical pain is part of the evil in the world4 ,it makes a great difference1 however--it may be all the difference between sickness and health--whether we allow trouble to break down our self-control and weaken our will1 or whether we face it boldly with a supreme serenity of spirit1 strong in a knowledge of greater things4 ,,introduction ,,part ,,ii ,,introduction ,,ii ,in the course of gathering opinions from various authoritative sources on the subject dealt with in this book1 ,i received communications from ,sir ,clifford ,allbutt1 the ,hon4 ,sydney ,holland1 and a well-known surgeon1 which1 though they do not constitute separate treatises1 are so important1 not only in view of the distinction of the authors1 but of the broad survey of the subject that they afford1 that ,i venture to print them as part of the general introduction4 ,in the case of ,sir ,clifford ,allbutt's paper ,i have supplemented it by an important extract from one of his recent writings4 ,,the ,,relationship ,,between ,,medicine ,,and ,,religion ,the response you are good enough to desire can be but brief1 crude1 and1 ,i fear1 too blunt2 but ,i have not time for careful consideration4 ,i can only indicate a few points which occur to me offhand1 and taking much for granted4 ,for instance1 ,i must avoid any discussion of those antinomies which meet us at every side of human conceptions1 and be content to accept the common uses4 ,the chief of these 7for the moment7 is that of the material and spiritual2 without forgetting that they melt at their borders the one into the other1 and that we meet with corresponding ambiguities1 yet ,i must take them as distinct fields of human life4 ,in our interesting personal conversation you may remember that ,i expressed the opinion that1 on the whole1 our prayers must not be for material but for spiritual things4 ,and1 speaking on the whole1 sickness is a material thing4 ,in the stories of our ,lord's miracles it has always struck me that ,he regarded ,his miracles--,i must use the word for brevity--apologetically4 ,the disciples were not to tell any man of them2 or again1 a miracle was performed under a compelling sense of the overwhelming faith of the pleader1 which was the main thing4 ,faith1 prayer1 were to be for the needs of the soul1 not of the body4 ,for instance1 the father seeing his child in diphtheria would please ,god better--so the experience of ,his world tells us--by spending his first hour in seeking the physician with his antidote rather than in prayer for a divine intervention4 ,and when time came for prayer he would pray not for a suspension of natural law but for unity of his own will with that of the ,father1 and for the child's spiritual welfare4 ,into the origin of evil do not fear that ,i shall enter2 it is one of the antinomies which ,i have said that we must avoid1 at any rate at present3 ,i can only now say that disease is a material effect to be combated by material means1 and not by religious processions or intercessions4 ,this being my view1 ,i would try to eliminate notions of the priest as medicine man2 they are essentially pagan1 though to this day they more or less unconsciously influence our thoughts on the present subject4 ,but1 it may be said1 strange healings do take place under religious influences2 and this is true4 ,and at no time in history were such miraculous cures more frequent and wonderful than in the temples of ,aesculapius or of ,serapis4 ,modern cures1 whether of the ,eddyites or at ,lourdes1 or the like elsewhere1 when compared with those of the ,roman ,empire fall into insignificance4 ,now a careful study of all reported cures of this miraculous or miraculoid kind1 a study illustrated for us many years ago by ,charcot1 proved to him1 and proves to the expert observers of to-day1 that they all--palsies1 convulsions and the rest1 often inveterate cases--are and have been cures of one disease1 and of one only1 namely hysteria2 a malady which in its protean manifestations mocks all and any particular diseases4 ,i say this of the genuine cases2 but the majority of such wonders recorded turn out on inquiry 7like the #8,grimsby' case7 to be grossly exaggerated or wholly false4 ,the #8miraculous cures' then1 so far as they are genuine1 are cures by suggestion3 they take their place with cures of the same kind of disorder by panic1 such as an alarm of fire2 by #8hypnotism1' or by any other over-mastering impression which startles or transports the balance of the bodily functions from one centre of equilibrium to another higher and more stable one4 ,so much for the #8miracles'2 which owe nothing to any sacerdotal magic1 and to the physician are part of a familiar experience1 and of a familiar interpretation4 ,but giving up the hysterical cases--which1 by the way1 is to give up a good deal--and admitting that disease is in the body a material thing1 and one not properly matter for the pleading of prayer1 except in the spiritual sense of submission to the ,divine order1 between these positions is there a sphere in which spiritual influences--whether by a clergyman or a ,biblewoman or a gentle friend--may so infuse peace and confidence into a sick man as to promote even in the body a renewal1 a conversion1 or an economy of energy which should make for recovery8 ,certainly2 and here1 ,i think1 is the restricted1 if still important1 sphere of religion as medical4 ,to consider this aspect of the matter we must go back for a moment to certain principles4 ,from the letters of ,teresa--that noble saint--we may learn much of the greatest value to us in the present inquiry4 ,we may learn from her to distrust the #8ecstasies and melancholies' which--as she said--were #8the perils of conventual life'2 she roundly denounced all that #8letting one's self go1 outside the control of reason1' which has its origin in #8sick brains4' #8,if ,i were with you1' she wrote to a certain ,prioress1 #8you would not have so many extraordinary experiences4' ,now ,teresa not only apprehended1 but thoroughly understood1 that the highest spiritual life depends upon the best bodily health4 ,she tells us that she supported her own vigils with plenty of meat 7viande7 and sleep4 ,high and holy thought demands the greatest effort of the healthiest body1 of the brain most finely balanced and best nourished4 ,the piety of the sick-bed is at best a passive piety1 which on recovery is pushed aside again by the custom of the world2 but herein it is that in sickness the soul flags and droops upon itself1 and that the support of other sympathy is more precious4 ,the sympathy we all depend on in health we need most when enfeebled by ailment4 ,there is no delusion more terrible than that which lets a man run up a score of sins and negligences to be repented of under the discouragement of a sick-bed4 ,in this melancholy1 this debility1 this disappointment1 perhaps this remorse1 energy is wasted which is sorely required for the conflict with disease4 ,and even the man of religious life likewise--if in less degree1 as one who has accumulated more inward light--is also disheartened to perceive that the fountains of spiritual contemplation are then less copious1 and aspiration a wearier effort4 ,he too needs help1 if not to make1 yet to reinforce1 the happier conversations of his fuller life4 ,in health the mind in solitude droops and wastes1 and the sick-bed is a kind of solitude2 the thousand and one stimulating impressions of common life cease1 the impressions wane which should keep the mind and soul awake1 and fill the wells of energy4 ,on the sick-bed1 therefore1 short times of encouragement and sympathy1 periods not long enough to exhaust the scanty stores of energy1 are precious2 and if the physician be jealous--as it has been said--of the priest1 it is lest he should expend these stores more in priestly functions than in #8angels' visits' of love and hope which would unite and reinforce the vacillating and fading forces4 ,thus also prayer at the bedside and the short communions should be of love and hope1 not particular requests for material relief or cure4 ,the kindly physician himself may be a vehicle of much of this encouragement2 but--as ,i said to you before--he should avoid even the semblance of attending to anything beside his own business of material aid and general human sympathy4 ,the most pious patient1 openly or inwardly1 resents the divided mind4 ,the instinct of self-preservation is not lost even in those nearest to ,god4 ,so when all is said and done on this subject ,i fear that matters for me remain much where they were before2 but they may lead to a more intimate understanding of the several parts of the spiritual and the medical visitors1 and to a completer sympathy between them4 ,if still it be urged that an imposing ceremony may1 by a measure of the #8suggestion' so effective in the many-coloured hysteria1 come to our aid in more noxious maladies1 if no more than on the fringe of them1 ,i should repeat that the advantage would be so indefinite1 so relatively small1 and so well to be attained by ordinary spiritual visitation1 as not to be worth the peril of the moral perversion which hangs only too closely around these good intentions1 the peril of imposing upon1 even of bamboozling1 the patient4 ,we must remember the saying of ,lavoisier1 #8,medicine came into the world with a twin brother1 called charlatanism4' ,clifford ,allbutt4 99 99 99 99 99 ,extract from ,sir ,clifford ,allbutt's paper in the ,british ,medical ,journal1 ,june #ah1 #aiaj3 #8,spiritual gifts may or may not consist in the insertion of a new entity1 they certainly do consist in a reanimation and remodelling of thinking matter in the uppermost strands of the brain1 and probably of some other1 perhaps even of all the other1 molecular activities of the body4 ,probably no limb1 no viscus is so far a vessel of dishonour as to lie wholly outside the renewals of the spirit2 and to an infinite intelligence every accession of spiritual life would be apparent in a new harmony 77 of each and all of the metabolic streams and confluences of the body4 ,on this conviction it is that the hopes and methods of faith healing depend4 ,conversely1 every man who watches his own life must know this1 as in time of weariness or pain he grieves over the drooping of his soul1 that the highest spiritual life depends on the highest bodily health2 but this health means1 not health only of the belly1 not only health of the heart and common brain1 but also of the rarest and most exquisite textures of the cerebral web4 ,if in a rude health of the grosser body these subtlest parts have not been exercised and cherished1 the total harmony is diminished2 highly efficient as1 on lower planes1 the particular body may be1 it is defective in comprehensions1 it is an inconsummate body4 ,to this 8materialism0 of the body1 even on its most spiritual planes of structure1 we must not close our eyes lest in our search beyond knowledge we walk contrary to knowledge4 8,to pray well10 said the noble ,teresa1 8one must eat well and sleep well40 ,if into the last analysis the ,pauline division between the carnal and the spiritual cannot be carried1 if under the relations of other times and of other ideas we have to re-interpret it1 yet still in its broader contrasts it points out a plain way of life and conduct--one so plain that the perplexities of the middle terms may be left to the casuist4 #8,it must be granted then1 in respect of faith healing1 that spiritual influences1 divine directly1 or indirectly through human mediation1 may to some unknown power radiate from these highest currents downward through the more and more 8material0 planes1 arousing them less and less as they have become more and more statical in order4 #8,once more2 it is said that in his 8subliminal self0 man possesses a substance peculiarly divine1 or a substance or means through which we may reach divine communion1 or through which especially divine purposes may be fulfilled in us4 ,it is true that we do not know even approximately the content of the individual man1 the materials racially and personally acquired1 the products of past experience1 racial and personal1 built sensibly and insensibly into his personality4 ,may we not each of us be compared with a ship which began its voyage with no inconsiderable rudimentary equipment1 then1 calling at many a port1 has gathered many kinds of stores and treasure8 ,of some of these stores1 of some variety of them1 the supercargo has a recollection1 especially of those in frequent use2 but1 for the most part1 the bills of lading had been lost4 ,unlike a cargo1 however1 these contents are not a passive burden1 but a system of coefficients2 some on planes which we commonly call material1 some on spiritual planes1 some working on the surface1 some working stealthily within2 so that much tact and insight are necessary to unveil and to re-animate those agencies in whose abeyance disorder or ineffectualness may happen to consist4 ,and the influences which are to effect these revivals must be akin in nature to these kinds respectively2 some must be solidly material--such as splints or drugs--some must be religious1 moral1 and even intellectual1 yet inspired by emotion1 by appeal to hope and joy2 and their instruments must be devotion1 sympathy1 gladness1 reasonable persuasion1 and even surprise4' ,,religion ,,and ,,medicine ,,in ,,the ,,hospital ,no one who has been connected with one of our big general hospitals can doubt for a moment the advisability of the collaboration of the physician and the clergyman1 each helping the patient from his own standpoint4 ,it must not be imagined that ,i advocate any usurping of the duties of one by the other1 but in the cure of certain types of disease1 and certainly in the cure of diseases that are primarily diseases of mind or character1 the doctor should welcome the minister of religion as a valuable ally4 ,in fact none can doubt that the minister of religion can bring a power to bear on the mind of a patient1 which the doctor cannot4 ,whatever his own personal belief may be1 the medical man can of course only view religion from a philosophic or ethical stand-point4 ,it is difficult for him to concern himself with dogma4 ,the clergyman can help by administering suggestions of hope and encouragement4 ,these suggestions can and do often come from other sources with equal results1 but ,i think by virtue of his office the clergyman is specially qualified for the work4 ,there can be no doubt that cures of certain kinds of diseases have been effected by ,christian ,science and kindred faith-healing cults1 all of which cures come under the head of healing by suggestion4 ,i do not think that healing disease by suggestion is specially a ,christian work1 it can be achieved in many ways4 ,but ,i think the average medical man likely to be more willing to seek the aid of a duly accredited minister of religion than a so-called #8,spiritual ,healer' who is subject to no authority4 ,but above and beyond all this ,i think the quieting and encouraging influences of religion are of the greatest value in all illness1 and ,i believe a greater use might be made of such power4 ,sydney ,holland4 ,,the ,,surgeon1 ,,the ,,clergyman1 ,,and ,,the ,,patient ,possibly the gravest shock that a human being may receive1 so far as it concerns himself or herself1 is to be told that fatal disease is present in the system4 ,so great may be the actual shock that many a medical practitioner shrinks from inflicting it1 and purposely avoids direct allusion to the certainty of dissolution4 ,whether this is justifiable or no1 depends very largely upon the susceptibilities of the patient and the tact of the doctor4 ,but the word #8operation' is1 by some1 almost as much dreaded as the word #8death'2 in fact even more1 as it always implies to the lay mind the infliction of hours of pain1 and days of discomfort1 though this is far from being the truth in most instances4 #8,rather let me die than make me undergo an operation' is the not infrequent remark of the highly-strung sufferer4 ,and then comes in all the sympathy1 tact1 and good breeding of the surgeon4 ,he will gently explain matters1 will show how the disease is such that nothing short of removal of the growth holds out the least chance of life or the avoidance of later severe pain1 and will state1 what is the truth1 that the operation1 short and sharp1 will give years of freedom from suffering even if it does not completely remove all trace of the trouble4 ,how bewildered the patient will feel6 ,he has been hoping against hope that his malady is only a slight one1 and that it may be #8dispersed' by some magic of physic1 and now his hopes have been rudely mocked and shattered4 ,surely here1 if ever1 help from an outside source is needed and should be welcomed4 ,but such help must be rational1 based on truth1 and fearing not the consequences4 ,supposing the disease is cancer1 what awaits him if the sufferer flies to the quack and is befooled till all hope of successful treatment is gone8 ,or rushes to the ,christian ,scientist1 who1 with seeming bona fides1 avers there is no such thing as a cancer cell6 ,the eye that has seen it a hundred times under the microscope1 and can recognise it amongst a hundred other varieties1 does not exist in the purblind conception of such a #8,scientist1' for the cell is matter1 it cannot exist1 and neither for the same reasoning1 if consistency is maintained1 can the eye which sees the cell exist1 for it also is material4 ,and still as the growth increases there is the lurking certainty ever protruding itself that after all the surgeon was right1 and the days are slipping by4 ,would that friends could be true and friends indeed1 and not in ignorance hinder these circumstances1 not mere blind leaders of the blind4 ,it is here if anywhere the enlightened clergyman and the surgeon may join hands for the good of spirit and body4 ,and then when a decision has been arrived at calmly and deliberately1 and the time of the operation has been fixed1 there is still work for both the minister and the surgeon to do4 ,a quiet talk and prayer the evening before the ordeal1 how it has often soothed the trembling soul1 and invoked a night of rest and refreshment1 enabling the patient to meet the trials of the morning calm1 because mentally and physically there has been repose4 ,and the surgeon with his cheering word1 and the ansthetist with his quiet reassuring manner and conversation1 both tend to allay any fresh alarm at that which is perhaps the most trying moment of all--the placing oneself unreservedly in the hands of the operator4 ,surely1 surely here is a period when the efforts of the spiritual are to crown the success of the material4 ,and then1 observe how the quiet and confidence1 engendered by the combined efforts of pastor and doctor1 continue during convalescence1 causing that period to be shortened in many a case4 ,in a hundred different ways members of the two professions may work hand in hand1 but each should be able to mutually esteem the other and give to each his proper place and function4 ,they ought never to despise one another1 because they ought never to encroach on one another's province4 ,till the clergyman recognises that it is his duty to understand something of elementary physiology1 if he is going to be a benefactor to spirit and body1 and the medical practitioner is willing to admit that there are spiritual forces which can be brought to help the perfection of his work1 so long is it the opinion of the writer that the sufferer who looks to both of them for aid will fail to receive his full due of assistance4 ,may the time soon come when the rising generation of all classes may be so taught at school1 and in church1 that they will come to understand something of the composition and need of the tripartite nature of man1 and may the day speedily dawn when the enlightened clerical and medical professions mutually work for the good of the whole1 spirit1 soul and body4 ,f4,r4,c4,s4 ,,medicine ,,and ,,religion ,,by ,,charles ,,buttar1 ,m4,d4 ,,sometime ,,president ,,of ,,the ,,harveian ,,society ,,medicine ,,and ,,religion ,,by ,,charles ,,buttar1 ,m4,d4 ,widespread interest has been taken of late in what is called #8,spiritual ,healing1' or #8,healing by ,spiritual means'2 interest which is manifest from the popularity of such books as #8,religion and ,medicine1' and #8,body and ,soul1' no less than from the thoughtful articles contributed to this volume by many eminent authorities4 ,yet it may be observed that1 although some of these contributors belong to the profession of medicine1 it is doubtful if many medical men are acquainted with the objects and purpose of ,spiritual ,healing1 and probably few of them regard the movement seriously4 ,it is unwise1 however1 to adopt an attitude of indifference towards the aspirations of earnest men1 so that it seems well to attempt to define the position of medicine with regard to such methods of healing1 to investigate the cures alleged1 to utter some warning as to possible dangers1 and to inquire how far the results justify the movement1 and to what extent it is possible to adapt the processes of ,spiritual ,healing to recognised forms of treatment4 ,spiritual ,healing has been hailed with enthusiasm by certain members of the ,church of ,england1 under the impression that it constitutes a resumption of the early powers of ,christianity as evidenced in the miracles of healing ascribed to ,christ and ,his ,apostles4 ,a theological discussion as to the possibility of miracles occurring at the present day is outside the scope of this article1 but it would be well to define the standpoint from which the medical man approaches all investigations connected with disease4 ,the researches of scientists are conducted by the methods of observation1 experiment1 and induction2 it is the medical man's duty to observe symptoms1 to experiment as to their cause1 to investigate possible remedies1 and to apply these to the relief or cure of disease4 ,in recent times much has been done towards elucidating the influences of mind upon body and its diseases2 but so far questions connected with the ,spirit have been regarded as outside the scope of medicine4 ,the minister of religion1 on the other hand1 has been content hitherto to leave questions of physical health to be dealt with by the doctor2 he has not interfered to any extent in mental questions1 and his chief concern has been with what is called the #8,spirit4' ,it would seem a little difficult to define the attributes of ,spirit1 or to draw a sharp line of division between spirit and mind2 but1 however this may be1 spirit has usually been considered as opposed to matter1 and no influence over the material diseases of the body has been ascribed to it4 ,whatever views the ,church may have held as to the miracles of healing mentioned in the ,new ,testament1 she has to some extent kept them in the background2 and it is possible that they might have remained there1 but for the success obtained by certain irrational cults that have sprung into being1 with the object apparently of abolishing both parson and doctor4 ,the foundation on which all these sects are based would seem to be a passage in the ,epistle of ,st4 ,james1 chap4 v4 verses #ad1 #ae1 which reads as follows3 #8,is any sick among you8 let him call for the elders of the ,church2 and let them pray over him1 anointing him with oil in the name of the ,lord3 and the prayer of faith shall save the sick1 and the ,lord shall raise him up4' ,again this is no place to go into theological discussions1 such as whether #8elder' can be taken to mean #8priest1' the views to be held on anointing with oil1 and so on4 ,but it may be suggested incidentally that the term #8elder' is hardly likely to be accepted by either the ,church or the medical profession as applicable to a person untrained both in theology and in medicine1 whose claim to authority rests on his own assertion1 and whose methods are only too liable to drift into what is known as #8quackery4' ,even the ,peculiar ,people1 who rely upon the same text in support of their tenets1 retain1 ,i believe1 some meaning of authority in the word #8elder'2 and their position seems logically sounder than that of the believer in a self-styled #8,spiritual ,healer4' ,as regards the procedure of the ,spiritual ,healer1 it would appear to consist in laying hands on the affected part of the body1 at the same time offering up extempore prayers of a very impassioned character for the recovery of the sick4 ,the treatment takes place in as impressive surroundings as possible1 and at times a priest is called in to anoint the patient with oil4 ,it is doubtful to what extent the practitioners of ,spiritual ,healing claim what are called #8special powers'2 but it seems certain that the possession of these powers is sometimes alleged4 ,unlike the ,christian ,scientist1 the ,spiritual ,healer does not despise medical assistance1 though it is probable that at the present time his treatment is sought chiefly by those to whom medical methods can offer no further hope of cure4 ,it has been indicated already that the first great difficulty experienced by a medical man1 in discussing such a treatment as ,spiritual ,healing1 is the definition of terms4 ,accustomed to deal with more or less concrete facts1 a doctor has some sort of mental picture of an infectious disease1 as the reaction of the physical body to the invasion of a germ or its poison2 he can see and feel a tumour1 and determine its relation to anatomical structures1 though he may not know as yet the cause of its growth2 he has learnt by experience the results of the removal of new growths4 ,in the region of the mind also he has investigated many phenomena2 he is able to attribute many insane states to toxic influences2 he has studied to some extent diseases known as #8functional'--a class that is becoming numerically less with the advance of knowledge2 but he is not able to grasp to the same extent the meaning of the word #8,spirit4' ,the medical man recognises in many cases the influence of the temperament or character of the patient upon the course of the disease1 and would prefer to treat one who takes a hopeful view of the future2 just as he desires quiet cheerful surroundings1 and the avoidance of conditions that tend to irritate or depress4 ,in so far as the #8,spiritual' attitude of the patient conduces to his peace of mind1 its assistance would be welcomed by every practitioner of the healing art4 ,but to regard this ill-defined attitude as not only influencing the character of the patient1 but also as having a direct effect on all the ailments to which the body is subject1 is a view that can hardly be accepted so readily4 ,for example1 it would seem to be inconceivable that ,spirit could have the slightest influence on a parasitic skin disease such as ringworm4 ,this is an instance of a simple ailment due to a local extrinsic cause4 ,numerous other conditions might be mentioned1 such as congenital malformation1 aneurysms1 valvular affections of the heart1 and strangulated hernia in which curative influence of the ,spirit is difficult to imagine4 ,even if a single well-authenticated miracle in a case of any of these affections could be produced1 we should still be met by many difficulties2 such as the question why a solitary sufferer1 possibly not highly distinguished for his spiritual attributes1 should be selected for the manifestation of this power4 ,and all rational people would admit that the occurrence of such a miracle in a case of strangulated hernia would not justify other patients in postponing operation in the hope of a repetition of this bloodless cure4 ,thus there are limitations to the field of operation of ,spiritual ,healing4 ,in view1 however1 of the hopes raised amongst many good ,christians that the ,church may take part once more in healing the sick1 everyone would wish to avoid offending the susceptibilities of enthusiastic and religious people4 ,still it is by members of the ,church that the question of ,spiritual ,healing has been brought forward1 so that it should be for the ,church to define her meaning and wishes4 ,in the nature of things it seems impossible to define #8,spirit'2 and1 perhaps1 it would be wiser not to attempt the impossible1 nor to endeavour to yoke spiritual forces to purely material conditions such as bodily diseases4 ,but if certain cases are produced as cures by spiritual means1 and if the co-operation of the medical profession is desired in investigating such cures1 the ,church must be prepared to accept scientific methods of inquiry1 methods which do not permit of assumptions except as tentative explanations1 to be given up when they fail to explain phenomena1 or when they are replaced by simpler explanations4 ,if it should appear that the results of ,spiritual ,healing are attributable to ordinary activities of the human mind1 and that no difference exists between cures by this means and those resulting from ordinary mental influences of the nature of #8suggestion1' then the ,church must be prepared to abandon all miraculous explanations in these cases4 ,from the medical point of view the main thing to be insisted upon is that all alleged cures must be submitted to the ordinary examination by observation1 experiment1 and induction4 ,at the present time the whole question of ,spiritual ,healing is in so nebulous a condition that it is not easy to obtain suitable cases for investigation4 ,much has been said and written on the matter2 comparisons have been made with the cures said to be effected at ,lourdes2 even the ,venerable ,bede has been quoted as an authority on medicine4 ,but when a request is presented for the production of actual cases for investigation by trained medical men1 it is found that the sources of supply are few and very limited4 ,an examination of some of these cases appears to reveal the fact that so far no actual cure of any definite gross organic disease can be recorded4 ,it must be remembered that to avoid any loophole for error the requirements of a really scientific investigation are somewhat severe4 ,in the first place the diagnosis of the disease must be absolutely certain4 ,this frequently necessitates microscopical or bacteriological examination4 ,a medical man is not always infallible in his opinion of cases2 and it may happen that a condition that has been thought to be cancer turns out to be merely a comparatively harmless inflammatory thickening4 ,such a condition might have recovered by natural processes without any treatment2 to attribute such recovery to any particular treatment that the patient might be undergoing at the time would be rash2 to use such a case as an advertisement for that treatment would be dishonest4 ,in the second place1 a fair comparison must be made between the results obtained by the method under investigation1 and by other means of treatment4 ,warts may disappear rapidly under many forms of treatment1 or with no treatment at all4 ,to attribute the disappearance of warts to ,spiritual ,healing would be very unsafe argument4 ,thirdly1 a careful distinction must be drawn between the cure of a disease and the relief of subjective symptoms4 ,it is in this matter of subjective symptoms that ,spiritual ,healing appears to have obtained the greater part of whatever success it can boast4 ,there is some evidence that under this treatment pain may be relieved1 and there is little doubt that patients attain a calmer1 happier and more confident frame of mind1 however hopeless their disease may be4 ,their outlook on life is improved1 their thoughts are directed into other channels1 and the pain is forgotten1 or hindered from rising into consciousness4 ,yet there are certain dangers connected with the process1 to which attention should be called4 ,it is well to remember that1 in cases such as incurable cancer1 false hopes are being raised1 and the patient is deluded into a vain belief that he will recover4 ,how far this is justifiable is a matter for philosophical discussion2 moreover it is true that most doctors allow their patients to delude themselves with the same vain hopes4 ,still1 it might be better that ministers of religion should strive for the spiritual welfare of their charges1 rather than help directly to maintain these delusions as to physical conditions4 ,more important still is the possibility that treatment1 that might be effective in the early stage of a disease1 may be postponed until too late1 in order that a trial may be given to ,spiritual ,healing4 ,it is all very well to say that ordinary medical means are recognised and that the follies of the ,peculiar ,people and of the ,christian ,scientist will be avoided2 but it must be remembered that a literal reading of the text of ,st4 ,james undoubtedly may suggest to a deeply religious person that medical methods are of minor importance4 #8,the ,prayer of ,faith shall save the ,sick'3 is it not possible that the sufferer may possess a grain of that faith that will remove mountains8 ,and in the end that small focus of malignant disease1 that might have been eradicated by the surgeon's knife1 has extended and disseminated itself until all hope of cure is gone4 ,and such results are more likely to follow while this treatment remains in the hands of untrained laymen4 ,there is great danger that an earnest person1 with limited knowledge both of theology and of medicine1 may come to regard himself as superior to theologian and physician1 owing to the fervour of his faith1 combined possibly with a belief that he is endowed with special powers4 ,it is on practical points such as these that the medical man is entitled to expect an expression of the views of the ,church2 and in this connexion it is permissible to hope that in the examination of #8special powers' the authorities of the ,church will be content to be sceptics1 in the true sense of the word1 until irrefutable proofs of the possession of these powers are produced4 ,in attempting to inquire how far the results obtained by ,spiritual ,healing justify the movement1 the medical man is met by the difficulty that exists in obtaining evidence4 ,it is true that there is a ,society whose objects are stated thus3 #a4 ,for the cultivation1 through spiritual means1 of both personal and corporate health4 #b4 ,for the restoration to the ,church of the ,scriptural practice of ,divine ,healing4 #c4 ,for the study of the influence of ,spiritual upon ,physical well-being4 ,investigation of the literature published by this ,society does not throw much light on the methods by which these objects are pursued4 ,a pamphlet entitled #8,the ,principles of ,spiritual ,healing' seemed to arouse hopes of elucidating the problem4 ,yet the author says1 #8,i do not know how 8life0 is affected by spiritual means1 ,i observe that it is so4' ,there is no attempt to define spiritual means4 ,again1 it is asserted that no one will ever find1 at meetings of the ,society1 a parade of successful cases4 ,is the statement1 then1 of members of the ,society to be the only evidence vouchsafed to inquirers8 ,and how far is the second object of the ,society to be carried8 ,it must be remembered that the ,scriptural practice of ,divine ,healing was unassociated with the ordinary medical treatment4 ,in #8,the ,principles of ,spiritual ,healing' it is asserted that miracles of healing did not cease2 they have only become less frequent because faith is less intense4 ,the second object of the ,society is to restore to the ,church this practice of healing2 and it is difficult to see how the dangers suggested earlier in this article are to be avoided4 ,the fact of the matter is1 that it is useless to attempt to adapt the processes of ,spiritual ,healing to recognised forms of treatment1 until the exponents of the method cease to soar on the wings of the imagination1 and descend instead to the more prosaic levels of reason4 ,nevertheless1 there is no doubt that theologians equally earnest1 but far more rational than the founder of the ,society to which reference has been made1 are anxious that something should be done by the ,church to assist in the work of restoring the sick to health4 ,these men do not aspire to work the miracles of ,christ and the ,apostles by laying on hands and anointing with oil1 but they wish to retain for the ,church some portion of the command #8,preach the ,gospel2 heal the sick4' ,this wish is entitled to respectful consideration by the medical profession1 and most certainly will receive it from broad-minded medical men4 ,but inasmuch as the trained physician must be paramount in his own province of mental and bodily disease1 it is the duty of the minister of religion to recognise that he is subservient in purely physical matters of health4 ,by all means let him visit those of his own faith who are sick4 ,let his object be to inspire these patients with hope1 directing the sufferer's thoughts away from his disease to higher things4 ,the laying on of hands and the anointing with oil may well be dangerous1 unless used in a purely symbolic sense2 for in the minds of the more ignorant such proceedings tend to occupy the same position as the treatment for ,king's ,evil in former times2 and admirable though the spirit of reverence may be1 it is not good to attribute miraculous powers to the object revered4 ,therefore1 let the clergyman be content1 for the present1 to leave the untrained practice of methods of suggestion to quacks2 and investigation of so-called cures to the medical profession4 ,at the same time1 let the medical man avail himself of the services of the minister of religion in cases in which exhortation is likely to be of use2 for in the field of functional nervous conditions1 and slight mental disturbances1 the help of a priest of forceful character1 reasonably controlled1 may be of great service4 ,in concluding this article a summary of the suggestions offered for consideration may be made3 7#a7 ,the main function of the minister of religion should be concerned with what is called the spiritual side of man1 and not with purely material conditions1 such as disease4 7#b7 ,if ministers regard the ,scriptures as imposing upon them duties in healing the sick1 they should be content to be subservient to the physician in material conditions that are not included in their training4 7#c7 ,in dealing with phenomena as specific as diseases1 the ,church must be prepared to accept scientific explanations4 ,it is useless to complain of the materialism of doctors in connexion with material physical disorders4 7#d7 ,it is not unlikely that the effects of spiritual healing will prove to be merely results of a form of suggestion4 7#e7 ,results that can be described as curative will be found1 probably1 only in what are known as functional and neurotic conditions4 7#f7 ,it is most unwise to countenance untrained laymen in carrying on spiritual healing in the name of the ,church2 for in the end the ,church may find herself dragged at the heels of quackery4 7#g7 ,while much can be done by ministers of religion in encouraging sufferers from disease1 or in distracting the attention of neurasthenics1 and while such assistance should be welcomed by medical men1 yet the ,church should beware of attempting to attract believers by means of thaumaturgic displays of healing1 which are open to explanation in other ways4 ,the ,church should not enter into competition with bone-setters1 osteopaths1 physical culture quacks1 and other undesirable persons4 7#h7 ,opinion on so-called #8special powers' should be suspended until alleged instances of their existence have been thoroughly investigated by competent trained experts4 ,,the ,,patient ,,by ,,stephen ,,paget1 ,f4,r4,c4,s4 ,,the ,,patient ,,by ,,stephen ,,paget1 ,f4,r4,c4,s4 ,the ,bishop of ,birmingham wrote to me1 last year1 the following letter4 ,he gave me leave to publish it in the second edition of a book of mine about ,christian ,science3 and he gives me leave to publish it again here3 #8444 ,i should wish to make a little more of your admissions as to ,mental ,therapeutics4 ,thus--,if1 as you admit1 there are so many functional disorders2 and they are curable by mental influences2 and religion is a great mental influence2 and this influence 78,quietism07 is much needed in such and other cases--,i should demand of the ,church that it should recognise1 far more explicitly1 this field of legitimate curative power1 and control it1 and claim it by showing the power to use it4 ,the neglect of this sphere of influence by the ,church plays into the hands of ,christian ,science4 7,all this could be associated with the revival of unction47 #8,also1 ,i think the medical profession likes--in public--to ignore all this1 and thus in its turn plays into the hands of pseudo-theology4 ,my criticism is that ,i want your 8admissions0 made the basis of a more positive claim both on the ,church and on the medical profession4 #8,my own experience in the case of well-to-do people when sick or dying is that the medical profession is very much inclined to exclude religion in any form from sick beds till it cannot be of any use4 ,i do most seriously want to reform 7#a7 the ,church1 7#b7 the medical profession1 in the light of what you admit4' ,this wise letter says all1 to my thinking1 that need be said as to the duty of the doctor towards the cleric1 and the duty of the cleric towards the doctor4 ,it says not a word about the signs and wonders alleged by the ,society of ,emmanuel in ,london3 and ,i hope that ,dr4 ,gore1 by his silence1 condemns them1 as not worthy of credence4 ,i hope1 also1 and am sure1 that in a few years we shall hear less about that ,society4 ,meanwhile1 ,i should like to say something about one aspect of this matter of #8spiritual healing1' which has not received so much attention as it deserves4 ,we have heard all about the cleric1 all about the doctor3 and we are in danger1 ,i think1 of forgetting the patient4 ,we have been tempted to believe that the patient1 somehow1 belongs to the cleric and the doctor4 ,that we may clear our minds of this mistake1 let us put ourselves in the patient's place4 ,most of us1 ,i suppose1 know that place3 ,i have been there half a dozen times4 ,it is the centre of a great planetary system of kind people4 ,home love1 and the affection of my friends1 and the pleasant goodwill of the servants1 and the wisdom and the gentleness of doctors and of nurses1 and all prayers for my recovery1 wheeled round me1 each in its appointed course4 ,there ,i lay1 and was watched1 like a big baby3 and these activities of the spiritual life encircled me1 day and night1 till ,i got better4 ,the point is1 that it all came naturally to everybody4 ,it was the habit of the home1 it was our usual way of doing things4 ,my friends did not suddenly begin to care for me3 the doctors and the nurses did not suddenly begin to be gentle3 the maids were not stung by the splendour of a sudden thought for my comfort3 the use of prayer on my behalf was nothing new4 ,everybody was kind to me1 because everybody in the house always is kind to me4 ,they made me comfortable1 and one prayed for me1 because they are always making me comfortable1 and one daily prays for me4 ,all of us1 except myself1 were doing what we always do3 and ,i was being what ,i always am4 ,illness1 nine times out of ten1 no more changes a man than sleep and exercise change him4 ,as by a long sleep1 or a long day in the open air1 we gain tranquillity1 insight1 and self-judgment1 so1 by an illness1 we gain1 if we will1 a like measure of self-improvement4 ,the same good thoughts come to us1 as we lie idle in a sick-bed1 which come to us as we lie idle1 in holiday time1 on a hillside4 ,an illness1 apart from its drawbacks1 is in reality a sort of holiday1 a dull but not unprofitable vacation1 something halfway between a real holiday and what religious people call a retreat4 ,there is no sudden change in the patient's mind and outlook3 only1 there is more inlook1 more self-doubt1 more quietness of vision4 ,one day1 ,i shall put myself in the patient's place1 and not come out of it3 ,i shall not get well1 but die4 ,on that occasion1 the love1 sympathy1 goodwill1 medical attendance1 and prayers1 will be the same as before4 ,they will swing round me once more1 each in its proper sphere1 these familiar angels and ministers of grace defending me4 ,but1 as ,i begin to stop1 so they will begin to stop4 ,it will become absurd1 for my friends to call and ask after me2 absurd1 for the household to devise plans for my comfort2 absurd1 for the doctors to try to feel what is left of my pulse2 absurd1 for anybody to pray for my recovery4 ,spiritual processes are blessed with plenty of common-sense3 they leave off1 when it becomes downright foolishness to go on4 ,let them leave what remains of me1 and start again round another centre4 ,they who desire1 extravagantly1 to put #8spiritual healing' among the methods of the ,christian ministry1 seem to me to be losing sight of this fact1 that common-sense is an essential part of the spiritual life4 ,common-sense tells me1 that as ,i was intended to live1 so ,i am intended to die4 ,i cannot see any reason1 human or divine1 why ,i should live to old age1 and die of that4 ,i would rather not3 anyhow1 ,i see no reason why ,i should4 ,god1 who brought me into the world by my mother's pain1 will some day put me out of the world1 by my own pain4 ,he is in no sense more on the side of life than on the side of death4 ,i have been looking at the #8,order for the ,visitation of the ,sick' in the ,prayer-book and ,i am quite sure that nobody now could write anything half so sensible or so majestical4444 ,know this1 that ,almighty ,god is the ,lord of life and death1 and of all things to them pertaining1 as youth1 strength1 health1 age1 weakness1 and sickness4 ,wherefore1 whatsoever your sickness is1 know you certainly1 that it is ,god's visitation4 ,and the prayer for a sick child1 also1 seems to me a very sensible and beautiful piece of writing4 ,i find1 also1 a prayer for a sick person1 #8when there appeareth small hope of recovery4' ,i have heard it read over one at the point of death1 when there was no hope at all of recovery4 #8,we know1' it says1 #8that1 if ,thou wilt1 ,thou canst even yet raise him up4' ,i hope that ,i shall not1 when ,i am dying1 hear this phrase4 ,it rings false1 to my thinking3 it offends the natural dignity of a dying man4 ,we doctors are blamed1 now and again1 for not telling the truth to patients hopelessly ill3 but here is the ,prayer-book1 at the last moment1 hardly more straightforward4 ,all the same1 this ,order for the ,visitation of the ,sick is admirable2 and ,i desire to contrast it with the following instance1 how ,christian ,science treats the dying3 #8,mrs4 ---- is a widow1 and an old friend of mine4 ,in ,february #aije1 her only child1 a boy of eleven1 was in the last stage of a hopeless illness--mitral valvular heart disease1 with rheumatism and dropsy4 ,i had an opportunity of a few minutes' talk with the ,christian ,science 8practitioner0--a sweet1 gentle1 earnest woman--and asked her if she really thought she would do any good4 8,oh yes10 she replied1 with a smile of confidence2 8,i have never known a failure40 8,but10 ,i suggested1 8the boy is very seriously ill30 and ,i explained the nature of his complaint4 ,still confidently smiling1 the practitioner replied1 8,we have had worse cases than this40 ,i told her the best medical advice had been taken1 and the doctors had all given the boy up4 ,upon which the lady remarked1 with gentle emphasis1 8,god has not given him up40 ,that of course was conclusive1 and ,i left her to do her best4 ,i went away at ten o'clock1 and then the ,scientist seated herself by the patient1 read to him from the ,bible and ,mrs4 ,eddy's book1 and exhorted him in some such language as this3 8,you must not think you are ill1 my dear little boy4 ,you are not ill3 you can't be ill4 ,god would not make you ill4 ,he made all things good1 but not illness0--and so on1 and so on4 ,the boy1 ,i am told1 heard her patiently but wearily1 and at one-thirty he died4 ,then the practitioner gathered up her books and papers and went away1 and that is the end of the story4' ,here we have ,christian ,science in a favourable light3 all the same1 it is not a pleasant picture1 these falsehoods told to a dying child4 ,if it be not true that ,god #8makes illness1' and if it be not true that ,god #8gives us up1' then ,i attach no meaning at all to that ,name4 ,let us put ourselves at that point of the case where there appeareth small hope of recovery4 ,the doctors have given the patient up4 ,god1 in their opinion1 has done the same4 ,the cleric will not say that1 not in so many words3 ,yet1 he says1 forasmuch as in all appearance the time of his dissolution draweth near1 so fit and prepare him1 we beseech ,thee1 against the hour of death1 that after his departure hence in peace1 and in ,thy favour1 his soul may be received into ,thine everlasting ,kingdom4 ,the cleric does not pray for the patient's recovery4 ,he does not expect anything to happen1 save the patient's death4 ,he will not point-blank deny the possibility of a miracle3 but he neither asks for anything to happen1 nor1 so far as ,i can see1 wants anything to happen3 he only cares to be sure that the patient1 who is fast going1 shall go the right way4 ,it is here1 on this edge of time between life and death1 that the professional spiritual healer loves to perform4 ,he desires to make something happen3 he will not take it for granted that nothing will happen4 ,his position is logical1 and may be held in absolute sincerity4 ,only1 he is bound to tell us what1 in his experience1 does happen3 and he is bound to tell us of every case of failure1 or partial failure4 ,and we are bound to examine1 test1 cross-examine1 criticise1 analyse1 watch1 and almost spy upon every scrap of his work2 and that in a spirit of hard and well-nigh brutal indifference to his belief in himself as a channel of divine intervention4 ,what else does he expect of us8 ,what else are we here for8 ,among a pile of letters and pamphlets on my table is a tract called #8,new ,eyes in answer to ,prayer4' ,it gives the case of ,mr4 ,evison1 of ,grimsby4 ,he had something the matter with his eyes4 ,at last1 #8while walking out with a friend one day1 ,i put my hand in my pocket for something1 and dropped it on the ground3 on stooping down to pick it up1 the remaining pieces of my eyes dropped out of their sockets on to the ground4 ,they were about the size of the kernel of a nut4' ,so he went to a #8,divine ,healing ,home1' where he was anointed with oil in the name of the ,lord4 ,ten days later1 as he was praying in his bedroom1 he felt two warm fingers touch his empty sockets1 and they became warm4 ,later1 at a prayer meeting1 his eyes #8came wide open1' and he saw perfectly4 ,next day he testified to his recovery2 and1 says the tract1 #8,when this testimony was given by ,mr4 ,evison1 there were fifty-seven cases of blindness restored in answer to prayer4' ,i feel sure that the writer of this tract thought that he was telling the truth4 ,and ,i am no less sure that a great deal of #8spiritual healing' is just as worthless1 just as untrue1 as these ,grimsby miracles4 ,till the alleged wonders of spiritual healing1 and its unpublished failures1 have been all submitted to keen scrutiny1 and to every severest and most searching test that can be devised in science1 nobody who knows anything about pathology can take much interest in them4 ,so ,i come back to the ,bishop of ,birmingham's wise eirenicon4 ,it is a great pity that the work of the cleric and the work of the doctor should ever clash2 for they are ordained 7the ,prayer-book again7 for the mutual society1 help1 and comfort that the one ought to have of the other4 ,only1 if they are to be friends in ministering to the sick and the dying1 they must be friends always4 ,if1 in social life1 they do not get on well together1 they will not work together well in the sick-room4 ,if the doctor makes stupid jokes against religion1 and the cleric doses his parishioners with quack medicines2 if the doctor is dull to the wonders of faith1 and the cleric is dull to the wonders of science3 if neither has the grace to recognise and honour and openly praise the good works of the other--how shall they adjust themselves1 in the presence of impending death1 who thus waste the opportunities of daily life8 ,,the ,,relation ,,of ,,priest ,,and ,,doctor ,,to ,,patient ,,by ,,jane ,,walker1 ,m4,d4 ,,physician1 ,,new ,,hospital ,,for ,,women ,,the ,,relation ,,of ,,priest ,,and ,,doctor ,,to ,,patient ,,by ,,jane ,,walker1 ,m4,d4 ,in considering the subject of ,religion and ,medicine1 we shall be helped by looking back to the beginnings of things1 when people first realised that illnesses existed1 and that certain of them were curable4 ,they knew nothing of internal anatomy or physiology1 nothing of the origin and treatment of disease1 nothing of its infectious1 communicable character4 ,the treatment1 or1 at any rate1 the healing of disease1 must have been by means of what seemed to be mental influences in those early ages4 ,why1 our very word #8,influenza1' revived within comparatively recent years1 shows how vaguely and imperfectly was understood a disease which now we recognise as having a definite train of symptoms1 but of which we still know so little that we speak of it merely as an influence4 ,the idea of mental influence in disease was first scientifically formulated about twenty-five years ago1 and was provided with one of those queer names which we now use more or less glibly1 with a sort of comforting feeling that we understand the subject1 when we have successfully mastered the spelling and pronunciation--the scientific name psychotherapeutics1 or1 in plain ,english1 mind cure4 ,these investigations were undertaken in ,france1 to start with1 at ,nancy ,university1 by ,libault1 who published1 in #ahff1 #8,treatment by ,suggestion1' and by ,bernheim1 and simultaneously in ,paris by ,charcot1 and they were primarily to observe sundry methods of treatment used at that time in an unscientific manner1 such as animal magnetism1 mesmerism1 hypnotism1 c4 ,libault's book1 which was taken little notice of at the time1 gave a full description of the methods he pursued1 which more or less coincide with those followed by doctors who practise ,treatment by ,suggestion and ,hypnotism at the present day4 ,he lived a retired life1 and practised entirely amongst the poor1 who were devoted to him1 but1 at the same time1 regarded him as an amiable enthusiast4 ,libault finally retired on a very small competency1 not acquired from his practice1 which was altogether unremunerative4 ,as a result of this gathering up of all these so-called occult methods of treatment into the more or less exact science of ,psychotherapeutics1 have come into prominence many cults--or sects1 shall we call them8--such as ,mental ,healing1 ,faith ,cures1 ,peculiar ,people1 ,metaphysical ,healing1 ,christian ,science1 each of which is overlaid with doctrines of a more or less dubious kind4 ,the growth of these various bodies of late years has been extraordinarily rapid3 to mention two of them only1 ,christian ,science and ,new ,thought are now enthusiastically practised and believed in by many thousands of people1 both here and in ,america1 and hundreds of churches have been provided and erected in their names4 ,it must not be lost sight of that ,christian ,science1 as well as ,new ,thought1 which has been described by ,mr4 ,dresser1 one of its chief exponents1 as being #8a common-sense1 rational phase of the ,mental ,healing ,doctrine1' #8are dealing with genuine facts in the sphere of ,mental ,therapeutics'2 but these facts are entirely independent of the theories by which either school attempts to explain them4 ,the spread of ,christian ,science was viewed with considerable alarm by many influential members and dignitaries of our own ,church1 and this feeling was brought to a head at the ,pan-,anglican ,congress in #aijh1 when a large meeting on the subject was held at the ,albert ,hall1 which is fully reported in the handbook of the ,pan-,anglican ,congress4 ,following on the ,pan-,anglican ,congress meeting came the ,pronouncement of the ,bishops assembled in ,conference at ,lambeth1 in ,july #aijh4 ,the report of this ,conference is published by the ,s4,p4,c4,k4 as a pamphlet4 ,on ,november #af1 #aijh1 an important conference on ,spiritual ,healing was held at ,sion ,college1 which was presided over by ,prebendary ,pennefather1 who said that the ,church had too long neglected that part of her teaching and ministry4 ,mr4 ,hickson gave an account of the ,society of ,emmanuel1 and stated that they desired to revive in the ,church the use of the gift of healing committed to her by our ,lord4 ,the ,rev4 ,francis ,boyd explained the objects and work of the ,guild of ,health4 ,they held that bodily healing was not of primary importance1 that sanctification might indeed be gained through sickness1 but that a fuller sanctification might be gained by those who sought to be made whole by a more real and vital union with our ,lord4 ,the ,guild of ,health1 ,mr4 ,boyd proceeded to say1 recognised three systems of healing--physical1 mental1 and spiritual--though there was not necessarily any opposition between them4 ,they felt1 however1 that ,spiritual ,healing was the only system which concerned the ,church4 ,they were quite alive to the dangers of over-estimating the value of bodily health1 and only desired to further it so far as it ministered to the perfection of the whole nature of man4 ,after some further discussion1 a resolution was passed that1 #8,in the opinion of this ,conference1 the time has come to form a ,central ,church ,council in the diocese of ,london1 for the consideration of questions connected with ,healing by ,spiritual means4' ,at the outset1 we must take exception to ,mr4 ,boyd's three systems4 ,i very much question whether there is more than one system1 and ,i am convinced that physical and mental are one and the same4 ,and ,i would go so far as to say1 that the disastrous mistakes that have been made in the past1 and which are still in operation to-day in the treatment of one large section of sick people1 viz4 the insane1 largely owe their origin to this arbitrary division4 ,and1 by a curious irony1 the branch of medical science where there is the most marked predominance of materialism is this very department of mental diseases4 ,this is all the more curious when we reflect1 what occult influences have been1 in all ages1 supposed to work upon the insane4 ,the obnoxious word #8lunatic' is a proof of this4 ,the moon was by some supposed to have a deleterious effect on the intellect2 insane persons were spoken of as #8moonstruck'2 the periodicity of the mental attacks was also supposed to have some relation to the lunar interval4 ,indeed1 the whole subject of insanity bristles with occult and mysterious theories4 ,the really hopeful treatment of insanity began when it--a mental disease--was treated1 not by mental1 but by physical methods1 and the more mental and physical are taken together as one and the same1 the more rational and productive of good1 in the best sense1 is our treatment likely to be4 ,indeed1 the whole indivisibility of the three systems is nowhere so well shown as in the arbitrary division of ,religious ,insanity4 ,surely if we try to turn the minds of the sufferers from any considerations of religion1 by removing their ,bibles1 by preventing them from any religious discussion1 or from taking part in any religious ceremonies1 we are helping to keep up the evil4 ,people1 as we put it1 become insane on religious matters1 not only because they have been dwelling on the subject unduly1 but because it is naturally of the greatest importance1 and absorbs more attention than probably anything else in the world4 ,now1 as the more purely physical1 as distinguished from the more or less occult methods of regarding the insane1 has become the more enlightened and modern view of the subject1 so has the spiritual method of dealing with it come into prominence4 ,spiritual ministrations to the insane may be thought to be useless1 or1 at any rate1 to be fraught with little practical utility4 ,comparatively recently a man who had charge of a country parish was appointed chaplain to ,broadmoor1 which is the asylum for insane criminals4 ,a friend1 on being told of the appointment1 said to him1 #8,why1 whatever will you say to them8 ,you can only talk to them of their sins4' #8,talk to them of their sins6' he said2 #8,i shall never mention them4#aj ,i shall talk to them of ,hope4' #aj #8,the ,society of the ,crown of ,our ,lord' was formed for the purpose of supplying spiritual ministrations to the insane4 ,i have thought it advisable to dwell rather at length on the question of the insane1 because it really rather fairly represents my point of view on this subject4 ,whether you agree with me or not1 it is better that ,i should state quite fairly and straightly my position1 which has only been reached by honestly striving after truth1 and by looking fully into the subject for the purposes of this paper4 ,in talking about ,spiritual ,healing1 we are hampered at the start1 because we have only actual knowledge of physical things1 i4e4 of things as they appear to us here4 ,we have to define spiritual things in physical terms1 because they are the only things we know and understand4 ,time and space do not exist in the spiritual domain4 ,take just one word in illustration of my meaning1 the word ,rest4 ,our present state of being here has certain peculiarities4 ,labour involves rest from labour1 and if the limits of rest and labour are exceeded1 the result is ruin to man's moral and physical being4 ,disease is sure to follow the inactive mind or body1 and then comes a time when #8we cannot do the things we would4' ,but these things do not exist in spiritual language4 #8,they rest not day and night1 but cry 8,holy1 ,holy1 ,holy40' ,when we pray #8,eternal rest grant them1 ,o ,lord1' we have no thought of a period of rest as we understand it1 but rest in and with ,god4 ,we are far too apt to think that suffering is an evil--it is not necessarily so2 on the contrary it may be a blessing1 because it is often a direct means of advance towards perfection4 ,far too much attention is paid at the present day to temporal benefits4 #8,get rid of poverty1 of suffering1 and the world will be virtuous and happy1' but this is not so4 ,the people who starve and brutally ill-use their children are not the very poorest2 they are usually well-to-do in the world4 ,there is a great deal too much of considering poverty as a real cause of suffering4 ,christ's mission of redemption was not primarily a mission for the relief of suffering4 ,if ,he bids us to take up our cross1 ,he also bids us1 as a quite essential corollary1 to follow ,him4 ,indeed1 taking up our cross is useless1 if we do not follow ,him4 ,pain1 far from being shunned1 should be welcomed and embraced1 because it brings us nearer to the sufferings of our ,blessed ,lord4 ,it is not1 of course1 mere pain in itself that lifts and cleanses3 it is pain rightly and courageously borne1 from whatever motive4 ,if this be true1 the modern revolt against all suffering--and here ,i quote from the late ,miss ,caroline ,stephens's article on #8,pain1' published in the ,hibbert ,journal for ,october #aijh--#8;is obviously suicidal4 ,to extinguish all suffering1 were that possible1 would be to deprive the world of a leverage as all-pervading and effectual towards spiritual elevation and purification1 as is gravitation towards stability4' ,pain and evil are not interchangeable terms1 but are quite different4 ,evil cannot be innocent1 though pain can be1 and often is4 ,when the disciples said1 #8,what hath this man or his parents done that he should be born blind8' they formulated the usually accepted idea at that time1 and an idea1 moreover1 that dies very hard4 ,the whole treatment of disease in the ,middle ,ages was based on it4 ,if we quite briefly consider our ,lord's miracles1 they were signs of ,his ,divine mission1 not proofs1 and in performing them1 ,he felt limitations2 for we are definitely told that in ,capernaum #8,he did no more mighty works1 because of their unbelief4' ,these signs were sudden manifestations of ,his power1 and as such they are preferably called ,divine ,healing4 ,they showed the very highest degree of spiritual power1 but there was nothing really new4 ,christ was the perfect manifestation of eternal things1 and eternal things are obviously never new4 ,perhaps the fact that our ,lord thought it worth while to show his power in bodily healing was intended to teach us that to keep our bodies in health is an important religious duty1 and more than that1 that all hygienic social work undertaken is an important part of the duties of religion4 ,both nursing and doctoring bring us very near to part of the work of ,christ1 for ,he went about doing good to the sick1 and ,he symbolised this1 not only by ,his healing words1 but by the simple medicines and nursing of the ,good ,samaritan4 ,but just as illness is by no means caused by evil or ill-doing1 so it is equally clear that goodness does not of necessity bring health4 ,the question of bodily health has no connexion with spiritual conceptions at all4 ,if it were so1 the persons who are the strongest physically would be the most spiritual2 but we know1 of course1 that this is not so4 ,take ,st4 ,catherine of ,siena1 one of the greatest of saints1 statesmen1 and scholars that the world has ever known4 ,she healed others1 but she died herself of a lingering1 painful disease1 at the early age of thirty-three4 ,also ,st4 ,paul1 who prayed the ,lord thrice that the thorn in the flesh which tormented him might be removed4 ,and the ,lord's reply has been a help and comfort1 and a lesson to countless thousands ever since4 #8,my grace is sufficient for thee1 for ,my power is made perfect through weakness4' ,and what we so very often see now1 persons bereft of all that makes life dear1 in suffering of mind or body maybe1 yet rise above their weakness1 and carry through such reforms and such noble acts as they never could have done had they been allowed to remain in bodily health and comfortable and happy surroundings4 ,indeed1 ,st4 ,paul's affliction was the means of his converting the ,galatians1 for his illness compelled him to stop with them for a time1 and in writing to the ,corinthians from them1 he could truly say1 #8,most gladly1 therefore1 will ,i rather glory in my weaknesses that the strength of ,christ may cover me4' ,to repeat1 it is our duty1 as far as can be1 to keep our bodies in health1 though we can most of us conceive of circumstances when to lose our life may be indeed to save it4 ,in a sermon preached for the #8,guild of ,poor ,brave ,things1' the present ,bishop of ,london1 who is the president of the ,guild1 said3 #8,what made more impression on me as an undergraduate at ,oxford than all the sermons ,i ever heard in chapel was a young don1 insisting1 at the risk of his life1 on ministering to an undergraduate dying of a most infectious disease4' ,after all1 ,st4 ,paul's life1 as narrated by himself1 can hardly have been considered as hygienic4 #8,of the ,jews five times received ,i forty stripes save one4 ,thrice was ,i beaten with rods1 once was ,i stoned1 thrice ,i suffered shipwreck1 a night and a day have ,i been in the deep2 in journeyings often1 in perils of rivers1 in perils of robbers1 in perils of my own countrymen1 in perils from the ,gentiles1 in perils in the city1 in perils in the wilderness1 in perils in the sea1 in perils amongst false brethren2 in labour and travail1 in watchings often1 in hunger and thirst1 in fastings often1 in cold and nakedness4 ,besides those things that are without1 there is that which presseth upon me daily1 anxiety for all the churches4' ,in comparison with this1 the #8,don't-worry ,gospel' of the ,christian ,scientists seems utterly beside the mark4 ,health is undoubtedly good1 but it must sometimes be cast away in the service of others4 ,of course there is a philosophical difficulty in the whole position of the relation of religion to medicine4 ,in a manner they are1 as it were1 at loggerheads from the outset4 ,the ,church is bound to teach that it matters not how long or how short a man's life is1 if it is rightly spent1 whereas the doctor's point of view must be to keep the man alive at any price4 ,and although we may feel that1 under certain circumstances1 the medical attitude might be modified1 it is the only safe one in the present state of our knowledge4 ,euthanasia seems1 on the surface1 a most humane and comforting suggestion1 but it is allowing us finite beings to take into our own hands things which are beyond our comprehension4 ,we all know of instances where it must have been thought that death would be preferable to life2 but apart from the presumptuous thought of mere human beings1 look how often the maimed bodily frame #8rises on stepping stones of its dead self to higher things4' ,a man struck with blindness1 for example1 may be living a full and perfect and whole life1 in spite of his maimed condition1 because he puts out all his powers and lives at the top of his bent4 ,such a man is in the highest state a healthy being4 ,the unwhole man is one who is always in terror of his life1 and who does not accept with faith and cheerfulness1 and in a life of prayer1 the ills that are laid upon him by a wise and ,divine ,providence4 ,it is true that there are more things wrought by prayer than this world dreams of4 ,yes1 but even our prayers have necessary limitations arising from our imperfect knowledge1 and when ,st4 ,james declared that the prayer of faith shall save the sick1 he spoke at a time when scientific investigation was non-existent1 and when people must have been sorely distressed by their total inability to overcome the diseases from which those around them were suffering4 ,but for us1 whose physical knowledge is so much more exact1 to refuse to accept the remedies which hard and patient toil has discovered1 under ,god's help and guidance 7there whether we recognise it or not71 is both presumptuous and foolish4 ,spiritual ,healing--i4e4 a quasi-miraculous process--must die a natural death1 even if the agony is prolonged4 ,it is simply pandering to charlatanism1 and by its exaltation of the ,health of the ,body1 is almost pagan in its effects4 ,it is1 moreover1 an emphatic expression of individualism at a time when co-operation in every direction is the natural and right trend of affairs2 for truly never did we feel so strongly as now1 that no man liveth to himself1 and no man dieth to himself--as true of nations as of individuals4 ,it is1 therefore1 in the highest sense1 reactionary1 and a sentimental attempt to put the clock back1 which is doomed to failure4 ,take one item1 which is wrapped up in this idea of ,spiritual ,healing1 and that is ,demoniac ,possession4 ,this was an ancient belief1 as is shown by some of the miracles narrated in the ,gospels1 and there is an attempt to revive it in the present day1 and with that1 a practice of ,exorcism as a cure for it4 #8,but1' and here ,i quote from #8,religion and ,medicine1' #8it is a significant fact that as education spreads1 belief in demoniac possession dies out1 and the greatest strongholds of the belief to-day are in non-,christian countries4' ,a possible explanation of this is1 that in ,christian countries1 spiritual forces have been actively at work for many generations1 and that this spiritual activity has weakened the power of the forces of evil4 ,there is1 too1 no blinking the question that the behaviour of insane people1 or even of people supposed to be insane1 might be explained on the theory of demoniac possession4 ,for example1 how often one sees people generally good and kind1 and even truly religious1 go suddenly into a fury of temper or violence of some kind2 or in delirium we know that quite sweet1 innocent people say dreadful things which one would think they could not even know4 ,no doubt to some people the temporary possession by some evil spirit is a more comfortable theory than that it is a revelation of the natural man in us1 when discipline and training are in some way relaxed1 and that such is our real nature let loose4 ,the dangers of a belief in1 and of practising consciously1 ,spiritual ,healing are great1 as far as doctors are concerned4 ,it simply puts a premium on ignorance and laziness1 and is disastrous to exact knowledge and scientific investigation4 ,spiritual healers assert that to dwell on the abnormal and pathological prevents their work on the normal4 ,but who is to say what is the normal1 till abnormalities have been weighed and considered8 ,no1 to people like myself who practise medicine1 it is a dangerous and uncertain weapon to employ4 ,far be it from me to say that the spiritual side of medicine should be ignored altogether4 ,we know that our prayers1 rightly offered1 are a help to our patients--we know that the ordained ,sacraments of the ,church are a help to them4 ,moreover1 we know very well that there is no royal road to the treatment of disease4 ,we know well how many cases there are in our various hospitals and infirmaries1 that have baffled all the skill of diagnosis and treatment that has been vouched to the world up to the present time4 ,is it rational to believe that such cases will be healed by a glance1 or a touch1 or a word of any merely human person1 however holy1 who is manifestly ignorant of any ordinary scientific knowledge8 ,no1 ,spiritual ,healing as a cult1 as a part of the sacramental life of the ,church1 will cease to exist1 but all that has come out of it will be quickened and strengthened4 ,we shall feel greater need of prayer and intercession1 and we shall feel more and more the real value of meditation4 ,that the medical profession is fully alive to the importance of the question1 in spite of its difficulties1 may be inferred from the following extract from the ,british ,medical ,journal1 ,november #f1 #aiji3 #8,we welcome the discussion at the ,harveian ,society1 as a sign that the profession is more fully realising the value of certain potentialities of healing and relief1 which an ingrained materialism passes by on one side4 ,all around us spiritual or mental healing is going on4 ,it is our duty1 as it is our interest1 to study the process scientifically1 to define its limitations both in regard to the conditions to which it is applicable and to the persons who can successfully apply it1 and to recognise perhaps more fully than before that man is a compound of body and spirit1 both of which have to be taken into account by those who undertake the treatment of disease4 ,the first step to be taken1 if the profession is not to surrender a large part of its sphere of usefulness1 is that medical practitioners should be trained in psychology as well as in physiology4 ,in saying this we do not wish to be understood as pinning our faith entirely to experimental psychology4 ,a careful study of the works of the great masters of the human heart is at least as important as the estimate of time reactions and the accuracy of visual impressions4' #8,a careful study of the works of the great masters of the human heart'--this rings true1 and makes one hopeful1 in spite of the confusion in terms that exist in regard to ,psychic ,healing and ,spiritual ,healing4 ,spiritual ,healing may be defined as a change in a person's point of view4 ,it may be a question of building up character1 or of development of spiritual attributes4 ,in both cases1 it is essentially a matter of instruction4 ,and the teaching will be effective in proportion as the teacher is possessed of sincerity and sympathy4 ,i am anxious to be most emphatic in saying this1 because so much misunderstanding has arisen of late on all sides1 owing to misconceptions on this point4 ,spiritual ,healing can only1 in quite a secondary way1 be a physical process4 ,again1 take the case of a man who becomes blind in a way that prohibits any idea of his ever recovering his sight2 he may develop into a miserable1 discontented being on account of his affliction4 ,he comes under the influence of some teaching1 of some person1 or of some sudden religious inspiration4 ,he is healed4 ,can he see again8 ,no1 but he has risen superior to his blindness4 ,he is a whole man once more4 ,this is all that he and his lay friends know4 ,he may even enjoy better physical health than he did while his blindness oppressed him4 ,or1 again1 there may be morbid physical conditions directly or indirectly attributable to a morbid temperament1 sleeplessness due to wrongdoing1 or chronic dyspepsia due to worry4 ,in such cases as these1 the doctor may do little or nothing4 ,the malady is only incidentally a physical one4 ,here #8,spiritual ,healing' in the true sense is the only remedy1 and every liberal-minded medical practitioner would desire it for the patient4 ,practically1 as ,i have repeatedly found from experience1 priest and doctor can combine to the great advantage of the patient4 ,medical practitioners need have no fear that1 with wise and experienced priests1 they will find their special province interfered with2 on the contrary1 their hands will be strengthened1 the patients calmed1 and their fortitude increased4 ,it has been my lot many times to find the irritable patient resentful of her illness1 and of ,god's dealing with her1 brought to a calm1 hopeful1 restful frame of mind1 and that by the ministrations and prayers of a wise and tactful priest4 ,perhaps ,st4 ,catherine of ,siena expresses what is meant by all this in speaking of praying for others4 #8,it is toil for him 444 to hold him in the presence of ,god4' ,and it is here that the priest can so greatly assist us in our labours on behalf of those weak or sick ones who have been entrusted to our care4 ,,faith ,,and ,,mental ,,instability ,,by ,,theo4 ,b4 ,,hyslop1 ,m4,d41 ,,superintendent ,,of ,,bethlem ,,hospital ,,faith ,,and ,,mental ,,instability ,,by ,,theo4 ,b4 ,,hyslop1 ,m4,d4 ,the ,tendency for ,insanity to increase on ,account of the ,stress of ,life4 ,that there is a tendency for insanity to increase on account of the stress of competition and all the complexities of modern civilisation few will deny4 ,the burden of taxation upon the nerve tissues and the drain upon their stores of energy must necessarily go on increasing as the uses for the physical mechanism of the body and limbs diminish and become replaced by the more complex nervous activities essential to brain and mental avocations4 ,the influences of rural and urban life1 trades and occupations1 c41 as favouring the occurrence of insanity1 have been dealt with in an exhaustive manner in various reports1 treatises1 and innumerable papers1 and the result has been to apprise us of the fact that the percentage of individuals who are incapable by reason of mental perversion or defect from taking active and useful parts as citizens far exceeds our previous conceptions as to the extent of the degeneration in our midst4 ,it is well-nigh impossible to obtain a complete census of the physical and mental states of the people4 ,statistics furnish us with so many fallacies that for present purposes ,i prefer to omit them1 and deal only with broad issues which seem to have direct bearings upon the mental health of the community4 ,it is now an accepted fact that civilisation1 with its tendencies towards the aggregation of individuals into dense communities1 favours the occurrence in those communities of overcrowding1 pauperism1 crime1 and degeneration4 ,for those designed by habit and heredity to rural life1 migration to cities where the struggle for life is continued under totally different circumstances is disastrous1 and for them the step from country to town is but one of the commonest of all the steps towards mental and physical deterioration1 the accidents of civilisation finding in them merely the readiest victims4 ,the necessity of this migration1 as determined by the state of agriculture1 makes it none the less an evil1 and it is a symptom in the evolution of an essentially agricultural race which is fraught with extreme danger to the maintenance of its nervous and mental stability4 ,the problem1 however1 has a different aspect for those who by habit and heredity are trained for city life1 and certain it is that increased facilities for travelling are tending to decentralise our cities and thereby render the city dwellers healthier and more fit to cope with the drain upon their nervous energies4 ,as a physician1 it would appear to the writer that the problem of ,sunday observances in town and country have different bearings on the health and physical fitness of the people4 ,there is no doubt that periodic decentralisation of town dwellers is essential to the maintenance of bodily health1 and it is also true that physical exercise and change from mental to physical functioning and vice versa is essential to all--i4e4 if the balance between the mental and physical powers is to be adequately maintained4 ,it is1 of course1 to be understood that to a physician the preservation of this balance is his first care1 and to him is entrusted the function of aiding in the proper observance of all that is in agreement with biological and1 therefore1 natural laws4 ,to him there is a great difference between #8observance' and #8belief'2 and he sees in them either mutually co-operative or mutually destructive factors for good or ill respectively4 ,if religious observances1 under determined conditions1 are found to be useful and essential for the sane in mind and body1 they are also likely to be so1 under conditions otherwise determined and arranged1 for the insane4 ,many insane patients are totally incapable of attending any religious function4 ,some must be prohibited2 others may be encouraged4 ,as an asylum physician the writer may state that a generic case of religious excitement or enthusiasm may most advisedly even be restrained from religious functions until at least the acute symptoms have subsided4 ,there can be little doubt that no religious officer would be likely to succeed in accomplishing much for patients without an accurate knowledge of insanity and the mental experiences of those whom he seeks to influence4 ,the fact that mental aberration forms a special study and phase of life increases his difficulties and limits his possibilities4 ,where there is apparent failure both inside asylums and without1 such failures may very possibly be attributed to the deficiencies of the doctrine1 the discipline of the religion itself1 the organisations peculiar to it1 or the functionaries associated with it in our day4 ,if the ,christian religion is a true philosophy1 it is the duty of all who profess ,christianity to assist in the practical application of its precepts1 where such can be judiciously and safely applied1 taking religious things perforce as they find them1 and utilising their own special knowledge to the best possible advantage1 according to the conditions they find4 ,is a person with deep religious conviction better equipped to face the stress of life than an unbeliever8 ,an answer to this question was given by the writer in a paper read at the annual meeting of the ,british ,medical ,association held at ,leicester in #aije4 ,in stating that #8a true and philosophical religion raises the mind above a mere incidental emotionalism' he used the word #8religion' in its literal sense1 as derived from re and lego1 to gather and consider1 as opposed to negligens4 ,he in no way extended its connotation so as to include demonstrations of incidental emotionalism1 superstition1 or fanaticism4 ,religion and moral obligation he considered to be almost convertible terms1 both equally compatible with intuitionalism1 utilitarianism1 or any other #8ism' derived from the study of the laws of life and mind4 ,moral laws are generally principles of thought and action1 which an intelligent being must apply for himself in the guidance of his conduct1 and the translation of such general principles 7expressed either in general abstract form or in the form of a command7 into particular actions4 ,conformity with such precepts of morality may with reason be regarded as a safeguard against the #8lusts of the flesh4' ,religious enthusiasm in itself cannot justly be termed an evil4 ,rather does it embody the most healthy and preservative development of our social forces4 ,like many other tendencies of the mind1 it is subject to exaggeration1 misapplication1 and a predominance of the emotions over the intellect4 ,the typical cases of religious insanity directly developable from sectarian and even undenominational religious enthusiasm1 from religious meditations1 exercises1 devotions1 or superstitions1 are by no means so common as they are supposed to be by the uninitiated observer4 ,the true point lies in this1 that very many mental cases bear a strongly marked religious or at least moral aspect4 ,the psychology of the subject will show1 for example1 that acute depression--a predominant phase of abnormal emotional life--leads almost necessarily to a religious interpretation4 ,and this is even more the case with many actual sense perversions4 ,such1 ,i mean1 as have ever been associated with the ideas of the supernatural4 ,these are not necessarily caused by religious over-excitement or enthusiasm4 ,they may assume the appearance of it1 because1 being the deepest and most real feelings1 desires1 and convictions of the perverted organic life or of the moral reaction which accompanies it1 they cannot well be expressed or described except in strong moral terms4 ,over and over again does this appear1 and often among those least likely to be suspected of any religious predisposition4 ,that these feelings should be clothed according to the prevailing ideas and creed of the patient is an essential reproduction of the mind4 ,but1 after all1 this only relates to the form of their appearance1 and there are many things which lie deeper4 ,religious excitement is not infrequently assigned as a cause of insanity4 ,the writer has stated elsewhere his belief that the philosophy of the infinite1 far from being a source of aberrations of thought which may be deemed insane1 is the ultimate point of our mental evolution1 and that a true and philosophical religion raises the mind above a mere incidental emotionalism and gives stability4 ,with no religion and no moral obligation the organism is apt to become a prey to the lusts of the flesh and their consequences4 ,gasquet observes that religion may either produce or tend to hinder unsoundness of mind2 that it may cause certain symptoms of insanity or modify them2 and1 lastly1 that it may be employed as a means of moral prevention and treatment4 ,he believes that every form of religion1 however widely it may differ from our standard of the truth1 if it enforces the precepts of morality1 is a source of strength to the sound mind that sincerely accepts it4 ,clouston has justly observed that far more depends upon the brain that goes to church than upon what it may obtain in the church4 ,that is to say1 there must be the predisposition to break down1 the religious influence being often merely an accident4 ,it must also be remembered that religious over-enthusiasm may be merely a symptom and not a cause4 ,much misconception through misquotation has arisen in connexion with the writer's views as to the therapeutic value of prayer4 ,reference to the context of his views expressed before the ,society for the ,study of ,childhood will show that reference was made to the habit of prayer in childhood1 and its therapeutic value was there urged more as a preventive than as a curative agent4 ,it was urged that the mental hygiene of childhood was not to be determined by any special denominational method4 ,such limited methods may result in the fixity of an idea or belief quite compatible with usefulness in any sphere of activity1 but they do not deal with the broader and deeper question of the preservation of the mental health of the individual4 ,the exaggerated importance of the denominational question1 which has engendered passive resistance1 ought to give way to the question of mental health and engender a strong and active resistance to all that tends to narrow or circumscribe the mental life of the infant4 ,it ought to be our object as teachers and physicians to fight against all those influences which tend to produce either religious indifference or intemperance1 and to subscribe as best we may to that form of religious belief1 so far as we can find it practically embodied or effective1 which believes in #8the larger hope1' though it condemns unreservedly the demonstrable superstition and sentimentality which impede its progress and power4 ,as an alienist1 and as one whose whole life has been concerned with the sufferings of the human mind1 the writer believes that of all the hygienic measures to counteract disturbed sleep1 depression of spirits1 and all the miserable sequel of a distrait mind1 he would undoubtedly give the first place to the simple habit of prayer4 ,let the child be taught to believe in an anthropomorphic ,god the ,father1 or in an all-pervading medium of guidance and control1 or in the integrity of a cosmic whole1 with its transmutations1 evolutions1 and indestructibilities4 ,it matters little1 for they all lead in the same direction4 ,let there but be a habit of nightly communion1 not as a mendicant or repeater of words more adapted to the tongue of a sage1 but as a humble individual who submerges or asserts his individuality as an integral part of a greater whole4 ,such a habit does more to clean the spirit and strengthen the soul to overcome mere incidental emotionalism than any other therapeutic agent known to him4 ,our schools are as gardens for the cultivating1 judicious pruning and sustaining young life by gardeners who have1 or who ought to have1 full knowledge of the tender plants under their care4 ,our churches are to the moral welfare of the community as our schools are to the intellectual4 ,the church has been aptly termed #8,god's ,garden1' where the art of living good lives and the making of character is helped by specially appointed gardeners4 ,it is needless to say1 however1 that the light of reason or sanity1 as bestowed upon us by ,nature1 is the light to which all other considerations must give way lest we in our turn too soon pass the borderland of knowing things as they are4 ,,medical ,,aspects ,,of ,,mental ,,healing ,,by ,h4 ,g4 ,g4 ,,mackenzie1 ,m4,a41 ,m4,b4 ,,medical ,,aspects ,,of ,,mental ,,healing ,,by ,h4 ,g4 ,g4 ,,mackenzie1 ,m4,a41 ,m4,b4 ,i4 ,spiritual ,healing in the ,light of ,modern ,medical ,science ,i have been asked in this chapter to put together some recent expressions of opinion by members of my own profession on the subject of #8mental' and #8spiritual' healing4 ,no attempt whatever is made to give an exhaustive summary4 ,it will be sufficient for my purpose if ,i can make clear to the non-medical reader-- 7#a7 ,that there is nothing new in the elaborate and confident pretensions now being thrust forward by a variety of #8healers4' 7#b7 ,that1 so far from scientific medicine #8standing helpless in the presence of a new phenomenon1' she is in possession of a very large amount of clinical material on which quite definite conclusions have been formed2 and1 as always1 she is perfectly ready to consider and investigate any new evidence which might tend to mitigate the force of such conclusions4 ,now1 there are obviously two main lines of investigation4 ,we may consider 7#a7 the priori reasonableness of the claim that certain bodily diseases can be cured by #8mental' or spiritual processes1 or we may proceed to 7#b7 an posteriori investigation of cases of alleged cures4 ,a third method of investigation1 that which is1 of course1 adopted in all cases of scientific treatment of disease by new methods1 viz4 the tabulation of all cases treated1 with the diagnosis1 extent of disease1 immediate and permanent results1 negative as well as positive1 noted in each case1 is not usually possible1 since no psychic or spiritual healer whom ,i have ever met seems to consider such tabulation at all necessary or even desirable4 ,in the first place1 ,i submit a somewhat long quotation from an admirable paper#aa by one of the greatest medical authorities in the ,english-speaking world1 ,professor ,w4 ,osler4 #aa ,the ,treatment of ,disease1 by ,w4 ,osler1 ,m4,d41 ,f4,r4,s4 ,london3 ,henry ,frowde4 #aiji4 #8,an influenza-like outbreak of faith-healing seems to have the public of the ,american continent in its grip4 ,it is an old story1 the oldest indeed in our history1 and one in which we have a strong hereditary interest1 since scientific medicine took its origin in a system of faith-healing beside which all our modern attempts are feeble imitations4444 ,once or twice in each century the serpent entwining the staff of sculapius gets restless1 contorts1 and in his gambols swallows his tail1 and all at once in full circle back upon us come old thoughts and old practices which for a time dominate alike doctors and laity4 ,as a profession we took origin in the cult of sculapius 444 whose temples were at once magnificent shrines and hospitals4444 ,amid lovely surroundings1 chosen for their salubrity1 and connected with famous springs1 they were the sanatoriums of the ancient world4 ,the ritual of the cure is well known1 and has been beautifully described by ,pater in ,marius the ,epicurean4444 ,the popular shrines of the ,catholic ,church to-day are in some ways the direct descendants of this sculapian cult1 and the cures and votive offerings at ,lourdes and ,ste4 ,anne are in every way analogous to those of ,epidaurus4' ,osler goes on to speak with much tenderness of the apparently ineradicable nature of the credulity evinced not merely by the multitude but by persons educated widely1 if not well1 in the matter of the healing of disease4 ,it is indeed a portentous fact4 ,the slightest acquaintance with the history of therapeutics1 the most casual examination of the evidence of alleged cures1 the faintest stirring of the reasoning faculty1 as the votary asks himself whether the foremost pathologists who work continuously with the best available material in an institution devoted to the scientific study of cancer will not be more likely to arrive at a correct estimate of the probability of cure1 by means other than extirpation1 than a quite uninstructed masseur who has taken to #8spiritual healing1' these1 one would suppose1 would be sufficient to check the growth of credulity which we see in such evidence around us4 ,yet the reader will probably feel that ,osler is not going beyond the warrant of easily ascertainable fact when he says3 #8,we must acknowledge its potency to-day as effective among the most civilised people1 the people with whom education is the most widely spread1 yet who absorb with wholesale credulity delusions as childish as any that have enslaved the mind of man4' ,professor ,osler's conclusion is worth quoting3 #8,having recently had to look over a large literature on the subject of mental healing1 ancient and modern1 ,i have tried to put the matter as succinctly as possible4 ,in all ages and in all climes the prayer of faith has saved a certain number of the sick4 ,the essentials are1 first1 a strong and hopeful belief in a dominant personality1 which has varied naturally in different countries and in different ages3 ,buddha in ,india and in ,japan1 where there are cults to match every recent vagary2 sculapius in ancient ,greece and ,rome2 our ,saviour and a host of ,saints in ,christian communities2 and1 lastly1 an ordinary doctor has served the purpose of common necessity very well4 ,faith is the most precious asset in our stock-in-trade4 ,once lost1 how long does a doctor keep his clientele8 ,secondly1 certain accessories--a shrine1 a grotto1 a church1 a temple1 a hospital1 a sanatorium ,osler might have added the admirably devised entourage in such places as #8,physical ,culture' ,institutes and #8light cure' establishments1 surroundings that will impress favourably the imagination of the patient4 ,thirdly1 suggestion in one of its varied forms--whether the negation of disease and pain as among the #8,eddyites'1 the simple trust in ,christ of the ,peculiar ,people1 or the sweet reasonableness of the psychotherapeutist4 ,but there must be the will-to-believe attitude of mind1 the mental receptiveness--in a word1 the faith which has made bread-pills famous in the history of medicine4' ,we must1 however1 recognise the limitations of #8mental healing4' #8,potent as is the influence of the mind on the body1 and many as are the miracle-like cures which may be worked1 all are in functional disorders1 and we know only too well that nowadays the prayer of faith neither sets a broken thigh nor checks an epidemic of typhoid fever4' ,the following extract is from an article in the ,british ,medical ,journal of ,march #ac1 #aiji4 ,the article begins by quoting from a paper by ,dr4 ,allan ,hamilton 7,u4,s4,a47 to the following effect3 #8,in all this agitation1 it would almost seem as if the intelligent physician had never made use of psychotherapy1 but that he was a mechanical giver of drugs and took little or no interest in his patients4 ,if the new critics of the medical profession1 who have been so active of late1 would take the trouble to investigate1 they would often find1 among the great and successful men of all times and of to-day1 that the human side is very strongly developed1 and that their patients are studied from every point of view1 and treated accordingly4' #8,we would add1' says the writer of the article in the ,british ,medical ,journal1 #8that the intelligent application of the physician's knowledge of the influence of the body on the mind is the one condition of success in the difficult art of dealing with patients and reinforcing the curative power of ,nature or1 what comes to the same thing1 enabling sufferers to work out their own deliverance from the thraldom of functional disease4 ,all really great physicians have used this force1 sometimes1 it may be1 unconsciously1 but often with deliberate intent4 ,it is the power of influencing the mind of the patient or1 in other words1 of exciting confidence in his gift of healing1 that makes what is called 8personal magnetism40' ,at this point ,i may be permitted to offer one or two observations4 7#a7 ,to speak quite strictly1 it is not a question of #8 priori' possibility or impossibility4 ,as ,huxley pointed out1 twenty years ago1 few things can be said to be impossible except mathematical misstatements or manifest contradictions4 ,thus #b #b cannot possibly yield any result but #d4 ,a square circle1 a raised depression1 are1 in the strictest sense of the term1 impossibilities4 ,but1 with regard to an enormous number of alleged phenomena popularly styled impossible1 what is really meant is either that they are not impossible at all1 but only in some high degree improbable1 or that we have not sufficient knowledge to enable us to say whether or not they are impossible4 ,in any case1 before accepting them1 we are bound as honest men to demand evidence which may be thoroughly sifted4 ,the sort of stuff which we usually get1 when we ask for such evidence1 will be instanced at a later stage4 7#b7 ,again1 to speak quite strictly1 ,i do not know that anyone would care to draw a hard-and-fast line between what is #8functional' and what is #8organic4' ,these terms are extremely convenient1 but we must remember that they are only terms4 ,there is an oft-recurring danger1 against which we all require to be continually on our guard1 of falling into the old error of the realists4 #8,animate and inanimate' 7assuming that the recent claim to have demonstrated in metals a process of reproduction analogous to those observed in protoplasm is endorsed1 as seems probable71 #8genus and species1' #8animal and vegetable1' these and many others are eminently useful classifications1 and the border line between each and its opposite varies from comparative precision to extreme vagueness4 ,but in no case are they absolutely precise in the sense in which the distinction between an integer and a vulgar fraction is precise4 ,and in the matter of the terms #8functional' and #8organic' we must walk very warily indeed4 ,is epilepsy a functional neurosis or an organic disease8 ,analogy suggests organic changes4 ,no such changes have been constantly demonstrated by post mortem evidence2 partly1 of course1 because post mortem examinations of cases of death in the epileptic or epileptiform condition have been extremely rare1 and are not very common in cases where there is a well-authenticated history of attacks2 but partly because our investigations into the minute anatomy of many morbid conditions are at present barred by the limitations of microscopic vision4 ,we have no right whatever to assert dogmatically that there is no organic change in a tissue because we cannot see it under a magnification of #ajjj diameters--though for a variety of reasons1 which all pathologists will recognise1 it is not altogether probable that a magnification of #aj1jjj diameters would in such cases demonstrate a constant change4 ,in any case1 if we are told by a spiritual or psychic healer that he cures cases of1 let us say1 old-standing chronic nephritis or cirrhosis of the liver by his own peculiar methods1 our reply must be1 not that this is impossible because we are dealing with organic disease1 but rather that-- 7#a7 ,if he claims to act mentally or spiritually on the higher centres of the brain and so to reach the diseased tissues1 a cure is in the highest degree unlikely1 for a reason which will be given at a later stage2 7#b7 ,if his method is avowedly quite empirical1 and he only professes to exercise a power which he does not even dimly understand1 we must respectfully ask for evidence1 which can be examined and tested to the satisfaction of a competent and impartial mind4 ,now1 as to the influence of #8suggestion1' whether or not accompanied by other methods1 e4g4 hypnotism1 magnetism1 electricity1 c41 on 7so-called7 functional conditions1 modern medical science speaks with no uncertain voice4 ,at a meeting of the ,harveian ,society held last ,october1 much interesting information was produced4 ,a paper of great and permanent value was read by ,dr4 ,claye ,shaw on the #8,influence of ,mind as a therapeutic agent4' ,it is impossible in the space at my disposal to quote more than two brief extracts from his paper4 ,he thus defines #8suggestion'3 #8,suggestion is the insinuation of a belief or impulse into the mind of a subject by any means1 or by words or questions1 usually by emphatic declaration2 also the impulse of trust and submission which leads to the effectiveness of such incitement4' ,on the effects of treatment by suggestion1 ,dr4 ,claye ,shaw writes3 #8,it is with such conditions as chronic inebriety1 opium1 or the drug habit1 that suggestion is most powerful2 with acute insanity ,i have not seen it successful1 and1 though it has been fairly tested in asylum practice1 it has not obtained general recognition as a therapeutic agent4' ,a considerable number of medical men1 alienists and others1 took part in the discussion which followed the reading of the paper4 ,dr4 ,bramwell cited many well-authenticated cases where a cure or marked amelioration had followed treatment by suggestion in cases of this kind which had resisted all other treatment4 ,among these were instances of neurasthenia 7#8la grande hystrie'71 claustrophobia1 morphomania1 tendency to suicide1 a morbid fear of cats4 ,dr4 ,seymour ,tuke said that he had found #8suggestive treatment marvellously effective in cases of inebriety in which the will was under some sort of control1' but that he was #8unable to make encouraging report of the use of hypnotism and suggestion amongst insane patients4' ,a useful and discriminating testimony4 ,dr4 ,lloyd ,tuckey had cured #8many cases of genuine dipsomania1 which could not be reached by drugs1 by hypnotism--as well as other intractable conditions1 such as three cases of ,menire's disease4' ,dr4 ,r4 ,h4 ,cole said that1 twenty years ago1 when he was a ,house ,physician1 he first tried to hypnotise patients4 ,later1 he went to ,paris and attended the #8,salptrire and ,bernheim's cliniques1 but was greatly disappointed in what he saw4444 ,in his experience of mental diseases he had only seen it do good in one insane patient4 ,it had never had any effect in his experience upon people with fixed delusions1 but it would cure dipsomania4' ,dr4 ,t4 ,f4 ,woods had treated #djjj cases1 and he described a few of them in which he had obtained remarkable results4 ,one was that of a woman1 with severe asthma and delusions that she was going to be cut in pieces1 who was cured by suggestion at one sitting1 and had kept well ever since4 ,another case of severe sciatica1 which had resisted every line of treatment for eight months1 was also cured rapidly4 ,he did not find it necessary to induce hypnotic sleep4 ,dr4 ,e4 ,a4 ,ash thought that #8genuine hypnotism 7the state of somnambulism7 was unsatisfactory in practice4 ,only a small proportion of cases could be hypnotised1 and these in his experience did no better than those treated by simple suggestion4 ,he quoted two cases of nocturnal enuresis1 one of which he had failed to cure by hypnotism1 whilst the other was cured by suggestion1 and a case of blepharospasm1 which had been cured by suggestion1 with light massage on the eyelids1 although a similar case treated only by suggestion had not been relieved4' ,dr4 ,w4 ,h4 ,blake described #8a series of cases in which he had used hypnotism with the utmost benefit4444 ,his most remarkable cures had been effected in a case of asthma1 for which the patient was accustomed to drench himself unavailingly with drugs1 and in a severe case of dipsomania4' ,here we have grouped together the expression of the opinions of trained minds of responsible medical men4 ,the differences are comparatively slight4 ,the agreement is remarkable4 ,not one of them 7though in one case as many as #djjj records are in his hands7 claims to have cured what are usually called organic conditions4 ,the whole question is as to the best way in which suggestion can be brought to bear on patients whose lives are in many cases rendered miserable by persistent1 but none the less #8functional1' ailments4 ,moreover1 we observe that the result of years of patient clinical investigation is to lead them to treat every variety of psychic therapeutics as a form of #8suggestion4' ,in no case is there so much as a hint that a new force1 viz4 #8spiritual healing1' has appeared1 different in kind not only from other varieties of suggestion but from the countless cults of spiritual healing1 which have flourished and disappeared in the past or the relics of which still survive in many continental and eastern shrines4 ,now1 with regard to #8spiritual healing' in its present manifestation in our own country the general attitude of medical science is well described in an article which appeared in the ,british ,medical ,journal of ,january #i1 #aiji4 ,the article begins by describing some meetings of different societies1 in some cases mutually antagonistic1 but all existing for the purpose of advancing the claims of healing by #8spiritual' means4 ,it goes on to say3 #8,if all or any of them can show that they have discovered a new force1 or a new method of applying one already known1 to the cure of disease1 rational medicine will welcome a new weapon4 ,as we have often said1 the wise physician understands the action of the mind or the spirit on the body1 and uses it for the benefit of his patient4 ,a man who firmly believes in his doctor's skill1 or in the efficacy of the treatment to which he is subjected1 is in the best possible condition for the operation of curative forces4 ,on the other hand1 a patient who believes that nothing can cure him helps to seal his own doom4 ,avicenna well said1 ,plus interdum prodesse fiduciam in medicum quam ipsam medicinam4 ,the 8lady of the highest rank10 who is reported to have said that she would rather die under the care of ,sir ,henry ,halford than recover under that of any other physician1 must have been a living tribute to his skill4 #8,the fact cannot be too much insisted upon that there is nothing in the least new about faith healing4 ,it is as old as medicine and religion1 which in the beginning were one1 as they still are among many savage tribes4 ,faith can move mountains1 and it matters little on what it is based or how it is excited4 ,as ,john ,hunter has told us1 the touch of a dead man's hand has charmed away a tumour4 ,but there are limits to its action1 and while willing to accept faith as an adjuvant1 no one who knows anything about disease will admit that by itself it can heal any but ailments the origin of which lies hid in the unknown recesses of the nervous system4 ,by all means let us know the full power of the spirit over the body4 ,only let us have facts that can be fairly and fully tested4 ,a scientifically trained doctor takes nothing on trust1 and there can be no useful co-operation between medicine and spiritual healing unless the facts of each case are fully disclosed4 ,that is the point where science and faith part company2 the former is as importunate as ,arthur ,clennam at the ,circumlocution ,office1 and the wonder workers are as painfully surprised at this as the youthful ,barnacle was at the persistence of 8the fella that wanted to know1 you know40' ,let us dispose at once of one simple question of fact4 ,modern medical science has given the #8spiritual healers1' who claim to cure any and every disease by touch or prayer or unction1 an absolutely fair hearing4 ,evidence is asked for1 and1 if it is forthcoming1 is patiently investigated1 no matter how antecedently unlikely may be the pretensions which such evidence is brought forward to support4 ,the general attitude of mind of the supporters of the #8spiritual healers' is shown by the following illuminating extract1 quoted by ,sir ,h4 ,morris in the course of a recent lecture on #8,looking back'3 #8,we have no difficulty in believing that ulcers that have a malignant aspect may be healed by the hope that comes from a potent suggestion4 ,we have ourselves known of more than one case in which every clinical sign of malignant disease of the stomach was present1 and in which a cure was effected by means that could only have derived their potency from suggestion4' ,people who are prepared to accept this without clearly ascertained and properly sifted evidence will accept anything4 ,they simply believe what they wish to believe4 ,when one widely advertised #8case of spiritual healing' breaks down on investigation1 another is put forward4 ,indeed1 for the most part they have no idea as to what constitutes evidence in these matters4 ,in many cases the unsupported statement of a patient1 as to the diagnosis pronounced by a medical man1 is calmly accepted by them as though there were no need of further investigation4 ,we have heard1 perhaps1 more than enough of a highly placed dignitary of the ,church who believes 7no doubt quite sincerely7 that he was cured of cancer by the ministrations of one of these #8healers1' after an absolute diagnosis as to the existence of an inoperable tumour had been made by a leading specialist4 ,the repeated denial by the specialist in question1 that he ever supposed the condition which he examined to be cancerous1 makes no difference4 ,the patient continues to announce as a fact what is almost demonstrably untrue2 and his followers will no doubt continue to accept his statement in preference to first-hand evidence1 so long as this particular cult survives4 ,but1 for those who are not blinded by ignorant credulity1 the following extracts from a letter from ,dr4 ,combe ,atthill may be of interest4 ,dr4 ,atthill's experience could1 of course1 be paralleled by any medical man of long practice3 #8,shortly after ,i retired from practice1 some ten years ago1 a well-known clergyman wrote to me1 saying that members of his congregation were being much disturbed by the advent amongst them of a lady professing herself to be a faith healer1 and saying that her conversion was due to the fact of my having told her that she was suffering from a dreadful disease1 and that her sole hope of cure lay in the performance of a very dangerous operation4 ,she refused to submit to this1 and instead placed herself in the hands of 8the healer10 and was cured4 ,he concluded by asking me to give him particulars of her case4 #8,i had no recollection of any such patient1 but1 as the name was given1 ,i traced her1 and found the following particulars recorded in my case book4 #8,i had only seen the lady once in my own house1 when she stated that she was well past middle life1 and for more than a year had been weakened by a well-known condition4 #8,on my telling her ,i must examine her she replied that she could not submit to it that day for sufficient reasons1 so ,i arranged that when she was in a condition for examination she would let me know1 and ,i would call on her and examine her4 ,i made no diagnosis1 and gave no opinion as to the nature of the case4 ,i said no word about performing an operation4 #8,instead of writing to me to call on her1 she went to ,london4 ,no doubt an examination would have revealed the fact that no disease ever existed4 #8,it is impossible to deal with patients of this class4 ,their mental equilibrium is disturbed2 they distort what the doctor may say1 and not infrequently invent and circulate statements he never made4' ,,ii4 ,the ,society of ,emmanuel ,special attention has been directed of late to the claims of the #8,society of ,emmanuel4' ,this society appears to profess adherence to the tenets of the ,church of ,england1 though1 except for ,dr4 ,mylne 7formerly ,bishop of ,bombay71 no well-known churchman1 lay or cleric1 seems to be a member of the executive4 ,the names of some ladies of title are given in the list of the ,general ,committee4 ,the president and principal #8healer' is a ,mr4 ,james ,m4 ,hickson4 ,the objects of the society are closely akin to those of other similar societies1 except that they have a distinctly #8,church' flavour4 ,for instance3 #8,to develop the ,divine gifts left to ,his ,church by the ,master1 especially the gift of healing by prayer and laying on of hands1 with the object of using these ,divine gifts 444 for the healing of the body4' ,a perusal of its literature reveals the usual pretension to cure and to have cured any and every disease4 ,nothing like a tabulated list of cases treated appears anywhere4 ,the society has now opened a #8,hospice1' where free treatment 7by prayer and laying on of hands1 c47 is given by the aforesaid ,mr4 ,hickson4 ,for some time the ,british ,medical ,journal1 the official organ of the ,british ,medical ,association1 called attention to widely advertised #8cures1' and asked for information which would make it possible for an investigation into the true facts to be carried out4 ,the results were hardly satisfactory4 ,here are some of the cases3 7#a7 ,in the ,british ,medical ,journal 7,may #a1 #aiji7 the following case is given as recorded in ,the ,healer 7the organ of the ,society of ,emmanuel73 #8,the patient fell and injured the patella1 which had previously been broken four times--two doctors expressed the opinion that he would never have full use of the knee again4 ,it was very painful and quite callous 7sic7 at the time of the first treatment by prayer1 but in twenty minutes he was able to bend it without help2 the following day to walk about the house1 and after four visits to resume ordinary duties4' ,inquiries failed to elicit any details which would enable investigation to be made4 7#b7 ,from the ,british ,medical ,journal of ,june #e1 #aiji3 #8,mr4 ,hickson is reported to have said that he has another case of 8cancer of the throat0 under his care2 the patient had undergone two operations before going to him1 and is now apparently getting well4 ,we should be glad to have particulars of so interesting a case1 but we doubt whether they will be forthcoming4' ,apparently they were not4 ,but the case was identified without difficulty4 ,a clergyman1 the vicar of a country parish in the ,oxford diocese1 was under #8treatment' by ,mr4 ,hickson at this time for what was undoubtedly cancer 7epithelioma7 of the larynx4 ,a friend of mine who saw him in the summer described him as being quite certain that he was being cured1 though he looked extremely ill and could hardly speak above a whisper4 ,a few weeks later the patient died4 ,if ,mr4 ,hickson has anywhere publicly announced the failure of his #8treatment' in this case1 after having stated that the patient was #8apparently getting well1' no such announcement has come under my notice4 7#c7 ,in its issue of ,june #ab1 #aiji1 the ,british ,medical ,journal published a quotation from the ,evening ,news1 which ran as follows3 #8,the following account of a cure of cancer is furnished by a lady member of the ,society of ,emmanuel3 8,the patient was a ,bishop of the ,church of ,england4 ,the doctors abandoned all hope of a cure4 ,then ,mr4 ,hickson took the case in hand4 ,he arrived on the morning of the day on which the sufferer had to undergo an operation4 ,mr4 ,hickson prayed with him and anointed him1 followed by a laying on of hands 7sic74 ,in the afternoon the surgeon arrived and made his examination4 ,he was greatly surprised4 #8,the case puzzles me1' he said4 #8,there is a mark of a new wound1 but the cancer has gone6' ,the cleric in question is now perfectly well1 and was with us the other day1 but ,i believe the surgeon has not yet recovered from his surprise40' ,the usual request to ,mr4 ,hickson or any member of the ,society of ,emmanuel to furnish details of this truly miraculous cure1 which could serve as a basis of investigation1 followed1 but no reply came to hand4 ,again1 ,i ask1 has ,mr4 ,hickson publicly repudiated this account of his healing powers8 7#d7 ,the following is an extract from an article in the ,british ,medical ,journal of ,may #bb1 #aiji3 #8,,spiritual ,,healing ,,and ,,cancer4 #8,one of the most serious difficulties in arriving at a correct conclusion as to the curative powers claimed for spiritual healing is the intangible nature of the evidence4 ,for instance1 most of the patients on behalf of whom prayers were asked in the earlier numbers of ,the ,healer--which is published by ,mr4 ,j4 ,m4 ,hickson1 and which1 we suppose1 may be regarded as the organ of the ,society of ,emmanuel of which that gentleman is the president--are vaguely described as suffering from 8rheumatism10 8loss of nerve power10 8spinal trouble10 8internal weakness10 8low vitality and great weakness10 8heart trouble10 8internal trouble40 ,some1 indeed1 are said to be the subjects of 8locomotor ataxy0 and 8consumption10 but no particulars are given by which the diagnosis can be checked1 and it is difficult or impossible to trace the result of the treatment4 ,in a report of the past year published in the number for ,november #aijh1 ,mr4 ,hickson does give some details of a few cases4 ,the two following taken at random may be given as specimens3 8,priest4 ,cancer in bowel4 ,specialist1 who examined him nine months ago under an anaesthetic1 said that an operation was impossible1 and that he could not live for more than about three months4 ,he then sought help through ,divine ,healing1 when he was anointed with oil in the name of the ,lord1 and ,mr4 ,hickson laid his hands on him in prayer1 after which he was examined by the same ,specialist1 who found that a process of absorption was taking place4 ,he is now quite well40 8,lady's ,maid4 ,age about #bh4 ,suffering from rupture1 which gave great pain4 ,one year under treatment at ,middlesex ,hospital1 and1 while waiting for an in-patient's bed for operation1 was advised to seek help through ,divine ,healing4 ,after three visits to ,mr4 ,hickson1 two months ago1 she is now quite well and strong1 with no pain or swelling4 ,her mistress also reports that serious defects of her character are no longer apparent and her whole spiritual nature is quickened and her duties are better done40 #8,these cases are sufficiently definite to be tested1 and we should be glad if ,mr4 ,hickson would supply us with the information necessary for the purpose4 ,we should undertake not to publish the names of the patients or any particulars by which they could be identified4 ,we should place the results of our investigation honestly before our readers4' ,result3 ,no reply4 ,if the first of these cases is the one already referred to1 it will be observed that the clear and definite denial of the specialist in question goes for nothing2 also that1 like all other stories of the kind1 this has lost nothing in the telling4 7#e7 ,the article goes on3 #8,in the meantime1 we have succeeded in tracing a case more remarkable than either of the two just cited1 and the result is very instructive4 ,it was related in the third number of ,the ,healer 7,march #aijh1 p4 #i7 by the ,right ,rev4 ,l4 ,g4 ,mylne1 ,d4,d41 formerly ,bishop of ,bombay1 in a paper entitled 8,the ,anointing of the ,sick for their ,healing40 ,it has already been quoted in the ,british ,medical ,journal of ,january #i1 #aiji1 p4 #aji2 but1 to enable the reader to form a correct judgment on the subject1 it must be repeated here4 ,bishop ,mylne said3 8,in the latest up-to-date book on cancer1 which is in the hands of the most scientific men of to-day1 there is a case quoted which is1 ,i have no doubt1 correctly said to be a unique one of abortive cancer4 ,the case is fully described from a medical point of view--how a patient1 stricken unquestionably with cancer1 was found to have1 in place of the tumour1 something which could only be called abortive cancer1 the like of which was never heard of before4 ,i happen to know the whole history of the case from the brother of the patient1 himself a medical man4 ,it was this3 ,the patient had been suffering from a serious affection of the throat4 ,he went to one specialist after another4 ,three eminent men told him without hesitation that he was suffering from a cancer growing on the vocal cords1 and that nothing but their total excision could save his life4 ,he was a hard-working priest of our ,church1 and1 of course1 the operation meant that he would never utter a word again4 ,however1 his life had to be saved4 ,the doctors came2 the throat was laid open2 the operator had his knife in his hand to excise the vocal cords4 ,he stopped dead4 ,instead of applying the blade of the knife1 he took hold1 between his thumb and the handle1 of all he found there1 and peeled it off1 just like the skin of a fruit4 ,between the diagnosis and the operation the patient had been anointed with oil in the name of the ,lord4 ,that is one of not a few cases which some of us know about1 but it is by far the best defined one ,i know of1 and one that is actually celebrated in medical circles2 not1 of course1 being quoted as an instance of what may be done by anointing1 but as a case unique in surgical experience40 ,we went on to say that we should be glad to have fuller particulars1 and we respectfully invited ,bishop ,mylne to furnish us with the name of the 8latest up-to-date book on cancer0 from which he quoted4 #8,in the meantime1 we had been put on the track of the case by a distinguished physician1 and had obtained a report of the case from the surgeon who operated4 ,all1 therefore1 that was wanting was the name of the book from which the quotation purported to be taken4 ,we communicated with ,bishop ,mylne on the subject1 and we have to acknowledge the courtesy with which he received our request for information and the pains he took to procure it for us4 ,his ,lordship was1 however1 unable to gain the consent of those to whom he applied to help in any way in supplying an answer to a very simple question4#ab ,as the matter is one of general interest not only to the medical profession but to the whole of mankind1 we think it right to give the true facts of the case1 of course without disclosing the patient's identity4 #ab ,the italics are mine4 ,the ,bishop is one whose statements1 made on behalf of #8spiritual healing1' have been accepted by persons at any rate adequately educated4 ,he writes a preposterous account of #8an abortive cancer1' and professes to quote from #8the latest up-to-date book on cancer1 which is in the hands of the most scientific men of to-day4' ,on being asked to give the name of the book1 he says that he cannot #8obtain the consent of those to whom he applied4' #8,the operator was ,mr4 ,butlin1 who has been good enough to give us permission to publish the following account4 ,he saw the patient1 who was at that time thirty-seven years of age1 in #ahij4 ,there was then a very white patch1 flat and sessile1 on the middle of the left vocal cord1 looking like a papillary growth4 ,a month later the surface seemed to be ulcerated4 ,the patient was seen by other well-known specialists1 who1 like ,mr4 ,butlin himself1 were puzzled as to the nature of the disease4 ,tubercle1 papillary growth and malignant disease were in turn considered1 but no definite conclusion was arrived at4 ,the patient was treated in various ways for four months before it was thought right to open the larynx4 ,mr4 ,butlin then operated in the presence of an eminent specialist1 a distinguished surgeon1 and another medical man1 a friend of the patient4' ,somewhat to curtail the account1 let me simply say that when the larynx was opened it appeared that they had to do with a case either of what is known as leukoplakia or a rather rare form of papilloma4 ,the latter seemed on the face of it to be the more probable1 though evidently ,mr4 ,butlin did not think so4 ,whatever it was1 it was certainly not malignant4 ,it was scraped away without difficulty3 no signs of infiltration were observed1 and1 when last heard of1 the patient's recovery seemed to be complete4 ,the rest of the article in the ,british ,medical ,journal consists of some criticisms of ,dr4 ,mylne's proceedings1 which certainly do not appear to me to err on the side of severity4 ,the ,society of ,emmanuel has at last consented to allow the ,british ,medical ,association to carry out a full investigation into its alleged cures4 ,the report will be interesting reading4 ,incidentally1 it will be instructive to note how many of the above cases have been submitted to the investigators4 ,meanwhile1 the danger is a real one4 ,probably an investigation into the facts of the #8cures' reported by other #8psychotherapeutic' societies would yield much the same results as have attended the inquiries into the claims of the ,society of ,emmanuel4 ,not one of them1 so far as ,i know1 even attempts to put its work on a scientific basis2 and all claim implicitly1 if not explicitly1 that they possess a power to cure the most malignant organic diseases as well as functional neuroses4 ,if this cult is allowed to spread among the ignorant and credulous 7and it seems to me that1 pari passu with waning faith1 the most childish credulity is rapidly increasing in our midst1 often appearing in the most unexpected places71 a golden opportunity will be offered to plausible impostors1 without even the pretence of a scientific training1 to set up as #8healers' and reap a rich harvest of gain4 ,a few startling successes will be widely advertised1 and the huge tale of failures quietly ignored4 ,but a more serious danger lies behind4 ,i take the following from the ,british ,medical ,journal of ,may #a1 #aiji3 #8,a man with some slight symptoms of bladder trouble consulted an eminent specialist1 who discovered a small growth which could easily have been removed4 ,it was arranged that the patient should undergo an operation4 ,in the meantime he fell among ,christian ,scientists1 who persuaded him that he was quite well4 ,and1 indeed1 for a time the symptoms almost ceased4 ,but the insidious disease remorselessly went its way1 till the unfortunate patient was past all surgery4' ,if it be said that the societies ,i have mentioned repudiate all connexion with ,christian ,science1 ,i reply that by their fruits must they be judged4 ,both ,christian ,science and the various associations for spiritual healing profess to heal any and every disease1 and offer proofs of their claim1 which1 whenever they have been tested1 have been shown to be utterly without foundation4 ,,iii4 ,spiritual ,healing on a ,scientific ,basis ,in a book which has recently appeared1 #8,body and ,soul1' by the ,rev4 ,percy ,dearmer1 we have a serious and able attempt to put #8spiritual healing' on a scientific basis4 ,considerations of space do not permit me to deal as fully as ,i should wish with this really interesting book1 but1 if ,i may try to put the general argument into a single paragraph1 ,mr4 ,dearmer's contention is as follows3 ,bodily functions and bodily health are regulated and sustained by what may be called the lower nerve centres in the medulla of the brain4 ,it is by the exercise of these centres1 which in turn control the circulation1 the secretion of various glands1 c41 that the body combats disease4 ,this work is continually going on and we are for the most part quite unconscious of it4 ,but1 says ,mr4 ,dearmer1 #8we now know that these centres are in direct connexion with the higher centres of the cortex of the brain4' ,i should think we do4 ,so did our ancestors a hundred years ago4 ,their knowledge of the work of such centres as the vasomotor1 the respiratory1 the heat-regulating1 c41 was fragmentary and imperfect to the last degree1 but not one of them had any doubt that myriads of nerve fibres connected the cortex with the medulla4 ,let us1 therefore1 know how to stimulate the cortex1 and all disease 7organic as well as functional7 can be cured4 ,hence1 when our ,lord cured ,bartimus's blindness1 and when a #8healer' cures locomotor ataxy1 they are performing a function quite as natural as in the case of a doctor who cures malaria with quinine or restores the use of muscles in musculo-spiral paralysis by the use of the interrupted current4 ,this sounds plausible enough4 ,there is nothing very new in it2 indeed1 when we come to analyse it1 we shall see that1 so far as general principles go1 there is nothing which was not perfectly familiar in ,sydenham's day1 or which the most materialistic practitioner of our own time would not admit without a moment's hesitation4 ,but1 of the limitations of his process1 ,mr4 ,dearmer only seems to have a confused idea4 ,let us take one of the instances which he adduces in illustration of his argument4 ,he is speaking 7p4 #cc7 of the familiar phenomenon of blushing4 #8,when a person blushes1' says our author1 #8the small arteries are relaxed and dilate1 the amount of blood in them is increased1 and this hot red fluid flows in such quantities through the capillaries of the skin that the skin itself becomes hot and red4 ,it is strange that the thought 8,he says ,i am a pretty girl0 should cause the small arteries to behave in this way2 but the physiological explanation is simple enough4 ,these arteries are supplied with muscles which regulate them1 and all muscles are worked by nerves4 ,the thought in the higher conscious centres has somehow seen fit to hitch itself on to the arterial muscles1 just as when we telephone to a friend in the ,city the exchange connects us on to his office4 ,now1 supposing it to be possible to cure a man1 say of indigestion by thought1 the process would be the same4' #8,supposing it to be possible to cure a man of indigestion by thought1' this is a statement which no one would wish to dispute4 ,but ,i expect ,mr4 ,dearmer would be surprised to hear that the analogy of the excitation of the vaso-dilator centre1 which causes blushing1 can be applied to only a few varieties of indigestion4 ,roughly1 the commonest causes of indigestion might be said to be3 7a7 anmia1 or an insufficient supply of blood to the mucous membrane of the stomach2 7b7 an imperfect secretion of hydrochloric acid and the digestive fluids owing to structural defects in the glands of the stomach1 usually a hereditary condition2 7c7 a dilated organ2 7d7 some pathological condition of the accessory large glands1 e4g4 liver and pancreas2 7e7 dyspepsia1 owing to faulty balance of the nervous system4 ,any one of these five is fairly common1 but only in the last is there a shred of evidence for supposing that suggestion or any other factor which would cause the higher1 and through them the lower1 nervous centres to show a healthy activity1 would bring about amelioration or a cure1 while there is much evidence against any supposition of the kind4 ,mr4 ,dearmer elsewhere lays it down that healing by excitation of the #8undermind' is only possible where the case is #8curable4' ,if1 he says in effect1 the case is incurable1 then anything like spiritual or faith healing or suggestion will fail to bring about a cure will the faith-healers kindly take note of this admission81 but so will any other more material means4 ,to this one may be permitted to reply3 7i7 ,in many acute infections1 e4g4 scarlet fever1 typhoid fever1 cholera1 where complete recovery may be expected if 7a7 the infection is not too virulent1 7b7 the resisting power of the tissues is vigorous and unimpaired1 suggestion in any form--hope1 the desire to live1 the unexpected arrival of a much-loved friend1 c4--will most certainly assist the patient to battle with the disease4 ,but these factors will always operate without the elaboration of a psychotherapeutic philosophy1 and really ,i do not like the idea of encouraging the adoption of a solemn form of prayer1 unction1 and the laying on of hands1 when all the evidence to hand points to this #8treatment' having in acute infections just as much value as 7but no more than7 the realisation on the part of the patient that1 if he dies at that particular time1 his business will be left in an unsatisfactory condition and perhaps in incompetent hands4 7ii7 ,in the case of what are usually termed chronic #8organic' conditions1 honours are no longer even4 ,let us take four crucial examples4 7a7 ,malignant tumours4 ,certainly we have no warrant for supposing that in any1 except cases of the extremest rarity1 the #8undermind' can possibly effect a cure4 ,but in a very large number of cases which are taken sufficiently early and are otherwise favourable1 extirpation by the surgeon's knife can and does save the life of the individual and prevent recurrence of the tumour4 ,i say again that an attitude of hesitancy on this subject by those who1 like ,mr4 ,dearmer1 approach the question in a scientific spirit1 and their quasi-acceptance of the alleged cures of cancer by spiritual and other healers1 which hopelessly break down when anything like impartial investigation is brought to bear on them--all this is likely to be productive of infinite harm4 ,in the case of cancer or sarcoma a day's delay may make the whole difference between hope and despair4 7b7 ,a class of disease of which a good example is tuberculous affections of bone4 ,here we have to do with what is strictly a non-malignant condition4 ,that is to say1 there is always a fair ground for hoping that surgery may operate like auxiliary steam power in the battleships of the ,crimean period4 ,help nature 7or the #8undermind'7 enough and1 other conditions being favourable1 a tolerably satisfactory result may be expected4 ,but1 really1 clinical experience in all civilised communities for the past fifty or sixty years must be allowed to have some value2 and the value surely lies in this1 that the experienced surgeon knows more or less exactly when to excise or scrape and when to refrain4 ,that anyone should prefer to this the services of some unqualified1 inexperienced #8healer1' who bids his patient trust in prayer1 unction1 or whatever his method is1 telling him that if his faith is sufficient the largest sinus will be cleared up and the most distressing ankylosis broken down1 simply strikes me with amazement4 ,if the #8healers' really wish us to believe their claims1 let them produce a properly codified list of cases which can be thoroughly investigated4 7c7 ,diseases in which certain drugs are empirically known to act with marked success1 e4g4 malaria4 ,here1 properly graduated quantities of quinine can and do effect an absolute cure4 ,there is no evidence whatever that suggestion in any form can do the same4 7d7 ,what may be called progressive organic conditions1 e4g4 cirrhosis of the liver4 ,i entirely agree that1 in the conditions of which this is an example1 scientific medicine can only hope to ameliorate and render life more tolerable to the sufferer4 ,but here ,i come to close grips with our author1 whose close and fair reasoning it is a real pleasure to follow4 ,in a very large proportion of the diseases from which people die1 the pathological condition consists in the deposition of fibrous tissue in some organ or part of the general system4 ,the causes and clinical varieties are endless1 but the result the same4 ,to instance only a few1 we have3 7a7 ,granular kidney1 i4e4 chronic ,bright's disease4 7b7 ,cirrhotic liver4 7c7 ,arterio-sclerosis1 resulting in cerebral hmorrhage 7stroke--apoplexy--paralysis74 7d7 ,locomotor ataxy4 7e7 ,tuberculous peritonitis with adhesions4 ,now1 in all these1 the fibrous tissue is first deposited as an effort on the part of ,nature to repair the damage done by an acute or chronic inflammation4 ,but1 unfortunately1 not only does this fibrous tissue take the place of normal cells1 whose activity is of the utmost importance in preserving the health of the individual1 but it invariably tends after a time to contract2 from which contraction further damage and the gravest results are likely to ensue4 ,it will be observed that in its simplest form a fibrotic change is of the nature of real repair4 ,thus1 after a deep cut or extensive injury to the skin1 we all know that a #8scar' results4 ,this affords admirable protection to the damaged area4 ,nor does the subsequent contraction seriously matter4 ,care has to be taken to allow for it in the treatment of extensive burns1 and considerable allowance is made for contraction in the suturing of skin incisions made in the course of an operation4 ,but except when the scar is on the face1 where it is objectionable for cosmetic reasons1 a contracting superficial scar is seldom a cause of serious inconvenience4 ,but the case is very different in the kidney or the spinal cord4 ,contraction there causes an extensive destruction of delicate cells1 and1 by cutting off the blood supply1 a great impairment of function1 if not actual necrosis1 of an infinite number of cells which were not directly affected by the preceding inflammation4 ,and so the vicious circle goes on4 ,does ,nature make no effort to play the part of the spear of ,achilles and #8heal the wounds which she herself has made'8 ,only to a negligible extent1 on account of the vicious circle just alluded to4 ,so we have the curious phenomenon that in the skin and round the broken ends of a fractured bone 7for what is called callus is really only fibrous tissue with special bony elements superimposed7 fibrous tissue is very slowly but more or less steadily absorbed2 while in the places where such absorption would be of the utmost value to the individual it hardly takes place at all4 ,now1 the reader will observe that this fibrous tissue is1 in the first instance1 laid down by the activity of leucocytes acting1 to some extent at any rate1 in obedience to impulses from the circulatory centres of the medulla1 to which ,mr4 ,dearmer quite rightly attaches considerable importance4 ,they make up1 in fact1 his #8undermind4' ,i can only say that1 so far as any pathological evidence which we possess justifies us in coming to a definite conclusion1 we can but suppose that a stimulation of these lower centres to greater activity1 by excitation through suggestion of the higher ones1 would lead to a further deposition of fibrous tissue1 to the great detriment of the general condition of the patient4 ,any attempt at subsequent absorption seems to be practically negligible4 ,so1 in the case of blind ,bartimus1 ,mr4 ,dearmer's contention that our ,lord acted by suggestion is almost demonstrably untrue4 ,at least1 it is only even remotely probable on the supposition that ,bartimus was suffering from snow blindness1 toxic amblyopia1 or one of those rare conditions following on such a sudden1 but transitory1 disturbance of the nervous system as sea-sickness4 ,and since snow blindness is for obvious reasons unknown in ,palestine1 and since he certainly did not use tobacco1 and probably1 like most ,jews1 hated the sea1 this does not seem to be a likely explanation4 ,if1 on the other hand1 it was a case of corneal opacity following trachoma1 cataract1 or glaucoma1 or some condition resulting in atrophy of the optic nerve1 it may be safely affirmed that the method of healing was emphatically not that so carefully worked out by ,mr4 ,dearmer4 ,,iv4 ,the #8,neurotic' ,theory of the ,miracles of the ,new ,testament ,the whole question of our ,lord's miracles of healing1 regarded merely as so many faith cures1 has been discussed in an admirable essay contributed by ,dr4 ,r4 ,j4 ,ryle to the ,hibbert ,journal of ,april #aijg4 ,he had before him no such systematic attempt to defend this view as that made by ,mr4 ,dearmer1 but only the rather loose theorising of certain #8,modernists' who1 however competent they may be to deal with textual criticism1 are hardly in their element when reviewing pathological probabilities4 ,dr4 ,ryle quotes ,professor ,harnack as saying3 #8,that the earth in its course stood still1 that a she-ass spoke1 that a storm was quieted by a word1 we do not believe1 and we shall never again believe2 but that the lame walked1 the blind saw1 and the deaf heard will not be so summarily dismissed as an illusion4'#ac #ac ,what is ,christianity8 ,others write to the same effect4 #8,progressive criticism1' says ,dr4 ,ryle1 #8has adopted1 with much assurance1 the opinion that the diseases which were healed were what doctors commonly speak of as functional diseases of the nervous system1 and that the production of a strong mental impression was the means by which the miracles of healing were brought about4 ,upon this point there seems to be a practical unanimity no less decided than that which has been reached among critics of the liberal school upon the other two points4 ,thus ,dr4 ,abbott tells us that the mighty works were simply 8acts of faith-healing on a mighty scale40 ,the 8,encyclopdia ,biblica0 lays it down that 8it is quite permissible for us to regard as historical only those of the class which1 even at the present day1 physicians are able to effect by psychical methods40 ,principal ,estlin ,carpenter 7in the 8,first ,three ,gospels07 says1 8,the real force which worked the patient's cure dwelt in his own mind3 the power of ,jesus lay in the potency of his personality to evoke this force40 #8,the writers have adopted what may be called1 for brevity1 the ,neurotic ,theory4 ,it is for them to show by an actual examination of the records that the ministry of healing which is admitted 8to stand on as firm historical ground as the best accredited parts of the teaching10 consisted in the curing of neurotic patients by strong mental impressions4 ,have they done so8' ,dr4 ,ryle has1 of course1 no difficulty in showing that they have done nothing of the kind4 #8,it is not too much to say that no one of the writers who has pinned his faith to the ,neurotic ,theory has made any attempt to carry it out in detail4 ,we are offered a number of quite commonplace allusions to the power of mind over body1 and we find a complacent conviction expressed in several ways by several writers to the effect that a certain class of disorders1 which are vaguely alluded to as 8nervous10 are promptly curable by emotional methods4 ,but we do not find any recognition of the fact that only a small portion of the diseases to which human flesh is heir are nervous diseases2 and that of nervous diseases1 again1 only a very small and unimportant group admit of cure in this way4 #8,what the critics have to do if they wish to convince their readers of the ,neurotic ,theory of the miracles of healing is nothing less than this3 #8#a4 ,they must show that the diseases which ,christ is said to have cured were of the kind which experience proves to admit of psychical treatment4 #8#b4 ,they must show some good grounds for the assertion that the way in which the cures of the healing ministry were effected was the way by which at the present day such cures are effected1 when what has been called moral therapeutics has been the method employed4' ,the difficulty is obvious4 ,if our ,lord was merely a faith healer1 the results of long and laborious investigations into many faith-healing systems1 all presenting very much the same features both in methods of treatment and effects1 justify us in assuming that the number of cures would have been strictly limited4 #8,but then1 quickly enough1 would follow the discovery that the powers of healing were available not for all1 but only for a small and limited group of disorders2 for in any casual collection of sick people1 though there might be perhaps here one and here another suitable patient for a faith-healing exhibition1 the majority would be unsuitable4 ,what1 then1 of the failures8 #8,the difficulty here referred to has not been wholly overlooked1 and it is worth while to notice how the attempt has been made to meet it4 8,did a kind of instinct 7asks ,dr4 ,abbott7 tell ,him that the restoration of a lost limb was not like the cure of a paralytic1 not one of the works prepared for ,him by ,his ,father80 and again1 8,experience and some kind of intuition may have enabled ,him to distinguish those cases which ,he could heal from those 7a far more numerous class7 which ,he could not40 #8,the suggestion would not commend itself to a medical reader as a very happy way out of the difficulty4 ,the nave supposition that in cases of disease which require unusually minute and scientific investigation diagnosis was made 8by a kind of instinct0 or 8some kind of intuition0 is quite on a par with the innocent conception of the nature of diseases of the nervous system which ,dr4 ,abbott shows elsewhere4 ,dr4 ,abbott would hesitate to allow that ,jesus had a kind of instinct to guide ,him safely concerning the ,davidic origin of a psalm or the date of the taking of ,jerusalem4 ,why should he imagine that he was less likely to be at fault in the presence of equally difficult problems of another kind8 ,the assumption of an infallible capacity for discrimination1 which could arrive at correct conclusions without the use of any of the methods and appliances of scientific medicine1 is merely to substitute one kind of 8supernaturalism0 for another4 ,a miraculous faculty of diagnosis is no easier of acceptance than a miraculous cure4 ,a 8kind of instinct0 is an absurd supposition4' ,dr4 ,ryle then examines in detail certain of the healing miracles as related by the ,evangelists4 ,the result is to leave the intelligent reader in no doubt that in nine out of ten of the cases of #8paralysis' brought to ,him1 our ,lord would have been1 on the #8neurotic' hypothesis1 no more likely to effect a cure than 7to take ,dr4 ,abbott's example7 in #8the restoration of a lost limb4' ,his clear account of the case of the man with the withered hand1 which the non-medical reader will be able to follow without difficulty1 is worth quoting in full4 #8,in the story of the man with the withered hand it is probable that we have to do with another case of paralysis2 and if so1 we may assume with considerable confidence that the case was one of 8infantile paralysis40 ,this is the affection to which at the present day nearly all the instances of 8withered hand0 or of 8withered leg0 are owing4 ,a child who has been in good health1 or has suffered perhaps from a few days of feverishness1 is found to have lost power in an arm or leg4 ,the limb hangs flaccid and motionless4 ,the muscles are found to be wasting when the limb is examined a week or two later1 and the limb to be cold4 ,for a month or two there may be a little recovery of movement4 ,this soon stops1 and the arm or leg remains ever after more or less powerless and shrunken and cold4 ,normal growth is largely checked1 and1 in addition to the actual atrophy and arrest of development1 various contractions and deformities become established as time goes on4 ,after death the muscles are found to have become much diminished and shrunken1 and throughout a certain portion of the spinal cord1 corresponding with the affected limb1 destructive changes are found to have occurred where the normal structure of ganglion cells and nerve fibres is replaced by the remains of the inflammatory process which has been the cause of the palsy4 ,such is the ordinary history of a withered hand4 ,here the very word 8withered10 which aptly describes the condition of the limb1 is the most appropriate description of the result of the process which has taken place4 ,if such was the pathology of the case described in ,mark iii4 #a1 it is needless to say that1 although it belongs to the group of the nervous diseases1 it does not belong to that class of nervous disease which admits of treatment by moral impression or emotional shock4' ,if this is accepted in the case of what may truly be described as #8nervous diseases1' then fortiori the improbability of the view taken by #8progressive criticism' is enormously enhanced when we come to consider the healing of the blind1 the #8woman with an issue of blood1' and others where the nervous system was not primarily1 if at all1 affected4 ,the conclusion of the whole matter seems to be this4 ,medical science has at her command a vast accumulation of clinical material on which she is able to form a clearly reasoned judgment4 ,there is no such thing in ,medicine as a #8chose juge4' ,no single verdict ever found but is open to revision if the evidence is satisfactory4 ,but we do claim that it should be recognised1 by all who have the interests of truth at heart1 that the limits of #8psychotherapeutics1' #8spiritual' or otherwise1 are1 according to our present knowledge1 sufficiently well defined1 and that nothing has yet been brought forward to warrant anyone in making an exception in favour of any one society or method4 ,v4 ,clergy and ,doctors ,so much may be said on the critical side4 ,a few words1 for many are not needed1 may be added as to the positive advantages of a clear understanding between the ,church and scientific ,medicine1 as to the spheres in which both may hope to operate in fulfilment of a genuine desire to cure or alleviate bodily disease4 7#a7 ,the clergy have an unrivalled opportunity of taking the lead in educating public opinion on the subject4 ,in no other religious body in the world is the ministry of so high a class1 not merely socially 7a small matter7 but intellectually1 morally1 and spiritually1 as in the ,anglican ,communion4 ,as a result1 ,i know no body of men better able to come to sane and balanced conclusions on any subjects1 the details of which are within their own experience4 ,they touch life at many points4 ,their calling brings them into contact with vast numbers of people1 and they usually show in their dealings with others a broad-minded tolerance and shrewd common-sense which is beyond praise4 ,i do not hesitate to say that1 if ,i were accused of a crime which ,i knew ,i had not committed1 ,i should feel safer if the trial were conducted before a jury of ,anglican clergymen than before men drawn from any other profession2 but in this matter of #8spiritual' or #8psychic' healing they have not risen to the occasion4 ,an article in the ,church ,times of ,february #ah1 #aiaj1 lies before me4 ,a dogmatic gentleman 7or lady1 perhaps--the style is essentially feminine7 writes the most confident nonsense on the subject of the #8,gift of ,healing' that ever filled two columns4 ,here is an extract1 not by any means the most precious gem from the entire chaplet1 but a fair example of the whole3 #8,the gift of healing is simply a human gift 444 like the gift of music or any other gift1 and also1 like music1 present in some people more than in others1 though probably present in some degree in nearly everybody4444 ,the gift transcends all knowledge1 it cures diseases considered incurable4 ,consumption1 cancer1 blindness1 deafness1 cripples 7sic71 c41 this is within our practical experience to-day1 so that it stands to reason that the art of curing by medicine will gradually disappear as the gift of healing grows and develops4 ,not so the scientific knowledge of the doctors1 which will be used more and more where it ought to be used1 and that is in the prevention of disease4' ,comment would be quite superfluous4 ,but what follows is instructive4 ,in the next issue of the ,church ,times the irrepressible ,mr4 ,hickson and the #8,warden of the ,guild of ,health' rush into print with some rather vague assertions about the #8spiritual nature' of this gift4 ,there is an extremely sensible letter from a doctor1 pointing out with great moderation that1 if there is any evidence for those confident assertions1 he would be glad to know what it amounted to4 ,no clergyman seems to have thought it worth his while to disclaim agreement with the wild statements of the writer of the article4 ,in the first place1 then1 ,i would appeal to the clergy to inform themselves as to the limitation of #8spiritual healing1' according to the immense mass of evidence which has been collected and does enable us to lay down those limitations with sufficient accuracy for the practical purpose of life2 and to act as wise advisers to their people in this matter4 7#b7 ,the clergy will do well to remember that a great deal of bodily ill-health may exist quite independently of bodily disease4 ,these cases are commoner than cases of organic malady4 ,there is plenty of scope for ameliorative work in connexion with them4 ,at the risk of being thought egotistical1 ,i may be allowed to quote a case which recently came under my own observation1 and which is typical of a large number of others4 ,a young man1 who was clearly very far from being of a neurotic or hysterical type1 came to me complaining of severe pain in the region of the heart4 ,it had1 according to his account1 been gradually increasing for some time4 ,it frequently came on after he had run upstairs1 and on one occasion had been intense after running to catch a train4 ,it was sometimes accompanied by violent palpitation and breathlessness1 and had no relation to food4 ,would ,i tell him if his heart was all right8 ,i examined the heart and could find no trace of any abnormal condition4 ,nor could ,i find any evidence of anything in the abdomen which would be likely to account for the pain4 ,i told him that his heart was absolutely sound and that there appeared to be nothing to suggest disease anywhere4 ,a rather careful diet would do him no harm4 ,if it did not do any good1 it would be easy enough to prescribe a tonic1 but ,i did not think it necessary4 ,i never expected to see him again4 ,five months later1 however1 he called and explained with much gravity that he had come to thank me for #8curing his heart4' ,i then remembered the case1 and was fairly staggered4 #8,but bless my soul1' ,i said rather brusquely1 #8there never was anything the matter with your heart4' #8,no1' he replied1 this time with a quiet smile1 #8,i know there wasn't4 ,all ,i can say is that from the time you told me it was all right1 the pain disappeared1 and ,i have never had any return of it4 ,but1 look here1 when it was there1 the pain was real4' ,i have no doubt it was4 ,to label all such cases as #8hysterical1' #8neurotic1' and so on 7in the ordinary connotation of these terms7 is utterly unscientific4 ,this young fellow was a sensible1 cheerful1 rather unimaginative youth without a trace of #8neurasthenia' about him4 ,yet1 by coming to believe that his heart was diseased1 he had quite unconsciously so excited the higher centres that the vagus nerve returned exactly the impressions to the brain which would be conveyed by various morbid organic conditions4 ,now1 in such a case as this 7and the number of them must be very large indeed7 the parish clergyman has a great scope for quiet1 useful work4 ,let him urge the patient not to dwell on his supposed condition1 but go at once to a competent practitioner and find out what exactly 7if anything7 is the matter4 ,the clergyman will find that 7if he has the patient's consent7 the doctor will make no difficulty about affording him the fullest information about the physical condition of the patient1 and from their co-operation the happiest results may be expected4 7#c7 ,conversely1 there are many cases where a sympathetic doctor would be only too glad to be in touch with a parish clergyman4 ,occasionally we get at the hospital a note from a clergyman1 saying that ,x4 ,y4 is to call at the ,out-,patients' ,department to-day1 and that the writer would be glad to know in confidence what is the matter with him4 ,i only wish we had more4 ,if there is no objection raised by the patient1 there is no difficulty whatever about entering into the fullest particulars1 and in those cases 7and they are far from infrequent7 where the patient complains of #8worries1' a sympathetic adviser on the spot will probably do more to bring about an improvement in the physical condition than all the compounds of iron1 strychnine1 c41 in the hospital pharmacopia4 ,the full consent of the patient is1 of course1 an indispensable preliminary4 ,when this is obtained1 the rest is easy enough4 7#d7 ,in the same way1 when there is a suspicion or fairly clear evidence that health is being undermined by some evil habit1 the sympathetic clergyman1 who knows the patient well1 can do far more for him than the most skilled doctor who has probably only seen him once or twice4 ,why any clergyman should want to babble about a special #8gift of healing' in dealing with these most distressing cases1 considering what the evidence on the subject of a #8gift of healing' is1 ,i cannot conceive4 ,the unostentatious1 healthy influence of a cultured ,christian gentleman has a potency which no manipulation or ritual is in the least likely to enhance4 ,if he will equip himself with the necessary information as to the #8patient's' actual physical condition1 he can set to work to exercise his influence1 with the knowledge that he will probably effect more1 so far as a permanent result goes1 than all the self-styled #8healers' who ever supported scientific misstatements with bad logic1 or clouded with frothy verbiage what intellect they possess4 ,,our ,,lord',s ,,attitude ,,towards ,,sickness ,,by ,w4 ,,yorke ,,fausset1 ,m4,a4 ,,vicar ,,of ,,cheddar ,,and ,,prebendary ,,of ,,wells ,,our ,,lord',s ,,attitude ,,towards ,,sickness ,,by ,w4 ,,yorke ,,fausset1 ,m4,a4 7#a7 ,men are commonly influenced by actions and personal example much more powerfully than by abstract teaching2 and the ,christian tradition conforms to this principle in placing the three ,synoptic ,gospels in the forefront of the ,new ,testament4 ,for they set before us the mind of ,christ in the words and acts of ,jesus4 ,thus when the thoughtful ,christian is asked1 #8,what is the ,gospel view of disease8' he will be inclined to reply1 #8,the question is a difficult one1 but we may say with some confidence that our ,lord answered it by ,his miracles of healing4' ,a study of these and of their underlying principles may help us towards the definition we seek4 ,the records are fragmentary4 ,yet they are warm with living realism4 ,the great facts of our ,faith stand out before us in the moving drama of the ,synoptic ,gospels1#ad just as truly as they are interpreted for us in the spiritual ,gospel1 the ,fourth4 ,jesus ,christ is portrayed as the ,son of ,man3 and whatever else that most significant title denotes1 it speaks to us of ,his human activity1 ,his practical and energetic sympathy with the sins and sorrows of men4 ,and this activity found its exercise in two directions3 teaching and healing4 ,the association of the two things is noteworthy1 as indicating a great principle4 ,the sins of mankind are not unconnected with their sicknesses2 spiritual restoration with bodily relief4 ,a calm of soul may bring rest to the body4 ,he who fulfilled in ,his earthly ministry the prophetic office was also a #8,physician of extraordinary achievement4'#ae ,to render ,professor ,bousset's words1 though we cannot reproduce their eloquence3 #ad ,euseb4 ,h4 ,e4 vi4 #ad4 #g4 ,so called first by ,clement of ,alexandria4 #ae ,professor ,bousset's ,jesus 7#crd ed4 #aijg1 p4 #bf74 #8,how the simple populace must have hailed this ,deliverer in every time of need6 ,with what unspeakable confidence they must have thronged him6 ,at his coming1 despair lifted its head1 dull eyes glistened1 weary hands and arms reached forth towards him4 ,they trusted him for everything1 all things became possible4 ,body and soul with all their needs they brought to him for healing4 ,the cries of need and anguish1 the confidence which knew no limitations1 the craving for help1 the faltering prayer1 the shouts or sobs of joy1 the tears of gratitude--daily he moved in the midst of it all4' ,are we then to conclude that our ,lord attached no less importance to the cure of bodily ailment than to the spiritual redemption of men8 ,much has been written of late years which might seem to imply this4 ,but the whole trend of ,christ's teaching forbids us to emphasise the value of physical well-being at the expense of the master claims of the spirit3 witness ,his words in the ,sermon on the ,mount about taking thought for the life or the body4#af ,and therefore we must avoid mere rhetoric and special pleading4 #af ,matt4 vi4 #be4 7i7 ,it is plain1 at the outset1 that our ,lord set certain limits to the exercise of ,his healing activity4 ,what has often been said of miracles in general#ag may be said of the miracles of healing4 ,there is a severe economy in the exercise of such supernatural1 or extranatural1 powers4 ,this is illustrated by our ,lord's apparent reluctance to work miracles when it is not certain that a true faith asks for it4#ah ,in other words1 the receptivity of men is necessary to the ,divine transaction with the sufferer4 #ag ,e4g4 by ,dr4 ,illingworth1 ,divine ,immanence1 p4 #abj4 #ah ,cp4 ,john iv4 #dh3 #8,except ye see signs and wonders1 ye will not believe4' ,again1 ,he is slow to exercise ,his power outside the boundaries of ,israel1 within which ,he was pleased to confine ,his work of preaching and healing4 ,possibly ,he knew that there ,he would be welcomed as a mere wonder-working magician4 ,he makes it a condition of ,his action that the atmosphere should be one of real faith4#ai ,he could there do no mighty works because of their unbelief4#bj ,was it because of the waning faith of the multitudes that1 towards the end of ,his work on earth1 the ,healing ,ministry almost ceases8#ba ,whether on this account1 or in the desire to escape the demonstrations of popular interest which the miracles evoked1 or because the full evidential effect of these #8signs' was now almost attained1 ,he restricts ,his healing1 life-giving power to some four cases1 one of them the raising of ,lazarus4 ,for each and all a special reason can be found4#bb #ai ,on this see next chapter1 p4 #bji4 #bj ,mark vi4 #e1 #f2 ,matt4 xiii4 #eh4 #ba ,professor ,a4 ,b4 ,bruce1 ,miraculous ,elements in the ,gospels1 p4 #bfe4 #bb ,luke xiv4 #c3 ,vindication of the true principle of the ,sabbath2 ,john xi43 ,lazarus1 ,his #8friend1' the only brother of ,martha and ,mary2 also ,trench's ,miracles1 p4 #dcd sq42 ,luke xvii4 #af3 ,the universality of ,his salvation2 ,mark x4 #dg3 ,the appeal to the ,son of ,david4 7,the ,healing of ,malchus stands by itself47 7ii7 ,christ's healing activity was therefore strictly limited in scope4 ,it may be asked1 ,was it a #8unique manifestation of a unique ,personality'#bc or did it differ in degree rather than in kind from the wonderful works of human healers1 or1 at all events1 of healers who have wrought #8in the name of ,jesus ,christ'8 ,the latter view by no means commits its advocates to a #8humanitarian' view of the ,person of ,jesus ,christ3 while it amply satisfies the facts4 ,again1 it is not necessary1 for the purpose of the present discussion1 to digress into the field of ,new ,testament criticism4 ,renan1 in his #8,vie de ,jsus1' feels himself constrained to apologise for the miraculous action of ,christ1 on the ground that #8the rle of thaumaturge was unwelcome to him1 but was imposed upon him by his contemporaries4'#bd ,to ,loisy1 a critic of profounder learning and far more reverent temper1 it appears that the miracles were in reality #8works of mercy 444 and not a direct argument in favour of the ,messiahship of the ,saviour1' a complexion which was afterwards put upon them more or less unconsciously by the ,evangelists4#be ,but it is quite consistent with a reverent acknowledgment of the ,divinity of our ,lord1 and an acceptance of the ,gospel records in substance as they stand1 to hold that the miracles of healing--with the nature-miracles we are not here concerned--were the simple outcome of that all-embracing human pity which1 in itself1 betokened the expected ,messiah2 rather than an immediate exercise of ,almighty power1 and the utterance1 within the physical order1 of the ,eternal ,word4 ,we find our ,lord proclaiming ,himself1 in the synagogue of ,nazareth1 the ,fulfiller of that great prophecy of ,isaiah in his sixty-first chapter1 in which the ,messianic mission is set forth in language in which a spiritual and a physical deliverance are inseparably intertwined4#bf ,similarly1 in answer to the ,baptist's message1 the same blending of evangelical teaching and spiritual healing is to be noticed2 and1 once again1 sin and disease stand out as the dominant factors in the condition of this present world4 #bc ,illingworth1 ,divine ,immanence1 p4 #aai4 #bd ,renan1 ,vie de ,jsus1 p4 #bfd4 #be ,loisy1 ,l'vangile et l'glise1 p4 #ag4 #bf ,luke iv4 #ah3 note the double sense in the words 7iii7 ,but if the source of the miracles is thus to be sought in the ,sacred ,humanity1 that ,humanity is1 after all1 the perfect ideal and norm of all humanity4 ,whatever exceptional powers of genius1 whatever special faculties and latent gifts of mind and will have appeared at rare intervals among men1 these we should expect to find exemplified1 one and all1 in the ,life of ,christ1 had that ,life come down to us in a complete form4 ,now1 it cannot be questioned that in every age a few individuals have been found1 who were endowed with a preternatural therapeutic power1 connected generally with a very subtle power of sympathy1 but1 in some instances1 if we may believe what we are told1 inherent in a person who had no wish whatever to exercise it4#bg ,that some such virtue resided in ,christ1 and accounts for some part of ,his healing work1 need not be questioned4 ,the records may be said to imply it in two passages1#bh that which relates to the act of the woman who touched the hem of ,his garment in the crowd1 and that which speaks of this method of cure as ofttimes repeated4 ,they besought ,him that they might touch if it were but the border of his garment--and as many as touched were made whole4 #bg ,see an article by ,dr4 ,a4 ,t4 ,schofield in the ,contemporary ,review1 ,march #aiji1 for examples4 #bh ,matt4 ix4 #bj 7,mark v4 #bg72 ,matt4 xiv4 #cf 7,mark vi4 #ef72 also ,luke vi4 #ai3 ,power came forth from ,him and healed them all4 ,cp4 ,acts1 xix4 #aa1 #ab and v4 #ae2 the ,apostles and1 apparently1 our ,lord sanctioned a sort of sacramental medium of cure to meet the needs of a simple populace4 ,it is possible1 no doubt1 to account for such cures on a purely naturalistic hypothesis1 such as that which ,keim#bi accepts1 viz4 that they were cases of faith-healing2 a phenomenon which recurs in connexion with nearly every form of religious belief1 and in every stage of social development4 ,the influence of the spiritual imagination on the bodily state is undeniable4 ,everyone knows something about the phenomena of ,lourdes and ,bethshan1 healing resorts which1 theologically speaking1 lie at opposite poles4 ,in a cruder form the same effects are found in connexion with holy wells and relics of the saints4#cj ,we may go back to the ancients and find wonderful cures reported in the pagan world1 from the shrines of ,asclepius 7the patron deity of physicians74 ,a blind man touches the altar of ,aesculapides 7as he was called at ,rome7 on the island of the ,tiber and receives his sight4#ca ,the ,emperors ,hadrian and ,vespasian used to touch for the #8,king's evil4'#cb #bi ,see ,bruce1 op4 cit4 p4 #bge4 #cj ,see chaps4 xxvi4 and xxxi4 in ,rev4 ,percy ,dearmer's ,body and ,soul4 #ca ,o4 ,weinreich1 ,antike ,heilungswunden1 p4 #fc4 ,scholars will remember how ,plutus recovered his sight by incubation in the temple of ,asclepius in ,aristophanes' play4 #cb ,weinreich1 p4 #ge4 ,but can anyone study the miracles of our ,lord as a whole 7for we must not lose sight of those wrought upon inanimate nature7 and feel that they are sufficiently explained by a familiar truth in psychology1 viz4 that the religious imagination is able to stimulate the bodily forces1 whatever may be the spiritual soil in which that imagination is bred8 ,faith1 or a conscious receptivity in the mind of the patient1 was a frequent factor in the healing process2 although there is really nothing in the records to make us predicate it of ,jairus's daughter or the centurion's slave or the nobleman's son4 ,it is surely remarkable that our ,lord held ,himself aloof from all those methods of cure which might have suggested the enchanter and magician1 particularly in the case of demoniacs4 ,the ,jews1 like other ancient nations1 resorted to the use of exorcism1 incantation1 and talismans1 which owed their potency to their effect on the imagination4 ,christ does not hypnotise men or throw them into an ecstasy4 ,where faith is present1 ,he gladly works through it towards the salvation of the whole man4 ,but often there is a mere flicker of faith1 a spark in the flax4 ,in the sick room1 when the vital forces are enfeebled1 the brain clouded1 and the spirits depressed by physical malady1 it is a rare thing1 surely1 for the flame of faith to burn brightly and the imagination to glow with the consciousness of an unseen ,presence4 ,and the ,church would have but little encouragement to invoke for her own ministries the healing ,power of her ,master1 if it could only be enlisted on behalf of such patients as already possessed #8comfort and sure confidence in their ,lord4' ,we believe that the ,church has something less elusive to offer her people in their hour of need3 and we return to the records of ,christ's miracles in order to discover it4 7iv7 ,the value of what is called #8mental therapeutics' is no longer contested2 it receives1 and has received for some time1 the careful attention of the medical profession4#cc ,we approach the subject from the religious standpoint1 we base our study of it upon the teaching and practice of ,jesus ,christ4 ,accordingly1 we must discriminate between psychic treatment and spiritual treatment4 ,the former term1 if applicable to religious treatment1 can also denote forms of mental cure which are unconnected with religion1 e4g4 the use of hypnotism4 ,but ,christ addresses ,himself to the ,spirit 771 that highest element of our nature1 through which the mystics hold that we have kinship with ,god1 and in unison with which the ,holy ,spirit attests our ,divine sonship4 ,his miracles are works of spiritual healing1 they are wrought for the whole man1 not only for soul1 and certainly not only for body4 ,christ's view of healing is relative to ,his view of disease1 ,his view of disease to ,his view of human nature4 ,had he attached to bodily health the supreme importance which it is the tendency of our day to assign to it1 and regarded bodily pain as a thing at all costs to be effaced1 we must suppose that ,his whole ,life upon earth would have been devoted to the relief of sickness and pain1 and that the #8,healing ,ministry' of ,his ,church would have been far more clearly defined4 ,but no more does ,he abolish disease than ,he abolishes pauperism4 ,the tendency of ,his teaching is to inculcate self-sufficingness 7the 1 of ,st4 ,paul#cd and the ,greek philosophers7 in the face of all temporary evils and ailments1 the conquest of things material by the spirit1 its supremacy in the hierarchy of human nature2 in a word1 the principle of inner control or autonomy1 as the birthright of the human spirit4 ,in his great picture of the ,transfiguration1 ,raphael has caught this contrast between the calm of the heavenly ,mount above and the ineffective1 agonised distraction of suffering humanity here below1 in the person of the lunatic boy and his father4 ,but that heavenly calm of spirit is not the self-centred aloofness of the ,stoic4 ,the doctrine of the ,incarnation brings the ,divine ,saviour down to men1 lifts man up to the peace of heaven1#ce and at the same time bids him find that peace in fulfilling the bodily duties of his corporate ,church life4 ,it will not admit of a selfish quietism4 ,but before this peace of ,god which ,christ proclaims1 the worry and #8fear-thought' of our overstrung modern age1 its neurotic sensationalism and morbid self-analysis1 would retire abashed4 ,christ would teach us that human nature is itself only when it is itself in its completeness1 when the physical is truly the instrument of the spiritual4 ,there is no dualism1 no schism in human nature as ,divinely planned4 ,the voluptuary and the ascetic are both at fault1 the former more so because he sins against the higher self4 ,christ is the ,saviour of the whole man1 and to the sick ,he restores #8perfect soundness1'#cf nor does ,he refuse to be called the ,saviour of the body4#cg #cc ,see ,british ,medical ,journal1 ,june #ah1 #aiaj49999unmatched footnote #cd ,philippians1 iv4 #aa4 #ce ,there is an adumbration of this in the four sublime truths of ,buddhism1 which lead a man by the sacrifice of the lower self and the helping of others to the final extinction of pain4 ,bishop ,westcott's ,gospel of ,life1 pp4 #afb1 #afc4 ,hardwick1 ,christ and other ,masters1 p4 #afh4 #cf ,acts iii4 #af3 ,st4 ,peter and the lame man4 #cg ,eph4 v4 #bc4 7v7 ,it is a significant fact that in the ,gospels the word for #8save' 77 is applied to bodily as well as spiritual salvation2 it denotes #8to restore to health or sanity4'#ch ,a protest may here be entered against the very prevalent opinion that ,god sent sickness upon man1 by an ,almighty fiat1 in order to discipline him into patience and other ,christian virtues4 ,such a view1 crudely stated1 has led to much perplexity and distress of faith1 and it is not warranted by the teaching of the ,new ,testament4 ,god can bring good out of evil1 even in its worst forms4 ,but that is not to say that ,god by a deliberate act designs and causes evil4 ,more than once in the ,new ,testament sickness is attributed to ,satanic agency1 in the case of #8the woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years1'#ci and in that of ,st4 ,paul's #8thorn in the flesh4'#dj ,disease is a disturbance of the balance of human powers1 mental and bodily1 a derangement of faculties and functions4 ,consider the bearing of this upon life4 ,modern science teaches us the doctrine of the persistence of matter2 in ,sir ,oliver ,lodge's words1 #8a really existing thing never perishes1 but only changes its form'--in the case of our complex human constitution1 that change of form is what we call death4 ,it is vital force which maintains that inner harmony which we call health3 it is disease1 an accident1 which impairs it4 ,this derangement and discord is but one instance of that general disturbance of the world's harmony which sin has introduced4 ,sometimes1 as in the case of the impotent man of ,st4 ,john v41 disease is the direct consequence of sinful conduct4 ,it is the work of the ,son of ,man to restore harmony and repair the breaches in ,nature's order4 ,and this ,his healing power on its spiritual1 which is its essential1 side effects4 ,incidentally1 miracles are #8signs1' evidences of the ,christian ,revelation1 but their primary character is that of #8mighty works' 771 particular manifestations of that ,power 77 which resides in the ,person of the ,lord4 ,as such they impressed ,king ,herod1 though he attributed their authorship to the ,baptist risen from the dead4#da #ch ,e4g4 ,mark v4 #bc1 #bh2 vi4 #ef2 ,james v4 #ae4 #ci ,luke xiii4 #af4 #dj #b ,cor4 xii4 #g4 #da ,mark vi4 #ad4 7vi7 ,this ,healing ,power of ,christ stands in closest relation to ,his claim to be #8the ,life of them that believe and the ,resurrection from the dead4' ,it flows from ,his ,personality4 ,though that ,personality is veiled for us in profound mystery1 we know that in ,it the ,human will and the ,divine will are in perfect accord2 and1 therefore1 it does not surprise us that1 while a place is found in the ,saviour's ,life upon earth for weariness and pain1 none is found for sickness2 for1 in all things1 ,he conformed to the ,will of ,god for man1 which is health1 not sickness4 ,sickness is a violation of that normal condition which ,god has appointed for man4 ,when infection and disease entered into the world1 we must believe that they were part of that general imperfection which ,god can only be said to will as a means to an end1 or as a passing stage in the evolution of good4 ,god does not send sickness to scourge us1 but overrules it to purge us4 ,in saying this1 we need not deny the possible place of death in a perfect cosmos2 a death which should have been the gradual ebbing of physical vitality1 not its sapping and undermining by the malignant forces of disease4 ,we should expect1 then1 that our ,lord's healing power would be the action of the life-giving ,spirit of ,god upon the spirit of man1 from the very fact that in ,christ man was brought into living contact with ,god4 ,recent psychology1 especially in the investigations of ,professor ,w4 ,james and the late ,f4 ,w4 ,h4 ,myers1 has thrown a new light upon those recesses of human nature in which our religious experiences take place4 ,we have learned that there is a subconscious self1 a submerged portion of our faculties1 which responds to spiritual impressions and accepts those suggestions of a ,higher ,power1 to which mind and intellect are sometimes deaf1 a #8subliminal self1'#db in which religious faith and the inspirations of genius are alike rooted1 and which is en rapport with another world than that of the senses4 ,we are reminded of ,tennyson's words3 #db ,i4e4 a self beneath the margin of consciousness4 ,mr4 ,dearmer has named it the #8undermind4' ,moreover1 something is or seems1 ,that touches me with mystic gleams1 ,like glimpses of forgotten dreams-- ,of something felt1 like something here2 ,of something done1 ,i know not where4#dc #dc ,the ,two ,voices ,it is through that under-self that mental cures appear to operate4#dd #dd #8,if the grace of ,god miraculously operates1 it probably operates through the subliminal door4'--,professor ,james4 ,the theory certainly contributes something to our problem1 making it conceivable1 even to our finite intelligence1 how the ,divine ,life of ,christ should enter into man1 sick of body and sad of soul1 and this quite in the line of the order and natural law of ,god's universe4 ,christ is one with the ,father2 ,he came down from ,heaven to do the will of the ,father2 ,his works are done in the ,father's name 7,john x4 #be74 ,the ,father hath given the ,son to have life in ,himself 7,john v4 #bf74 ,the ,divine ,life is communicated to those who seek it in ,christ4 ,we are not to restrict the thought of that ,life to the immaterial part of our nature2 it is the more abundant life which floods the being of him who #8liveth unto ,god4'#de ,we may not fathom its hidden processes3 like spiritual teaching1 spiritual healing can come home only to the #8spiritual men' whose minds are #8in tune with the ,infinite4'#df ,but some desire for #8more life and fuller' is found in every man4 ,classical scholars will remember the pathetic lines written by the statesman ,mcenas in his last illness3 #de ,john x4 #aj2 ,rom4 vi4 #aj4 #df #a ,cor4 ii4 #ad1 #ae4 ,debilem facito manu1 ,debilem pede1 coxa 444 ,vita dum superest1 bene est4#dg #dg ,seneca1 ,ep4 #aja3 #8,what matters crippled hand and halting thigh8 ,so life be left the cripple1 what care ,i8' ,in this universal fact of human nature1 this desire to live1 which varies infinitely among men from the mere craving of animal existence up to the desire for the life in ,god1 we see man's response to the ,giver of ,life4 ,the appeal of the ,good ,physician is to human nature1 and #8,he knows what is in man4' ,he takes a natural emotion or faculty1 vitalises and invigorates it4 ,we have had to keep the connexion of spiritual health and physical health constantly before us4 ,there is a parallelism between them which is no mere analogy1 but is a sort of pre-established harmony2 and therefore a wise interpretation of ,scripture has seen in the ,miracle an #8acted parable4' ,thus it is in regard to the #8desire to live' which supports our bodily vitality4 ,this categorical imperative or instinctive #8ought' of health is a primary instinct4 ,the #8will to be well' corresponds with the #8will to be good' which is the basis of the moral life4 7#b7 ,bearing these principles in mind1 we must turn to a closer examination of some of the miracles1 with a view to some practical conclusions in regard to the healing office of the ,church of our own day4 7i7 ,has the age of miracles long ceased8 ,it has long been assumed by religious minds1 as a kind of axiomatic truth1 that this is so4 ,they have seen in the healing miracles of ,christ the unique exercise of a power specifically ,divine1 a power which was continued for a time1 with other extraordinary gifts1 to the early ,church for reasons which no longer held good when once she had taken firm root in the world4 ,but we have already shown reasons for the opinion that1 unique as is our ,lord's ,humanity1 we are to regard it as conditioned by those laws of nature and material existence which are the expression in the visible sphere of the ,creative will4 #8,it behoved ,him in all things to be made like unto ,his brethren4'#dh ,and there is strong reason to hold that the true believer will be permitted1 in virtue of his fellowship with ,christ1 to do #8greater works' than those which ,christ ,himself wrought1#di greater1 that is to say1 not in a material but a spiritual way4 ,that the works in question were wrought #8in the spirit' is unquestioned4 ,consider what those #8spiritual' methods of the ,great ,healer were4 ,he wrought ,his mighty works in the ,father's name4 ,not only does ,he lay down for others the principle of intercessory prayer1 but as ,man ,he exercises it ,himself4 ,of the demoniac boy ,he says3 #8,this kind goeth forth not but by prayer and fasting4' ,st4 ,luke records the fact that ,he made the importunity of the multitude1 who sought ,his teaching and healing grace1 a fresh occasion for retirement and prayer4#ej ,the same ,gospel tells us of a night spent in prayer before the election of the ,twelve ,apostles4#ea ,they received ,his commission to heal and to teach on the succeeding day1 which saw also the vast concourse of people resorting to ,him once more from all quarters4 ,in the account of the raising of ,lazarus it is clearly laid down that ,jesus ,christ knew the ,father's will in virtue of fellowship with ,him in prayer and meditation1 and that ,he exercised ,his own life-giving powers in accordance with that ,will4 #dh ,heb4 ii4 #ag4 #di ,john xiv4 #ab4 #ej ,luke v4 #ae1 #af4 #ea ,luke vi4 #ab4 ,health in itself is an ideal1 the perfect harmony of all the elements1 the spiritual and the material1 which constitutes a man4 ,one of the greatest living authorities writes3 #8,health1 like every other such name1 is to be used in a relative sense2 absolute health is an ideal conception4'#eb ,this being so1 it is apparent to any religious mind that the true concept of the well-being1 physical and even mental1 of any person is only to be found in the ,mind of ,god4 ,and that is only an abstract way of saying that1 if we follow ,christ's example1 we shall seek to enter into ,his fellowship with the ,father4 ,in that ,divine fellowship we shall be able to pray for the true health and recovery of our sick people4 #8,the prayer of faith shall save the sick1' for faith implies a whole-hearted acceptance of the ,will of ,god for the uncertain future4 ,this gives a man the tranquillity of soul which is no less needed for prayer than for action4 ,such an one possesses his own soul4 ,our ,lord promises to those1 who #8have faith and doubt not1'#ec that they shall #8remove mountains1' a hyperbolic expression1 but yet one which seems to claim a certain power of acting upon inanimate nature4#ed ,such a power need not carry with it a positive breach of cosmic law4 ,it is impossible for any really reverent mind to wish1 even in the supposed interest of his dearest friend1 to bend the ,will of ,god to his own desire4 ,such a rash prayer involves the fatal flaw of that #8doubting mind' which is forbidden us1 the mind #8divided' between ,god and self4 ,the spirit which unites us to ,god1 that unfathomed inner self1 desires the universal good4 #eb ,professor ,clifford ,allbutt1 ,system of ,medicine1 vol4 i41 ,intro4 p4 #bb4 #ec ,matt4 xxi4 #ba4 ,cp4 ,james i4 #f3 #8,nothing doubting4' #ed ,see ,dr4 ,sanday1 ,life of ,christ in ,recent ,research1 pp4 #bbc1 #bbd4 ,our wills are ours1 we know not how3 ,our wills are ours1 to make them ,thine4 ,god wills the true health and salvation of each human soul1 as ,he alone can view it1 in its relation both to the vast whole of immaterial being and to the order of the material universe4 #8,his will ,he knoweth which way to accomplish4' ,prayer is the act of resignation of our individual desires and thoughts into ,his all-wise hands4 ,prayer universalises a personal longing2 and so wonderful is the magic of true prayer1 fetching up from the deep of our being suggestions1 inspirations1 forces unperceived by man1 that it can never fail to induce a sense of calm1 the most favourable for a physical recovery2 and many a time it has effectuated that recovery itself4 ,science may teach the #8reflex action of prayer'2 religion will always find authentic answers to prayer4 ,prayer is the spiritual instrument on which our ,lord in ,his ,human ,nature relies1 and on which ,he encourages ,his ,church to rely--#8a mighty engine of achievement4'#ee ,his method was grounded in prayer1 the prayer of that ,divine fellowship1 which is ,his1 as it cannot belong to any of the sons of men1 and yet in ,him1 #8in the ,name of ,christ1' the ,church must still expect to accomplish the miracles of faith1 in proportion to the degree of her own spirituality4 ,who1 indeed1 would have looked for miracles of healing in the ,english ,church of the eighteenth century1 unless it were among the non-jurors1 who actually revived the apostolic rite of unction1#ef and the pious followers of ,john ,wesley8#eg #ee ,sir ,oliver ,lodge4 #ef ,the ,rev4 ,p4 ,dearmer1 ,body and ,soul1 p4 #bhi sq4 #eg ,ib4 #cfb1 #cfc4 7ii7 ,but that spiritual power1 thus resident in the ,healer1 has to communicate itself to the subjects of ,his grace2 subjects they must be rather than objects4 ,and ,his first purpose is to excite the dormant energies of life and action4 ,he does it as a wise physician will do it1 by concentrating the patient's mind upon ,himself4#eh ,this is done by a question1 or other means1 adapted1 with ,his profound insight into character1 to the individual case4 ,in the case of the deaf man who had an impediment1 ,he effected this by isolating him1#ei and then using physical means 7with finger and saliva74 ,exactly parallel is the case of the blind man1 which1 like the former1 is recorded by ,st4 ,mark alone4#fj ,he asks blind ,bartimus1 #8,what wilt thou that ,i should do unto thee8'#fa ,and this is one of several cases in which the sovereign faculty of will leaps forth1 and the confession of faith attends it4#fb ,in the cure of the lame man by ,st4 ,peter 7in ,acts iii4 #d1 #e7 this concentration of the thought of the patient upon the healer is reciprocal 7 444 74 #eh #8,when the eye of the patient meets the eye of the physician1 the cure begins if it is likely to take place4'--,dr4 ,a4 ,t4 ,schofield1 cited by ,dr4 ,worcester in ,religion and ,medicine1 p4 #ej4 #ei ,mark vii4 #cc4 #fj ,ib4 viii4 #bc4 #fa ,luke xviii4 #da4 #fb ,john v4 #f1 #h4 ,the tonic influence of a healthy personality upon the hysterical1 neurotic1 and mentally diseased1 not to speak of minds depressed in a normal way1 is familiar to everyone4 ,in ,dinah ,morris's visit of comfort to the widowed ,lisbeth1 we have a sample of that subtlest perception and #8subduing influence of the spirit' which we may call inspiration4#fc ,in the ,new ,testament it appears at its highest in treatment of those strong cases of dual personality1 mental disorder1 or hysteria1 which we know as demoniacal possession4 ,we cannot here discuss the question1 whether the sufferer was the victim of the lower elements in his own nature or of a malignant outside influence 7known in the language of the day as a #8demon'74 ,on the other hand1 it has to be remembered that the ,jews personified ordinary diseases2 and our ,lord conformed to popular ideas when #8,he rebuked the fever' of ,simon's wife's mother1 unless we hold that the evangelist has coloured the record of ,his action by his own mentality4#fd ,on the other hand1 we know little as yet of the psychological problems of civilised humanity and less of those of half-civilised or uncivilised peoples1 such as the ,galileans of our ,lord's day4 ,but if we should allow that the demon was merely the sufferer's lower ego1 the marvel of the cure is not lessened4 ,there is a great power of evil in the world2 and the lower self was entirely dominated by it until ,christ emancipated the man by ,his sovereign demand upon his spirit4 ,inner harmony was restored4 ,they find the man #8sitting at the feet of ,jesus1 clothed and in his right mind4' ,the bodily and the mental well-being are combined in the cure4 ,the sufferer's enfeebled will is braced up to respond to the ,will of the ,healer1 that ease shall expel disease4 ,within the man's being1 as truly as without it1 #8imperavit ventis1 et facta est tranquillitas magna4'#fe #fc ,g4 ,eliot1 ,adam ,bede1 chap4 x4 #fd ,luke iv4 #ci3 ib4 viii4 #bd raises a parallel question4 #fe ,matt4 viii4 #bf4 7iii7 ,an analysis of the miracles of ,christ indicates ,his attitude towards the material and outward means1 on which the physician still so largely relies4 ,the letter of ,king ,abgarus to our ,lord 7preserved by ,eusebius71 genuine or not1 indicates1 we may believe1 the feature in ,his treatment which most impressed the men of ,his day4 #8,the story hath reached my ears of ,thee and ,thy healings as wrought by ,thee without drugs and simples4' ,though this was so1 ,he did not eschew the use of material and visible signs1 such as clay and saliva1 which were adapted to convey to sick folk that #8mental suggestion' of returning health1 which was ,his constant method of healing4 ,in the following miracles the use of such material means is recorded3 the case of the deaf man with an impediment 7,mark vii4 #cc71 of the blind man at ,bethsaida 7,mark viii4 #bd71 of the man blind from his birth 7,john ix4 #f71 who also was sent to wash in the pool of ,siloam4 ,of the ,apostles1 on their first mission1 it is said that they anointed with oil many that were sick1 and healed them 7,mark vi4 #ac74 ,probably this element1 which was in frequent medicinal use1 was in their hands ceremonial1 a symbol of that healing power of their ,master which they were allowed in ,his name to exercise4 ,he ,himself is found1 in the great majority of instances1 to rely on the touch of the hand alone4#ff ,he knew that it spoke to the heart of a ,divine effluence of power as well as a human sympathy4 ,in one of the frescoes of the ,creation1 on the roof of the ,sistine ,chapel1 ,michelangelo has pictured the form of the first man1 perfect as a statue1 but lifeless until the ,finger of ,god quickens it with a touch4 ,and1 after all1 a universal instinct associates ideas of sympathy and positive relief with the movement of the hand4 ,thus in the ,greek myth1 the distracted ,io is comforted by the prophecy of ,prometheus that the ,god would restore her by his touch4#fg #ff ,thus ,luke iv4 #dj2 ,mark i4 #da1 vi4 #e2 ,matt4 ix4 #bi2 ,luke xiii4 #ac4 ,mr4 ,dearmer gives a careful #8,table of the healing works of ,christ1' ,body and ,soul1 chap4 xiii4 #fg ,aesch41 ,pr4 ,v4 #hdh1 #hdi4 7iv7 ,the healing of the nobleman's son1 of the centurion's slave1 and that of the ,syrophnician woman's daughter stand by themselves as instances of #8absent treatment4' ,the strong impression wrought in the mind of the father1 the master1 the mother1 respectively1 is conveyed by a sort of telepathy to the mind of the patient4 #8,why herein1' surely1 is a marvellous thing for those who cannot accept our ,lord's claim to be the ,son of ,man in a unique sense--that ,he should thus have possessed1 #bjjj years ago1 a knowledge of the mysterious processes of human nature which modern science is only now beginning to divine4 ,it is in that fact that the #8glory' 7,luke xiii4 #ag2 ,john xi4 #dj71 the #8wonder' 7,matt4 xxi4 #ae71 the #8strangeness' 7,luke v4 #bf7 of the miracles of ,christ consist4 ,they are #8works of power1'#fh #8outcomings of that mighty power of ,god which was inherent in ,christ1'#fi and which ,he exerted within a region of human nature then unexplored4 ,we cannot ponder too deeply on that great saying of ,st4 ,augustine1 #8,portentum fit non contra naturam1 sed contra quam est nota natura4'#gj ,who shall attempt to lay down the laws which govern the operation of the spiritual upon the material8 and still more to delimit the powers of the ,personality and ,will of ,him1 in whose name ,apostles1 ,saints of the ,church1 and humble ,christians unrecorded in history have wrought cures1 which only a purblind scepticism can gainsay8 #fh ,matt4 xi4 #bj2 ,luke xxiv4 #ai2 ,acts ii4 #bb1 c4 #fi ,abp4 ,trench1 ,synonyms of ,new ,testament 7,art4 xci474 #gj ,de ,civitate ,dei1 xxi4 #h2 quoted by ,dr4 ,sanday1 ,life of ,christ1 c41 viii41 adding1 #8miracle is not really a breach of the order of nature2 it is only an apparent breach of laws that we know1 in obedience to other and higher laws that we do not know4' ,,the ,,principles ,,of ,,modern ,,christian ,,healing ,,by ,w4 ,,yorke ,,fausset1 ,m4,a4 ,,vicar ,,of ,,cheddar ,,and ,,prebendary ,,of ,,wells ,,the ,,principles ,,of ,,modern ,,christian ,,healing ,,by ,w4 ,,yorke ,,fausset1 ,m4,a4 ,the psychologists teach us that a man's #8self' is a larger thing than the #8me' which1 we might say1 a child has in view when it puts out a hand to get a sweetmeat for itself4 ,as ,professor ,w4 ,james says1 #8,the old saying that the human person is composed of three parts--soul1 body1 and clothes--is more than a joke'2 and he goes on to include in that self the man's immediate family1 his home1 the property he has collected4#ga ,and then we think of ,aristotle's definition of man as a #8political' or social animal--the social self with its wider or narrower reach--for #8properly speaking a man has as many social selves as there are individuals who recognise him4' #ga ,text ,book of ,psychology1 pp4 #agg1 #agh4 7i7 ,all this has an important bearing on the subject of health and disease4 ,we are all influenced by our environment for better or worse4 ,the material and visible conditions of life1 our home1 our friends and associates1 our country1 our daily occupations1 contribute to make us what we are4 ,life is defined by ,herbert ,spencer as #8the continuous adjustment of internal relations4' ,it may be difficult or even impossible to attain to the stable equilibrium of perfect goodness1 perfect health1 perfect happiness2 and1 in fact1 neither science nor religion encourage us to expect such a consummation within the limits of this earthly existence4 ,but there may be a #8continuous adjustment'2 and it must be the practical aim alike of religion and of science to mould the individual by the environment which will best harmonise his personal good with the good of the whole4 ,we have to elevate the conditions of human existence4 ,the individual has not only to adapt himself to his environment1 in the temper of laisser faire1 but to adapt it to the satisfaction of his highest good4 #8,great religious consciences have taken their post1 confronting society1 as representing in themselves truth and right1 because behind them was ,god1 while behind existing societies there is only man1 nature1 and circumstances4 ,far from consenting to identify himself with the social conscience1 the religious conscience disposes man to oppose the rights of ,god to those of ,csar1 the dignity of the human person to public constraint4'#gb ,in the language of religion1 #8,no man hath seen ,god at any time3 if we love one another1 ,god dwelleth in us1 and ,his love is perfected in us4' ,that is the ideal of the ,christian ,society1 the ,body of ,christ1 actuated by the great principles of faith1 hope1 and love4 ,and much might have been said of the duty of a ,christian ,state to secure to all its members the elementary conditions of a healthy1 useful citizenship4 ,most of our disease is a disgrace to our ,christian civilisation1 because it is preventable4 ,the ancient poet rightly associates the spectres of ,care1 ,hunger1 and ,fear with the grim forms of ,disease at the portals of his ,inferno3 #gb ,emile ,boutroux1 ,science et ,religion1 p4 #bjf4 ,vestibulum ante ipsum primisque in faucibus ,orci ,luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia ,curae3 ,pallentis qua habitant ,morbi1 tristisque ,senectus1 ,et ,metus et malesuada ,fames1 ac turpis ,egestas4#gc #gc ,virg4 neid1 vi4 #bgc sq4 #8,right in front of the doorway and in the entry of the jaws of hell ,grief and avenging ,cares have made their bed2 there dwell wan ,sickness and gloomy ,eld1 and ,fear1 and ill-counselling ,hunger1 and loathly ,want4'--,j4 ,w4 ,mackail4 7ii7 ,but the problem of the prevention of sickness scarcely concerns us here1 though it requires a passing reference4 ,it has been sufficiently shown that you cannot isolate the individual from the society in which he moves2 that were to make him an unreal abstraction4 ,the ,church has never committed that mistake in her dealing with the sick4 ,when we pray1 in the ,office for the ,visitation of the ,sick1 that ,god would #8preserve and continue this sick member in the unity of the ,church1' the prayer breathes the very spirit of ancient piety4 ,it is an unspeakable help1 in dealing with a sick man1 to be able to appeal to his own conscious and sincere membership in the ,body of ,christ4 ,the ,visitation ,office is #8peculiarly a ministration for those who have been trained beforehand in the fulness of ,church life and privileges4'#gd ,herein1 as often1 the ,prayer-book sets up an ideal standard4 ,but1 however far our actual practice falls short of it1 we must work towards it4 ,it is said of ,st4 ,francis of ,assisi that1 #8in each one1 with whom he had to deal1 he saw a possible ,christ4' ,a bold saying1 had it not been that the ,master ,himself had anticipated it4#ge ,in the ,christian view of things1 the sick and suffering1 whatever their religious attainments and professions may have been1 have a clear claim upon the other members of the ,one ,body4 ,christian faith can only heighten human sympathy4 #gd ,dean ,savage1 ,pastoral ,visitation1 p4 #gf4 #ge ,matt4 xxv4 #ce1 #cf4 ,and in the ,new ,testament there are not wanting indications that the faith of friends has a vicarious efficacy4 ,in such faith the force of suggestion is at work1 but it is a collective suggestion4 ,there is the typical case of the four friends1 who were not to be put off by the crush at the doors1 but resolutely stripped the roofing in order to lower the paralytic1 as he lay on his pallet1 into the ,saviour's immediate presence4 ,such unconventional faith was irresistible4 #8,when ,jesus saw their faith1 ,he said unto the sick of the palsy1 ,son1 thy sins be forgiven thee4'#gf ,the bodily cure soon followed4 ,the fact is1 that such faith diffuses a spiritual atmosphere2 it is contagious and works from mind to mind4 #8,our bodies isolate us1 our spirits unite us4'#gg #gf ,mark ii4 #e4 ,cp4 ,t4 ,t4 ,carter1 ,holy ,eucharist1 pp4 #aej1 #aea1 especially the words1 #8,to lean one's own failing faith on the more trustful1 assured faith and convictions of others4 ,so that the same spirit may communicate itself to the sad and darkened soul by a mutually organic sympathy4' #gg ,sir ,oliver ,lodge1 ,man and the ,universe1 p4 #dg4 ,similarly1 in the raising of ,jairus's daughter an emphasis is laid on the necessity of a sympathetic atmosphere3 first1 by the fact that only three1 the elect among the chosen ,twelve1 ,,ss4 ,peter1 ,james and ,john1 were allowed to attend their ,lord2 secondly1 by the exclusion of all others in the house1 except the father and mother of the child4 ,the professional mourners and musicians were turned out--not merely because they #8insulted the dumbness of sincere sorrow and the patient majesty of death' 7,farrar71 but because they diffused1 as their behaviour soon showed 7 71 an atmosphere of unbelief4 ,the ,lord wishes to remove all antagonistic and disturbing human presences and to speak ,himself in power to the innermost soul of the departed maiden4 ,on the other hand1 if the air was charged with unbelief1 if those ,he wished to help were without faith1 as was the case in ,his own village of ,nazareth1 #8,he could there do no mighty work4'#gh #gh ,mark vi4 #e4 ,we trace the same principle in ,his dealing with those whom ,he had healed4 ,sometimes ,he bids them #8go and tell their friends how great things ,god has done for them1' as when he refused to keep the ,gadarene demoniac by ,his side4 ,at another time he bids them tell no man of the cure which had been wrought4 ,this difference of treatment can be explained most simply1 if we suppose that in the one case ,christ knew that the patient's ordinary milieu was favourable to his progress in bodily and spiritual health1 in another case ,he knew that this was not so4 ,so it was in the case of the leper of ,st4 ,mark i4 #dd4 ,and1 again1 this difference of treatment may have been #8grounded1' as ,archbishop ,trench says1 #8on the different moral conditions of the persons healed4' ,it is so still1 for human nature remains constant to certain broad types4 ,some overwrought people require the absolute isolation of a #8rest cure'2 others1 who are moody and self-centred1 can only rally their disused powers in contact with invigorating companionship4 ,they are the unhappy victims of that numbness of spirit of which ,r4 ,l4 ,stevenson writes so pathetically in his essay entitled #8,ordered ,south4'#gi #gi ,cp4 the medieval complaint of #8accidie4' 7iii7 ,this brings us naturally to consider the special value which ,christ attaches in ,his teaching to a corporate act of prayer4 ,for this is the meaning of the words #8,if any two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask1 it shall be done for them of my ,father which is in ,heaven2 for where two or three are gathered together in ,my ,name1 there am ,i in the midst of them4' ,and this it is which has moulded the form of the ,lord's ,prayer1 and that of the great ,sacrament of ,unity1 our highest act of intercession4 ,thus our ,lord enjoined upon ,his disciples the duty and the efficacy of combined spiritual effort4#hj ,there is a power intensive1 as well as extensive1 in collective prayer4 ,in this1 as well as in other activities of the spirit1 the total effect gained is larger than the sum total of units of effort4 ,there is a sort of analogy here with the force of collective suggestion1 which we have been considering above3 but we must not expect to find a complete philosophical explanation of any great spiritual principle4 ,our personal experience verifies the value of corporate prayer4 ,if it were not so1 religion would be an individual matter alone2 it would lack its most universal expression1 that of common worship4 ,it is because the ,church in our country lost for a long period her corporate consciousness1 at least in a large degree1 that she lost sight of the power of corporate intercession for the sick members of the ,body of ,christ4 7,of the faithful departed we may not here speak47 ,but her formulas and liturgy have been a standing witness against such obliviousness1 with which the ,church of to-day can hardly be taxed1 and those who profess their belief in the ,communion of ,saints find in such intercession its most practical expression4 #hj ,bertroux1 op4 cit4 p4 #ahi3 #8une volont collective est sans rapport avec la somme algbrique des volonts individuelles4' ,consider the bearing of all this on our highest act of worship1 the ,holy ,communion4 ,there are few parish priests who cannot testify from their own experience to the wonderful--if not miraculous--effects of the reception of the ,sacrament upon apparently dying persons1 who had been given up by medical science4 ,there is nothing in this that need surprise the ,christian believer1 nothing that is really repugnant to the findings of modern science4 ,the ,apostle ,paul1 writing to the ,corinthians about the profanation of the ,lord's ,supper1 attributes to this cause certain physical consequences incurred by the offenders4 #8,for this cause many among you are weak and sickly1 and not a few sleep4'#ha ,there is a natural and proper antipathy in many minds to the idea that the ,sacramental ,elements operate as a charm4 ,such an idea would be irrational and superstitious1 and we are not intended to conceive of a vindication of the sanctity of the ,lord's ,supper by material and simply magical penalties4 ,the offence of the ,corinthians was the irreverence of #8not discerning 7or discriminating7 the ,body1' and ,apostolic teaching plainly implies that a spiritual offence of itself acts upon the bodily organism1 by a mysterious law of the ,divine government4#hb 7,here again we must not say that ,god sent the disease47 ,surely1 then1 it may be argued1 per contra1 that a reverent reception of the ,eucharist makes for health and life1 for it brings the failing bodily and spiritual powers of the sick into contact with the ,divine and immortal life which animates the mystical ,body of ,christ4 ,this line of argument may be illustrated by the words of the late ,f4 ,w4 ,h4 ,myers3 #8,to keep our chemical energy at work1 we live in a warm environment and from time to time take food4 ,by analogy1 in order to keep the spiritual energy at work1 we should live in a spiritual environment1 and possibly from time to time absorb some special influx of spiritual life4'#hc ,it remains only to add that the words of administration in our ,communion ,office embody the truth for which we are pleading4 #8,the ,body of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 which was given for thee1 preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life4' #ha #a ,cor4 xi4 #cj4 #hb ,in the ,cambridge ,bible1 note ad locum1 ,dr4 ,lias says we can well understand how a crime against ,his ,body and ,blood would deprive any ,christian1 who committed it1 of ,his presence1 and predispose it to sickness and even death4 #hc ,human ,personality1 i4 #bah2 quoted by ,dearmer1 ,body and ,soul1 p4 #abc4 7iv7 ,the charisma1 or gift1 of healing1 is named by ,st4 ,paul among the spiritual gifts of the ,apostolic ,church1#hd and is associated in one place with the working of miracles 7#8powers'74#he ,we have endeavoured to show that it was not intended as a transient but a permanent endowment of the ,church4 ,but1 in the degree in which the ,church corporate falls short in spirituality1 her spiritual powers wane4 ,the ,encyclical ,letter and ,report of the recent ,lambeth ,conference mark a step in advance1 though it may not be a long step1 towards the revival of this healing agency of the ,church4 ,the ,committee appointed to report on this particular subject was of opinion #8that the prayers for the restoration of health1 which it recommends1 may be fitly accompanied by the apostolic act of the ,laying-on-of-,hands4'#hf ,we may be disposed to regret that this primitive rite is not mentioned in ,resolution #ce1 which recommends #8the provision for use in ,pastoral ,visitation of some additional prayers for the restoration of health more hopeful and direct than those contained in the present ,office for the ,visitation of the ,sick4' ,desiring1 as we do1 to follow #8the example' of our ,lord ,himself and not merely of #8,his ,holy ,apostles1'#hg we may most reasonably ask for authority to administer the blessing through one of the outward signs which ,he employed4 ,a ceremony1 duly authorised by the ,church1 would have much value1 as regulating and controlling the impulse to invoke the healing #8charisma1' which at present is often bestowed and received through #8spiritual healers' who lack the full official sanction of the ,church4 #hd #a ,cor4 xii4 #i1 #cj4 #he ,ibid4 #bi4 #hf ,report 7#aijh71 ,no4 ,,vii4 iv4 p4 #acg4 #hg ,order of ,confirmation1 first ,collect1 ,mark vi4 #e4 7v7 ,there is another ,ministry of ,healing1 which the ,divine ,love has provided for the weary body and the careworn mind1 which contributes its own part to the restoration of the sick4 ,it is the silent ministry of ,nature4 ,within the ailing body she exerts her healing power2 the doctor's best ally1 on the physical side1 is the vis medicatrix naturae1 that strange recuperative power which resides in organisms1 and offers a standing resistance to the inroads of disease and age4#hh ,and then outside there are the soothing influences of the world of ,nature1 which steals into the troubled spirit to bring the calm which ,wordsworth1 in his poem on #8,an ,evening by the ,sea1' likened to the hush of worship3 #hh ,cp4 ,sir ,james ,paget's words3 #8,the power to repair itself belongs to the subject of injury in the same sense and degree as does its power to develop itself and grow and live4'--,life1 p4 #bie4 ,the holy time is quiet as a nun ,breathless with adoration4 ,hebrew literature shows little trace1 even indirectly1 of that sympathy with ,nature1 which is the best contribution of what is called #8natural religion' to the inheritance of the human spirit1 except when ,nature is regarded in her grander and more awe-inspiring aspects1 those of the thunder-cloud1 the whirlwind1 the raging fire1 the roaring sea4 ,yet it is not altogether fanciful to find1 in our ,lord's habit of retirement to the mountain's side for prayer1 ,his invitation to the disciples to come apart by themselves to rest awhile in a #8desert place1'#hi ,his choice of the evening hour1 at the setting of the sun1 for performing ,his works of mercy1 some sanction for that modern sense of the ,divine beauty and mystery of ,nature in her quiet aspects4#ij #hi ,mark vi4 #ca4 #ij ,compare also the nature-parables4 ,we must believe that ,christ ,himself was susceptible in a singular degree to those natural influences4 ,after the intense spiritual strain of the ,temptation1 #8angels came and ministered to ,him4' ,a great modern artist1 ,m4 ,tissot1 pictures the scene as only the imaginative symbolism of genius would have done4 ,the ,saviour lies at full length1 utterly exhausted1 with every muscle1 as it were1 relaxed1 and through the twilight appear myriads of outstretched angel-hands1 reviving the ,sacred ,body with the touch of spirit-life4 ,here we have1 as in a figure1 the expression of the unseen forces of ,nature1 ministering to the ,will of the ,god of ,nature1 on behalf of the heirs of salvation and of ,him who is the author of our salvation and the ,prince of ,life4 ,there is no rule absolute about the influence of familiar scenes and old associations upon the weary or ailing spirit4 ,for some people the cure lies in surroundings as novel and unfamiliar as possible4 ,this is where tact and sympathy on the part of the doctor and nurse and friends come in--questions which must not be confused with natural affection1 for in that case they would vary directly1 whereas they have been known to vary inversely1 with nearness of blood relationship4 ,the quick intuition of sympathy can judge of the environment best adapted to the patient's individual need4 ,the rigid order and routine of the hospital ward may be torture to the sick person who comes from one sort of home and paradise to one who comes from another4 ,the more we can bring of the #8mind of ,christ' into the tender care of the sick1 the more right we shall have to expect that the power of ,his name will bless our efforts4 7vi7 ,again1 our ,lord's attention to details1 i4e4 the material conditions of health1 calls for notice4 ,we have referred to ,his provision of rest for ,his tired followers4 ,we find ,him giving directions1 after the recall of ,jairus's daughter to life1 that food should be given to her4 #8,life restored by miracle must be supported by ordinary means4'#ia ,the familiar routine of healthy life is to be resumed as soon as possible4 ,lazarus is to be loosed from his cerements1 when the awe of the bystanders blind them to the practical and obvious4 ,and quite in line with this is ,christ's readiness to conform1 in ,his dealings with men1 to the existing social and religious system4 ,it was so notably in the case of the leper1 who was bidden1 after his cure1 to go and show himself to the priest and to make the customary offerings4#ib ,at the pool of ,bethesda ,christ helps the impotent man1 who has no friend to help him4 ,he leaves the rest of the multitude to the natural operation of the waters4#ic ,it was a different matter when1 as in the case of the ,rabbinical rule of ,sabbath observance1 the conventional practice was inimical to the freedom of the spirit4 ,our ,lord will never allow the spiritual and essential in things to be overlaid by the material and accidental4 ,traditionalism was then broken through4 ,the principle1 that we must render to ,csar the things that are ,csar's and to ,god the things that are ,god's1 manifests itself in various ways1 and this is one of them4 ,but1 on the whole1 ,christianity knows no revolutionary breaches in the established social order1 as the history of its attitude towards the institution of slavery shows4 ,men were encouraged to work out their own salvation under existing political and social conditions4 #ia ,dr4 ,swete on ,mark v4 #dc4 #ib ,mark i4 #dd4 #ic ,john v4 #b4 ,this spirit of conformity to the existing order in all lawful things1 and especially our ,lord's attitude towards priestly ceremonial1 in the case of the leper1 throws a good deal of light upon the relation which should subsist between the clergyman and the doctor in the treatment of sickness4 ,the ,christian doctor will gladly subscribe to the words of the favourite physician of ,louis ,,xiv1 ,ambroise ,par1 #8,i treated the wound1 ,god healed it4' ,reverently and thoughtfully he will acknowledge the power of prayer and the tranquillising influences of the spirit1 and will yield to the ,church1 acting by her representative duly accredited and trained1 her proper part in the work of restoration4 ,the parish priest will freely allow that the doctor and the nurse1 with all the appliances of modern medical science1 provide the largest part of the environment and conditions indispensable to recovery2 and that it is an act of presumption to reject all these scientific aids in favour of some process of healing by faith alone without expert medical aid4#id #id ,in ,acts xxviii4 #i1 #aj1 there is an implication of co-operation between ,st4 ,paul and ,st4 ,luke the physician2 see ,religion and ,medicine1 pp4 #cfe1 #cff2 the language is technical4 ,finally1 it must be remembered that we cannot expect to find many favourable notices of medical practice in an age and country in which medical skill was at a very low ebb4 #8,medicorum optimus dignus est ,gehenna1' said the ,rabbis of the later ,judaism4#ie ,in nothing has human knowledge made more astonishing strides than in medical and in surgical discovery2 and1 though we have been too prone in the past to credit the medical profession with the whole of the healing work done in ,christ's ,church1 the opposite extreme is to be avoided1 and it is well to acknowledge thankfully that #8discoveries in the region of medicine and surgery come to man through ,him who is the ,light and the ,life1 the ,divine ,word4'#if #ie ,see ,dr4 ,swete on ,mark v4 #bf2 also ,luke iv4 #bc2 contrast ,ecclus4 xxxviii4 sq4 #if ,lambeth ,conference ,report1 #aijh 7vii4 iii474 7vii7 ,in a previous chapter we dwelt at some length on the ,gospel conception of salvation 7as illustrated by the words 71 as a just equipoise of spiritual1 mental1 and physical faculties and functions4 ,two remarks may find a place here4 ,the first is1 that too much stress may be laid upon the distinction between functional and organic complaints4 ,there are modern critics who wish to eliminate the miraculous from the ,gospel narrative1 and deal with the sacred text accordingly4 ,for example1 ,professor ,bousset says1 in his vivid way1 #8,the community of the faithful drew the simple human picture of ,jesus on the golden background of the marvellous4 ,but the picture can be detached from that background with comparative ease4' ,in cases which are not to be explained simply by psychology1 #8the historically intelligible is still close below the surface1 and appears as soon as we remove a few additions which are due to modern tradition4' ,we have to regard certain narratives as #8legendary accretions 7,wucherungen74' ,if we cannot accept that position1 it is not open to us to explain all the miraculous agency of our ,lord and ,his ,apostles and the later ,church as consisting in the power to deal with functional ailments by mental or psychic treatment4 ,nor is it open to us to limit the efficacy of prayer to the stimulation of function and the treatment of nervous disorders4 ,and as1 with the progress of medical science1 the sphere of the organic is continually growing at the expense of the functional1 the ultimate effect of such a concession on the side of religion would be to limit her action to a negligible minority of cases4 ,how would a place be found for the healing of ,malchus's ear1 if the organic be excluded8 ,but the ,church believes that ,christ is the ,saviour of the body and that the ,holy ,spirit is1 as an early ,father says1 #8given that ,he may dwell in our bodies and sanctify them1 that in so doing ,he may bring them to eternity and to the resurrection of immortality1 while ,he accustoms them in ,himself to be conjoined with heavenly powers and to be associated with the ,divine eternity of the ,spirit4'#ig #ig ,novatian de ,trinitate1 xxix4 ,a second remark is this4 ,whatever is allowed for the moulding force of environment1 ,christ plainly teaches that man is never the mere creature of circumstances4 ,christ is no fatalist philosopher4 ,it is only the evil that man deliberately assimilates which defiles him4 #8,there is nothing from without a man that entering into him can defile him'--a parabolic saying which has a deep meaning4 ,as it is with sin1 so it is with disease4 ,wilful sin is lawlessness in the spiritual being2 disease is disorder in the material being4 ,much remains yet to be done1 which lies well within the range of the free human will1 to combat this lawless disorder in the life of body and soul4 ,we believe that the spirit can impose its own order and law and harmony upon the material elements of our bodily frame4 ,this creed may be an ideal1 but it is the only really inspiring ideal2 for beyond it lies the hope of final perfection4 ,therefore1 with faith and courage1 let us press forward4 ,neither mourn if human creeds be lower than the heart's desire6 ,thro' the gates that bar the distance comes a gleam of what is higher4#ih #ih ,tennyson1 ,faith4 ,,the ,,church ,,and ,,mental ,,healing ,,by ,,ellis ,,roberts ,,the ,,church ,,and ,,mental ,,healing ,,by ,,ellis ,,roberts ,the object of this paper is to show and comment on the present attitude of the ,church of ,england1 and of the ,churches in communion with her1 towards psychic healing3 but it may be advisable to remove at the outset one or two misconceptions4 ,with the theory and practice of the ,church in this country before the ,reformation ,i am not now concerned4 ,it did not differ essentially from that of the ,churches on the ,continent4 ,but it should be noticed that a large number of centres for psychic healing1 spiritual hospitals1 if one may use the term1 were removed by the destruction of shrines4 ,in the medieval ,church the healer1 with his specific charisma1 was generally one who was reputed a saint2 and usually he healed more people after his death than before4 ,the curious in this matter may consult the evidence gathered in ,dr4 ,abbott's #8,st4 ,thomas of ,canterbury1' and ,i think an unprejudiced reader will gather from that book conclusions somewhat different from those expected by the author4 ,after the ,reformation what signs are there of psychic healing encouraged and sanctioned by the ,church8 ,we are compelled to answer that1 in spite of great need1 there is very little evidence of an intelligent effort at mental therapeutics4 #8,in spite of great need1' ,i say2 for this country and ,scotland were affected most terribly by the disgraceful witch mania which raged over ,europe1 especially in the ,protestant countries4 ,there was ample material for the quiet1 consoling influence of psychic healing2 but alas6 the unfortunate #8witches' were left to the mercy of scared judges and malicious finders1 to the horrors of the trial by floating1 or the ordeal of the secret mark4 ,the ,church was1 apparently1 bigoted and powerless4 ,yet the existence of an official power1 inherent in the ,body and acting normally through the ,ministers of the ,church1 was recognised officially in the ,canons of #afjc-d1 which1 of course1 are still of authority4 ,in the #gbnd ,canon we read3 #8,no ,minister or ,ministers shall1 without the ,licence and direction of the ,bishop of the diocese first obtained and had under his hand and seal1 appoint or keep any solemn ,fasts4444 ,neither shall any ,minister 444 presume to appoint or hold any meetings for sermons 444 nor1 without such licence1 to attempt upon any pretence whatsoever either of possession or obsession1 by fasting and prayer1 to cast out any ,devil or ,devils1 under pain of the imputation of imposture or cosenage1 and deposition from the ministry4' ,it is evident from this that1 however little it was used1 the ,episcopate was regarded as possessing the power to licence exorcisers who might deal with diseases that we should call mental4 ,there is one other piece of evidence--practical this time--that the healing power of the ,church was not entirely forgotten or neglected4 ,up to the time of the ,hanoverian dynasty1 the ,kings of ,england touched for scrofula1 popularly known1 from this method of cure1 as #8,the ,king's evil4' ,the most celebrated patient ,i can call to mind is ,dr4 ,johnson4 ,it may be objected that this practice was not the work of the ,church's ministry2 but it must be remembered that most ,canonists regard the ,king of ,england as mixta persona 7that is1 semi-clerical7 by virtue of his ,coronation2 and also the position given the ,sovereign as #8,supreme ,governor' of the ,church would appear to invest him with an ecclesiastical status4#ii #ii ,with touching for scrofula may be compared the blessing of #8cramp-rings4' ,the ,sovereign of ,england used1 on ,good ,friday1 to bless rings which afterwards were distributed to sufferers from cramp or epilepsy4 ,the last monarch to do this was ,mary ,tudor4 ,i admit1 however1 as must all candid persons1 that on the whole the ,church has grossly neglected all forms of psychic healing2 and so welcome the more gladly the definite stand taken in the ,lambeth ,report1 #aijh4 ,that ,report is the unanimous act1 not merely of the ,church of ,england1 but of those numerous bodies in communion with her3 on the committee which drew up the report were bishops from ,america1 ,india1 ,scotland1 ,central ,africa1 ,new ,zealand1 and ,england--a fact that can vouch for the significance of the ,report's admissions and contentions4 ,this ,report ,i shall take as the basis of my inquiry into the official attitude of the ,church of to-day towards ,medicine and ,psychic ,healing4 ,the ,report opens with a statement that is refreshing in its admission of ignorance after the ready words of many sciolists and #8quack' healers4 #8,your ,committee1 which has had under consideration 8,ministries of ,healing10 has felt itself at a disadvantage in discussing phenomena which only in recent times have been the subject of scientific investigation4 ,in the present stage of knowledge it would be premature for any except experts to hazard an opinion upon such topics as the powers of 8,mental ,suggestion10 and the range of 8,subliminal ,consciousness10 or to attempt to forecast the possibilities of 8,mental0 or 8,spiritual ,healing40' ,while1 however1 displaying this diffidence in dealing with the scientific side of their subject1 the ,committee is quite definite about the spiritual aspect of pain1 sickness1 and suffering4 #8,the ,committee believes that ,christ still fulfils in ,christian experience ,his power to give life1 and to give it more abundantly2 and that the faith1 which realises ,his ,presence1 is capable of creating a heightened vitality of spirit1 which strengthens and sustains the health of the body4 ,the ,committee believes that sickness and disease are in one aspect a breach in the harmony of the ,divine purpose1 not only analogous to1 but sometimes at least caused by1 want of moral harmony with the ,divine ,will2 and that this restoration of harmony in mind and will often brings with it the restoration of the harmony of the body4 ,it believes that sickness has too often exclusively been regarded as a cross to be borne with passive resignation1 whereas it should have been regarded rather as a weakness to be overcome by the power of the ,spirit4' ,then the ,committee considers briefly the #8,mental ,healing' movement outside the ,church1 and concludes the first part of their ,report with a very necessary warning #8against the peril of being thoughtlessly drawn into alliance1 in the desire for health1 with any who1 under whatever attractive name1 are in antagonism with the ,christian faith upon any such subject as the ,incarnation1 the ,resurrection1 the reality of ,sin1 and the use of the ,holy ,sacraments4' ,in the second part it discusses #8,spiritual ,healing' in the ,church1 and makes the following statement3 #8,the ,committee would not wish to say a word in disparagement or discouragement of those who may be pioneers in a new branch of service1 but it believes it would for the present be unwise to depart from an attitude of watchfulness and reserve2 and it is not therefore prepared to recommend that at the present stage any authoritative recognition should be given to those who claim to exercise these 8,gifts of ,healing40' ,in the third part is a most welcome recognition of the position in the ,church of that profession which the ,evangelist of the ,nativity followed4 #8,the ,committee believes that medical science is the handmaid of ,god and ,his ,church1 and should be fully recognised as the ordinary means appointed by ,almighty ,god for the care and healing of the human body4 ,the ,committee believes that discoveries in the region of medicine and surgery come to man through ,him who is the ,light and the ,life1 the ,divine ,word4' ,then we have a brief recommendation that there should be an #8addition to the office for the ,visitation of the ,sick of more hopeful and less ambiguous petitions for the restoration of health1 always subject to the ,will of ,god 4442 and that these petitions be used in close connection with prayer for pardon and peace4' ,and these prayers #8may be fitly accompanied by the ,apostolic act of the ,laying on of ,hands4' ,in the final paragraph the ,committee considers the suggestion #8that these prayers should be accompanied by the anointing of the sufferer with oil1' and after a brief historical rsum1 concludes3 #8,in view of this evidence and the conditions prevailing in the ,church at the present time1 the ,committee is not prepared to recommend the restoration of the unction of the sick1 but it does not wish to go so far as to advise the prohibition of its use1 if it be earnestly desired by the sick person4 ,in all such cases the parish priest should seek the counsel of the ,bishop of the diocese4 ,care must be taken that no return be made to the later custom of anointing as a preparation for death4' ,with unction ,i do not propose to deal here4 ,the question is really theological2 and the discussion as to its revival does not come within the scope of this book4 ,it may be said1 however1 that the problem will probably solve itself in the near future1 as in many missionary and colonial dioceses1 and in not a few ,english ones1 the oil is blessed by the ,bishop1 and may always be had by any parish priest whose sick people desire this ancient rite4 ,with one exception1 to which ,i shall return later1 the ,report may be commended as a courageous1 if rather jejune1 effort to keep abreast of modern psychology and its more practical manifestations4 ,let me indicate briefly the encouraging signs in the ,report4 7#a7 ,we have the definite confession that our present visitation service is not all that can be desired4 ,that we should use more definite prayers for the recovery of the sick4 7#b7 ,the ,report lays emphasis on the important truth that there must be no banishing of the doctor4 ,enormous harm has been done by the crude dualism of #8,christian ,science'--a theory which1 if logically applied1 would prevent persons renewing the tissues of their body by food1 or removing dirt by soap and water4 ,a doctor's medicine is just as much a prayer1 a spiritual thing1 when it is properly used1 as any formula of consolation inculcated by folk in #8tune with the infinite1' or people who indulge in #8higher thought4' 7#c7 ,the ,report guards--though perhaps not quite strongly enough--against the modern tendency to lay too much stress on mere bodily health4 ,as ,christians and men of sense1 we can have nothing to do with a mode of thought that1 by exaggerating the value of physical well-being1 would cheerfully have condemned to some lethal chamber an ,erasmus1 a ,coleridge1 a ,stevenson1 or a ,beardsley4 ,now in these three matters the ,report does seem to represent the real central body of opinion in the ,church of ,england4 ,no living man1 perhaps1 better expresses the view of the #8man in the pew' than the ,bishop of ,london1 and he has been one of the first to recognise the reality of the need for a greater recognition of the place of psychic healing4 ,here is what ,dr4 ,ingram said in his sermon on ,st4 ,luke's ,day1 #aiji3 #8,we have on the one side those who really seem to have forgotten the message of the ,gospel of the body1 who practically in their teaching and even in their own belief simply think of the ,gospel as addressed to the soul4 ,they seem to have forgotten that1 in our own ,holy ,communion ,service1 we pray that our sinful bodies may be made clean by ,his ,body1 and some of ,st4 ,paul's most stirring passages are about the body4 8,glorify ,god in your body40 ,but in their teaching and in their belief they have lost to a certain extent the idea that the ,gospel has a message to the body at all4 ,while on the other hand--and it is so very characteristic of the history of the ,church that this should happen--outside the ,church1 with great exaggeration--and with1 in my opinion1 much false teaching--people are calling the attention of the ,church to a forgotten truth4 ,yes--but with two very grave mistakes4 ,first1 they ignore the learning and teaching which ,god has given us through medical study and investigation about ,his laws and about ,his will1 and still more they ignore those blessed means of grace which ,christ ,himself has laid down as the means of our communion with ,his life4' ,or again1 in a diocesan letter of ,may last year the ,bishop of ,winchester 7who was ,chairman of the ,lambeth ,committee7 emphasises the right of medical science1 of healing1 and of nursing1 to their due place in the ,church's spiritual life1 to a part in her prayers and thanksgivings4 #8,at the recent ,lambeth ,conference the view was expressed that we as a ,church have failed to show sufficient sympathy with the great works of healing1 of conflict with disease1 and of the alleviation of suffering carried on by the medical and nursing profession4 ,the ,divine blessing vouchsafed in modern times1 through the progress of knowledge and the advancement of skill1 have only in too small a degree been allowed to enter into the prayers and thanksgivings of the ,christian ,church4 ,it is right that1 with greater faith and a larger intelligence1 the ,church of ,christ should acknowledge that the gifts of healing and the discoveries of science come from the ,spirit of ,god1 and should seek more systematically to include this and kindred subjects in intercession and praise4' ,not only1 however1 do we find the ,bishops laying stress on the ,church's duty in the matter of healing2 but we also find eminent physicians1 who are also ,churchmen1 welcoming the priest in the sick room4 ,in a remarkable article contributed to the ,guardian1 ,sir ,dyce ,duckworth wrote3 #8,next1 ,i will express my opinion that our twentieth-century ,christendom is generally lax and feeble in offering earnest prayers for the sick in all stages and for a blessing on the remedial means employed4 ,we should look to a higher ,power than that of man to aid us at the bedside1 and as thoughtful physicians we do seek these means to aid us4 #8,mental healing has a recognised and long-acknowledged basis of truth and fact1 and may be employed by honourable and skilled doctors who have the gift and power to use it4 ,i do not regard it as a fitting duty for the 8priests of the soul10 but one to be employed in its appropriate place1 as it becomes better understood in the course of time as a part of legitimate ordinary treatment4 ,i see no objection to the practice of unction and laying-on of hands by ,christian ministers for those who desire it1 but ,i regard this as an additional means of help1 a solemn form of assurance and comfort1 together with prayerful ministration1 in conjunction with1 and as a reinforcement of1 the best skill of legitimate medicine4 ,to replace the latter by the former ,i regard as a withholding of ,god's gifts to man and therefore unjustifiable4 ,i conceive and believe that the gifts of the ,holy ,spirit are capable of development in the course of the ages and under our present dispensation1 and that they were not limited in form and exclusiveness to the age in which they were first somewhat crudely manifested4' ,we may welcome particularly ,sir ,dyce ,duckworth's emphatic pronouncement about prayer4 ,after all the basis of psychic healing is1 and always has been1 prayer--whether the means used is oil1 or water1 or the relics or even the shadow of holy men1 as reported in the ,acts of the ,apostles4 ,the motive power that makes any of these means availing is simply prayer4 ,prayer1 whether spoken1 desired1 or acted1 is the vital force that gives the psychic movement all its validity4 ,in insisting on the importance and reality of prayer we have the support of such a psychologist as ,professor ,james1 who writes3 #8,as regards prayers for the sick1 if any medical fact can be considered to stand firm1 it is that in certain environments prayer may contribute to recovery and should be encouraged as a therapeutic measure4' ,and if the doctor is willing to recognise the great value of prayer1 the divine should not be backward in welcoming the doctor2 nor should he regard the medical man and the philosopher with suspicion if they lay stress chiefly on the #8reflex' value of prayer2 regard its subjective effects1 rather than investigate its real or objective power4 ,once more let me quote the ,bishop of ,london3 #8,if ,i was ill1 ,i would send for the best doctor1 and get my parish priest to come and pray by my side1 believing that the double work of ,jesus ,christ is shared by two great professions4 ,it would be bad for either to be banished from the sick room4'#ajj #ajj ,answer to a questioner4 ,lent ,mission1 #aiaj4 ,that is the position on which we should lay stress4 ,the future1 ,i am sure1 lies with those who are willing to accept the religion of the ,incarnation and all that it signifies2 the men who proclaim joyfully and unwaveringly that ,spirit has dwelt in flesh1 but who also never hesitate to assert that it is real ,flesh in which the ,spirit dwelt4 ,we must have no quarter with the damnable heresy that denies to sin and suffering and disease a reality that it concedes to food and to fees3 and we can have no truce with the hard materialism that will acknowledge the truth of nothing that is not revealed to the scalpel or the test-tube4 ,we may be thankful to-day that so many of our leading physicians are becoming more and more willing to admit the reality of prayer and the rights of the priest2 we must take care that no headstrong divines1 in their new zeal for psychic healing1 disparage or despise the profession of ,st4 ,luke4 ,,the ,,eucharist ,,and ,,bodily ,,well-,,being ,,by ,,arthur ,w4 ,,robinson1 ,d4,d4 ,,vicar ,,of ,,all ,,hallows ,,barking1 ,,examining ,,chaplain ,,to ,,the ,,bishop ,,of ,,london1 ,,and ,,rural ,,dean ,,of ,,the ,,east ,,city ,,of ,,london ,,the ,,eucharist ,,and ,,bodily ,,well-,,being ,,by ,,arthur ,w4 ,,robinson1 ,d4,d4 ,the editor of this volume thinks that it should include a paper upon the relation of the ,eucharist to bodily well-being1 and he has asked me to deal with the question4 ,i am fully aware of the difficulty of doing so1 and shall be well content if what ,i am able to say should lead others to feel1 as ,i do1 that the subject is one which deserves much reverent and careful attention4 ,perhaps that is all that any of us who are taking part in the production of this book can hope to achieve4 ,our desire is to be allowed to prepare the way for the clearer and stronger action of the future4 ,little by little we are coming to see that the scope of ,christianity is bigger and more comprehensive than has for some time been supposed4 ,we can trace the steps by which religion and its benefits had got to be looked upon as chiefly1 if not exclusively1 concerned with individuals and their souls4 ,and we can recognise that there have been1 and are1 counter-movements at work whose tendency is to raise us out of the limitations within which we had settled and to place our feet in a larger room4 ,to begin with1 there has been the revival of the ,corporate aspect of the faith1 with an insistence upon the truth that the fullest life is only to be realised through fellowship4 ,very slowly we have been learning that we are not meant to be perfected as individuals1 but as parts of a whole of which ,christ is the head and we are all of us members4 ,already this sense of a corporate ideal has made a great difference to our thoughts about the ,church and the ,sacraments1 and has begun to work a change in our beliefs as to the importance of unity and the possibilities of spiritual power4 ,and now it looks as if we are being called to a yet farther enlargement of our conceptions and hopes4 ,to-day we are bidden to add to our knowledge in another direction4 ,this time it is the ,corporal aspect of the ,christian message which is coming into view4 ,we are to learn that our religion is not only for us all as a whole1 but that it has to do with the whole of each of us4 ,in other words it is good for the body as well as for the soul4 ,in some degree1 no doubt1 we have been accustomed to admit that the fact of the ,incarnation is a witness to the dignity of our bodies1 and a pledge of their ultimate glorification2 but the admission has too often lacked the full force of a living conviction4 ,at the present moment1 however1 many influences are combining in a remarkable way to send us #8back to ,christ' with quite a new willingness to believe that ,he meant ,his ,church to stand in the forefront of all endeavours to bless men's bodies as well as to save their souls4 ,some day the world may be filled with astonishment when it sees the fuller life of ,christian fellowship brought to bear upon the social and physical problems that are waiting all around us for the power that can successfully deal with them4 ,now1 plainly such lines of thought must sooner or later converge upon the ,eucharist4 ,we may confidently assert that if the fuller life1 corporate or corporal1 is to be realised and manifested by us1 it will be through a more faithful and more intelligent use of the great means which our ,lord has provided for establishing a vital inter-communion between ,himself and ,his members4 ,let us1 then1 approach the consideration of the mystery patiently1 and make a serious effort to grasp what we can of its meaning in right perspective and due proportion4 ,to this end it will be best to set before our minds a clear statement of the aims and objects of the highest of all ,christian services4 99 99 99 99 99 ,briefly1 we may say that the ,eucharist is designed to fulfil a threefold purpose for us4 ,in the first place1 it is a ,,sign ,,of ,,profession4 ,sacraments are #8not only badges or tokens of ,christian men's profession' 7,art4 xxv472 but this they most certainly are4 ,again and again our ,lord laid stress upon the duty and necessity of an open acknowledgment of discipleship4 ,from the earliest times the ,sacrament of ,his ,body and ,blood has been regarded as the oath and pledge of a ,christian's loyalty4 ,we may be sure that ,christ meant it to be this4 ,perhaps it is not altogether without significance that while the ancient allegory of the ,old ,testament had made the test of obedience1 #8,thou shalt not eat'2 in the sacred symbolism of the ,new ,covenant it became1 #8,do this1' #8,take eat4' ,through the ,eucharist we declare our readiness to be known as members of the ,christian fellowship1 and our determination to be the true followers of ,christ4 ,that is its first and simplest and most obvious signification4 ,then further the ,eucharist is ,,an ,,act ,,of ,,worship4 ,it has a ,godward aspect1 as well as a bearing towards the ,church and the world4 ,the original institution had for its background the slaying of the lambs and the pouring out of the blood of the ,passover sacrifices4 ,this1 said our ,lord1 is ,my way of celebrating the redemption1 not merely of a nation1 but of a world4 #8,this is ,my ,blood of the ,covenant1 which is shed for many4' ,and accordingly whenever we solemnly repeat ,his words and ,his acts1 we do it in a ,consecration ,prayer addressed not to man but to ,god4 ,it has been thus that from the beginning the ,church has made the #8perpetual memory1' setting forth the finished sacrifice of the ,cross as the one and only ground and hope of man's salvation4 ,it is thus that we draw nigh by the #8new and living way which ,he has prepared for us' until we find ourselves amid all the company of heaven1 nay more1 suppliants before the very throne of ,god1 humbly but confidently asking for the grace to help us in our earthly need4 ,the prayer is freely granted4 ,the very offerings we present are blessed and returned for our enrichment4 ,and so1 finally1 the ,eucharist is a ,,means ,,of ,,grace4 ,the ,altar becomes a ,table1 and the ,sacrifice ends in a ,feast4 ,we are bidden1 not only to #8do this1' but to #8eat' and #8drink' the ,body and ,blood4 ,here it is that we reach the most mysterious aspect of all4 ,christ died and rose again for us that we might live by ,him4 ,in this holiest fellowship ,he fulfils ,his promise to be with us2 in this highest worship we are made partakers of ,his very self4 ,how the blessing is bestowed we are unable to explain4 ,the explanations that have been attempted are not really explanations1 for they are not themselves intelligible4 ,but we can do better than explain4 ,we can accept the fact1 and look to prove it in experience4 ,that is the way of our ,english ,church teaching4 #8,the benefit is great1' we are assured1 #8if with a true penitent heart and lively faith we receive this ,holy ,sacrament1 for then we spiritually eat the ,flesh of ,christ and drink ,his ,blood4' #8,the ,body and ,blood of ,christ are verily and indeed'--not merely metaphorically and symbolically--#8taken and received by the faithful4' ,so it has been believed since the foundation of the ,church4 #8,the doctrine of the reality of the gift bestowed in the ,holy ,communion is universal in the writings of the early ,christians4'#aja ,and so it will be to the end1 when the holy feast is to be royally #8fulfilled in the kingdom of ,god4'#ajb #aja ,archbishop ,temple1 ,primary ,charge4 #ajb ,st4 ,luke xxii4 #af4 ,it is in connexion with this third aspect of the ,eucharist that we are to attempt some further inquiry4 ,granted that #8the benefit is great1' of what does it consist8 ,when we meet together in the gladness of loyal fellowship to #8lift up our hearts' through the worship which unites us to the ,great ,high ,priest within the veil2 when we receive1 as from ,his hands1 the more than tokens of our participation in ,his present life and coming triumph2 when after meekly kneeling for the benediction of the heavenly peace1 we rise and go our way--what thoughts may we dare to cherish with regard to the blessing that has been granted to us8 ,shall we answer that the gain must be of a spiritual character1 that what we have received is #8the strengthening and refreshing of our souls1' that this is what is intended when the ,eucharist is spoken of as a #8means of grace'8 ,assuredly we shall be right to answer thus4 ,we cannot insist upon it too strongly1 or claim it too confidently4 ,we may not feel at the moment that we are stronger and more able for our life and duty2 but then we do not always feel the benefit of physical food and medicine the moment they have been taken4 ,the gain may not appear for hours or even days1 when perhaps we have ceased to think of the source from which it came4 ,strangely enough1 too1 the immediate effect of a medicine may be to bring out the mischief1 and to make us imagine that we are the worse for it rather than the better2 and1 as we know1 there have been times when it has almost seemed as if we had become more distressingly conscious of our faults and failings as a result of our ,communion4 ,in spite of it all1 faith takes and gives humble thanks for the blessing which has been received4 ,but1 when we say that the blessing is of a spiritual nature1 does that mean that its effects are therefore limited to the spiritual sphere8 ,can we think that they could be so limited8 ,is not the spiritual the dominant factor in all our life1 and must not the quickening and gladdening of our spirits be felt1 sooner or later1 through every department of our being8 ,is it not true that the mind is profoundly influenced by the state of the spirit2 that1 when the soul is at peace and in harmony with ,god's will1 light shines as it were from within upon the hardest and most perplexing problems around us8 ,the good and wise ,bishop ,harold ,browne once declared at a ,church ,congress that he had never known what it was to have intellectual doubts when present at the ,holy ,communion4 ,so1 too1 one of the most brilliant of our living teachers1 speaking of what he owed to the school chapel at ,eton1 has said1 #8,there ,i mercifully gained the habit of constant ,communion2 and this habit was the one permanent stronghold of my faith when in after years at ,oxford the violent storms of intellectual trouble broke over my mind4'#ajc #ajc ,canon ,scott ,holland1 ,commonwealth1 ,march #aijh4 ,if the mind may be helped through blessing received by the spirit1 why not the body also8 ,we are realising more and more forcibly every year how intimate is the connexion between mental action and the physical organism4 ,the two are so linked that every change in the one would seem to be accompanied by a change in the other4 ,moreover1 we are assured by recent psychology that there are regions within us which lie outside--above and below--the levels of our ordinary consciousness2 and that influences exerted in these regions are determining causes1 not merely of mental1 but of bodily states4 ,the close connexion between the spiritual and the physical is clearly insisted upon in the ,new ,testament teaching4 ,our ,lord showed plainly that the problem of bodily disease was not to be treated apart from the more baffling needs of the soul4 ,in unhesitating terms ,he traced the miseries of morbid physical conditions to moral wrongdoing and the presence of spiritual forces of evil4 ,the great word #8,salvation' strictly interpreted meant health2 and it was applied to both body and soul4 ,it is no small part of ,christ's redemption to #8quicken your mortal bodies through ,his ,spirit that dwelleth in you4'#ajd #ajd ,romans viii4 #b4 ,the fact that the body has its appointed part and share in the ,holy ,communion is in itself significant of the honour to be paid to it1 and might be taken to imply that it too is to be partaker of the benefit4 ,and when ,st4 ,paul declares that to receive #8unworthily' is to be in danger of bodily sickness and even of death1#aje we can scarcely avoid the inference that for the worthy recipient there might be expected some corresponding advantage of quickened health and physical vitality4 #aje #a ,cor4 xi4 #cj4 99 99 99 99 99 ,if we ask what the thoughts of early ,christianity were in regard to this matter1 we need remain in no uncertainty as to the reply4 ,recent discovery of documents and the critical study of the primitive liturgies have given us a great deal of knowledge as to the religious conceptions of those who met for ,christian worship in the centuries after the ,apostles4 ,at first it was with reluctance that they committed their most sacred formularies to writing4 ,even as late as the time of ,athanasius the precise nature of the liturgy was kept as a secret1 to be revealed only to those who would be certain to regard it with reverence and understanding4 #8,it is not permitted1' he wrote1 #8to describe the mysteries to those who are not initiated4'#ajf ,not until this discipline of secrecy was gradually abandoned1 as ,christianity came to be accepted throughout the empire1 were the actual forms of service allowed to become public property4 ,from these we are able to gather much as to the place which the ,eucharist held in the life of the ,church1 and as to the hopes that were centred in it4 ,these hopes1 without question1 were primarily of a spiritual sort4 ,intercession was offered with a fulness and intensity which witness to a wonderful power of sustained devotion and a boundless range of sympathy4 ,there were many and various prayers for the peace and perfecting of the ,church and the enlightenment of the world1 for the spread of true knowledge1 for the sanctification of all estates of believers1 and above all1 and most of all1 for the exaltation and glory of ,god in earth as in heaven4 ,but no one can so much as glance over these liturgies without being strongly impressed by the fact that those who framed them and used them had no notion of drawing any sharp line of distinction between the spiritual and the material1 between the blessing of the soul and the good to be desired for the body4 ,if they made intercession for the ,church that it might be #8kept sheltered from storms' and be #8preserved founded upon the rock until the consummation of the world1' and were careful to remember the higher needs of all classes of ,christian people1 they were quick to add1 #8,let us pray for our brethren exercised by sickness1 that the ,lord may deliver them from every disease and from every infirmity1 and may restore them whole to ,his ,holy ,church4'#ajg ,in the prayer of ,consecration they would ask that the ,bread and the ,wine might be made to all who received them a means of #8faith1 and watchfulness1 and healing1 and sober-mindedness1 and sanctification1 and renovation of soul and body and spirit4'#ajh ,when they had partaken of the elements they implored that these might #8not be unto condemnation but to salvation1 for the benefit of soul and body4'#aji #ajf ,apol4 contra ,arianos1 ii4 #ajg ,clementine ,liturgy4 #ajh ,liturgy of ,st4 ,mark4 #aji ,clementine ,liturgy4 ,just ten years ago a very important addition was made to our store of early liturgical documents by the publication of the ,sacramentary of ,bishop ,serapion1 which dates from #cej ,a4,d4 ,the work consists of thirty prayers such as a bishop would be likely to use4#aaj ,of these the first six and the last twelve have to do with the celebration of the ,eucharist2 the remainder relate to ,baptism1 ,confirmation1 ,ordination1 and ,burial4 #aaj ,a translation1 with notes1 has been edited by the ,bishop of ,salisbury in a small volume issued by the ,s4,p4,c4,k4 7,early ,church ,classics74 ,the ,greek text will be found in an article by the ,rev4 ,f4 ,e4 ,brightman1 ,journal of ,theological ,studies1 ,october #ahii4 #8,life is a remarkable note of the collection1' and it is life in the fullest sense of the word4 ,a few quotations will indicate this1 and will serve to strengthen the impression we have already sought to convey as to the content of the blessing to be expected in the ,eucharist4 ,in the opening ,offertory prayer we find the words1 #8,we beseech ,thee1 make us living men4' ,at the invocation of the ,word upon the elements1 #8,make all who communicate to receive a medicine of life for the healing of any sickness4' ,in #8the prayer for those who have suffered1' #8,grant health and soundness1 and cheerfulness and all advancement of soul and body4' ,and in the final ,benediction1 #8,let the communion of the ,body and ,blood go with this people4 ,let their bodies be living bodies1 and their souls be clean souls4' ,provision is also made for special prayer for the sick1 and for the blessings of oils and waters for their benefit1 and in these connexions we find such expressions as the following3 #8,be propitious1 ,master2 assist and heal all that are sick4 ,rebuke the sicknesses4' #8,grant them to be counted worthy of health4' #8,make them to have perfect health of body and soul4' #8,grant healing power upon these creatures that every power and every evil spirit and every sickness may depart4' ,it need scarcely be said that all such references to bodily wants are set in a context which is marked by the simplest and most ardent spiritual devotion4 ,the physical is never allowed to usurp the first place4 ,but it is never forgotten4 ,the early ,christians believed that the ,life which was offered to them in fellowship with their ,lord was to extend to every part of their constitution1 to #8spirit and soul and body4'#aaa #aaa ,these references to the ,liturgies might be supplemented by quotations from the patristic writings1 e4g4 those of ,irenus1 ,tertullian1 ,cyril of ,jerusalem1 and ,gregory of ,nyssa4 ,the last named went so far as to make ,baptism with faith to be the salvation of the soul1 and the partaking of the ,eucharist the salvation of the body4 ,see ,bishop ,gore1 ,the ,body of ,christ1 p4 #fi2 and ,bethune ,baker1 ,introduction to the ,history of ,christian ,doctrine1 pp4 #cii1 #dab4 ,in the light of our increasing knowledge of psychological processes1 we to-day are turning with new interest and sympathy to the old stories of marvellous healing that have come down to us from early and medieval times2 and we are doing our best1 by careful investigation and analysis1 to separate the well-authenticated cases from those for which the evidence is not satisfactory4 ,already it is clear beyond reasonable doubt that the instances in which directly religious influences wrought extraordinary cures were far more numerous than have been generally admitted by critical students of the history4 ,in ,mr4 ,percy ,dearmer's volume entitled #8,body and ,soul' a large number of testimonies have been collected relating to such experiences at various times throughout the ,christian centuries4 ,thus the passage from ,st4 ,augustine is quoted1 in which he said that in his days miracles were still being wrought1 #8partly by the sacraments1' and partly through other instrumentalities4 ,and instances of such miracles are described as they were recorded of ,bernard1 and ,francis1 and ,catherine of ,siena2 of ,philip ,neri1 ,fox1 ,wesley1 ,cardinal ,hohenlohe1 ,pastor ,blumhardt1 ,father ,john of ,cronstadt1 and many more4 ,at least two cases are given in which the benefit was definitely connected with the reception of ,holy ,communion4#aab #aab pp4 #cgj1 #cha4 ,compare also the witness of ,st4 ,thomas ,kempis in regard to the power of this ,sacrament4 #8,the grace is sometimes so great that out of the fulness of devotion here given not the mind only but the weak body also feels great increase of strength bestowed on it' 7vires sibi praestitas sentiat ampliores74 ,de ,imit4 iv4 #a4 99 99 99 99 99 ,it remains now to ask how far we ,english ,church people have any guidance to which we can appeal in our liturgical forms4 ,we have to admit that the well-being of the body does not receive the amount of consideration in our ,prayer-book that it did receive in more primitive days4 ,and yet the allusions are more frequent than many imagine4 ,at the outset of ,morning and ,evening ,prayer we are reminded that we have met #8to ask those things which are requisite and necessary as well for the body as the soul4' ,over and over we repeat the clause in the ,lord's ,prayer--#8,give us this day our daily bread4' ,in the ,creed we joyfully attest our belief in the #8resurrection of the body4' ,in the ,litany we pray to be delivered from #8plague and pestilence4' ,a special intercession is appointed for use #8in the time of common plague or sickness1' as well as the more general one for all who are #8any ways afflicted1 or distressed1 in mind1 body1 or estate1' with a particular remembrance of #8those for whom our prayers are desired4' ,in the ,collects1 which were intended primarily for use at the ,eucharist1 we find petitions for help in #8our infirmities1' for defence from #8all adversities which may happen to the body1' for preservation #8both in body and soul1' and for readiness of #8body' to do the ,divine will4 ,in the ,office for ,holy ,communion we may be glad to note even clearer traces of the ,scriptural and primitive conception as to the place which the physical part of our nature is entitled to hold in the religion of the ,incarnation4 ,when we say the prayer for the whole ,church1 we humbly beseech ,god #8to comfort and succour all those who in this transitory life are in trouble1 sorrow1 need1 sickness1 or any other adversity4' ,in the ,prayer of ,humble ,access there are petitions1 first to be met with in the earliest form of the ,english service 7#aedh71 which sound like an echo from the already quoted ,prayer-book of ,serapion1 #8that our sinful bodies may be made clean by ,his ,body1 and our souls washed through ,his most precious ,blood4' ,even more intentionally significant are the words of administration appointed to be addressed to every communicant1 #8,the ,body of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life'2 #8,the ,blood of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life4' ,these references to the #8body' appear to have been deliberately introduced into our service4 ,in the ,latin form the celebrant had said1 #8custodiat animam meam in vitam aeternam4'#aac ,and as the body has its place of privilege1 so also it has a share of the corresponding responsibility4 ,in the ,prayer of ,oblation #8we offer and present our souls and bodies to be a reasonable1 holy1 and lively sacrifice4' ,finally1 among the ,collects suggested to be said after the ,offertory1 and at other times #8as occasion shall serve1' the foremost place is given to two which are closely connected with the thought of bodily welfare4 ,the first1 #8,assist us mercifully1 ,o ,lord1' was a prayer used in medieval times for persons who had gone on a pilgrimage to seek physical as well as spiritual blessings2 the second is for the sanctification and governance of #8both our hearts and bodies1' that we may be #8preserved in body and soul1 through our ,lord and ,saviour ,jesus ,christ4' #aac ,it would seem that the fuller form1 #8corpus et animum meam1' was used by the priest at his own communion in the ,mozarabic rite2 and that a similar form was prescribed in the ,cologne use of the fourteenth century for communicating the people4 7,daniel1 ,codex ,liturgicus1 i4 pp4 #aje1 #adg47 ,otherwise the rule was as stated above4 ,it is interesting to note1 however1 that the words #8corpus et' were very generally employed in administering to the sick in medieval ,england 7see the ,york ,manual1 ,surtees1 lxiii4 pp4 #ea1 #eb74 ,so then1 in our ,prayer-book1 as in the older service books1 the benefit of the body is closely associated with the gain which is sought for the soul4 ,the physical effect is regarded as dependent upon the spiritual gift4 ,as the ,bishop of ,birmingham has put it1 #8though in the ,holy ,communion the body is sanctified through the sanctification of our spirit1 and transformed and endowed1 in subtle and secret ways which pass our comprehension1 with capacity for the life immortal2 yet it is through the spirit and not directly4'#aad ,the blessing begins with the spirit1 but it certainly does not end there4 #aad ,body of ,christ1 p4 #fd4 99 99 99 99 99 ,this sketch of a great subject1 imperfect as it has been1 may serve to turn the thoughts of some of us to an aspect of our religious privileges which has not been very much before our minds4 ,a friend who had been spending a good deal of time on #8cures' on the continent as well as in this country1 wrote to me lately to say that he was beginning to think that he ought to get more assistance towards recovery from his religion than he had been getting4 ,that is an idea which accords with the temper of the first ,christians1 and is certainly encouraged by a careful study of our own ,prayer-book4 ,we dare not assert that all #8the ills that flesh is heir to' would disappear before a quickened vitality of soul1 and the mental soundness which might follow from this2 but we can well believe that the tendency of true religion is all in the direction of physical health4 ,indeed1 we may go so far as to say that there is no restorative force that we know of to compare with the influence of spiritual peace and gladness4 ,we have amongst us those who are fully conscious that they have owed much bodily strength to prayers and to sacraments4 ,and there are medical men who would not hesitate to give their confirmatory testimony from what they have seen in their experiences of the sick4 ,sometimes we hear of small attendance at the weekly or daily ,eucharist4 ,if this is to be remedied it will be because truer views have come to prevail again of the meaning of the greatest service of the ,church4 ,we shall recover the spiritual fervour and force of primitive ,christianity when we learn once more to give the ,eucharist its proper place in our worship and our life4 ,we might be helped to do this if1 like the first ,christians1 we accustomed ourselves to look to our ,communions not only for the blessing that they can bring to our souls1 but for the lesser1 and yet not less real1 blessing which we may find in them for the sanctification and preservation of our bodies4 ,,prayer ,,and ,,mental ,,healing ,,by ,,arthur ,,chandler1 ,d4,d4 ,,bishop ,,of ,,bloemfontein ,,prayer ,,and ,,mental ,,healing ,,by ,,the ,,bishop ,,of ,,bloemfontein ,this paper is concerned with ,mental ,healing2 its object is to suggest1 in a tentative way1 how ,mental ,healing may be effected by ,mental ,prayer4 ,but1 in order to do this1 it is necessary 7at the risk of repeating what may have been written by others7 to refer to certain premises leading up to the conclusion which ,i wish to draw4 7#a7 ,in the first place it is coming to be recognised that #8consciousness' must be understood in a far wider and more general sense than we have been accustomed to associate with it4 ,alongside of the active work of the intellect with which1 e4g41 we study mathematics or pursue our profession1 there is a large1 dreamy1 half-conscious tract of mind1 not sharpened to a single point1 like the active intellect1 but consisting in a multiplicity of mind-centres 7mental ganglia1 as we might call them7 diffused throughout the body4 ,we knew before that our body was a microcosm or an epitome of the world in which it was found1 and now we are learning that the same is true of our minds4 ,primitive kinds of consciousness have been carried up with us in our ascent from lower grades of being1 and survive1 dormant but real1 over against the intellect which is the palmary achievement of our race4 ,this residual consciousness 7the consciousness which exists outside of the rational intellect7 consists largely of instincts and capacities which regulate the lives of other animals1 and which were employed by man in his primitive state1 but for which he has no use in his present-day existence2 modes of receptivity and reaction1 which were natural to him in his dreamy childhood1 but which are discarded by him in the aggressive1 self-assertive1 wide-awake condition in which he now lives4 ,mr4 ,myers1 in his #8,human ,personality1' gives a very attractive and convincing account of this inheritance from our #8lowly ancestors4' ,but probably we have to go deeper still to account for parts of the consciousness which we thus inherit4 ,the rooted attachment to home1 and the blind tenacity with which1 in the teeth of reason1 men cling to life1 exhibit a more primitive mode of consciousness than that of animal life4 ,here we will quote some very suggestive words of ,professor ,stewart3 #8,transcendental feeling ,i would explain genetically as an effect produced within consciousness by the persistence in us of that primeval condition from which we are sprung1 when life was still as sound asleep as death1 and there was no time yet4 ,that we should fall for a while1 now and then1 from our waking1 time-marking life1 into the timeless slumber of this primeval life is easy to understand2 for the principle solely operative in that primeval life is indeed the fundamental principle of our nature1 being that 8vegetative part of the soul0 which made from the first1 and still silently makes1 the assumption on which our rational life of conduct and science rests--the assumption that life is worth living4 ,when to the 8vegetative0 the 8sensitive0 soul is first added1 the ,imperative 7,live thy ,life7 is obeyed by creatures which1 experiencing only isolated feelings1 and retaining no traces of them in memory1 still live a timeless life1 without sense of past or future1 and consequently without sense of selfhood4 ,then1 with memory1 there comes1 in the higher animals1 some dim sense of a self dating back and prospecting forward4 ,time begins to be4' ,this1 then1 is our starting point2 that besides the single1 supreme1 rational activity1 which we call intellect1 there exist in us other forms of consciousness similar to those which accompany the growth of the plant or the life of the animal2 and that this residual consciousness1 however much we may discard or disown it1 continues to live and work1 and does things which the proud intellect is unable to do4 ,on the other hand1 we must not forget that these forms of feeling and instinct1 of perception and reaction1 which we regard as our heritage from lower grades of life1 are enormously modified by their juxtaposition with a rational intellect4 ,the unity of nature which comprehends both the intellect and them1 makes itself felt2 this lower form of mentality is still the mentality of a rational being2 and the general position may be described by saying that there exists a decentralised consciousness1 diffused through the organism1 #8irrational1 but capable of sharing in reason1 and of listening to it1' as ,aristotle would say1 and manifesting itself in a power of receiving impressions1 manipulating them1 and reacting upon them1 which in our present state of ignorance we describe by the convenient word #8abnormal4' 7#b7 ,because the residual consciousness is thus diffused throughout the body1 it can exercise control over the various parts of the body1 just as the central intellect exercises control over the body as a whole4 ,as the reason can set the body in motion by commands issued through the brain and travelling down the motor nerves1 so the departmental consciousness can initiate changes and disturbances in the various nerve centres with which it is associated4 ,this1 we take it1 is what happens in all cases of mental healing4 ,the phenomenon is physical as well as psychical2 it consists not merely in the inhibition of the feeling of pain1 but in such a modification of the nerve tissues as removes the cause of the pain4 ,a real cure is effected1 and it is effected by the action of the residual consciousness upon that particular part of the organism4 7#c7 ,this decentralised1 residual consciousness can work best when the rational intellect is quiescent--when1 we may say1 the central office is closed4 ,at such times man ceases for the time to be an argumentative1 striving creature2 the placid1 vegetative1 ruminative life1 the life of growth and instinct1 asserts itself2 submerged modes of consciousness begin to stir and act1 like fairies dancing when the sun has set4 ,and as sleep is the typically quiescent state1 it will be specially in sleep1 natural or induced1 that these lower modes of consciousness will exhibit their activity4 7#d7 ,in order that they may act1 a #8cue' or suggestion of some sort must be given to them4 ,the most marked characteristic of this residual consciousness is its receptivity4 ,it executes1 but cannot originate4 ,it can retain in the memory the whole of a long poem which it has heard1 and it can solve a problem by right adjustment of its elements2 but in each case the facts must be given to it in order that it may deal with them4 ,in itself it is dreamy and desultory2 if it is to work efficiently1 it must be stimulated and concentrated by the transmission to it of a clear and forcible suggestion4 7#e7 ,on the other hand1 although it must take its orders from the reason1 it is only natural that one residual consciousness should be more en rapport1 feel more at home1 with another residual consciousness4 ,the reason is like a parent or schoolmaster1 and these consciousnesses are like children4 ,they receive their directions from above1 but are far more at home with each other1 canvassing their instructions1 and sometimes parodying and making fun of them1 as children do with the admonitions of their elders4 ,in matter of fact there is often something freakish and elfish about this consciousness1 it reminds one of the submerged spirit of ,dionysus reasserting itself in ,denys l',auxerrois as described by ,mr4 ,pater4 7#f7 ,now1 if one residual consciousness can be brought into a relationship of definite and serious purpose with another residual consciousness1 the influence thus exerted will be stronger than any which can be exerted directly by the reason itself4 ,to revert to our former illustrations1 a monitor whose own character is receptive of the master's ideals can exert on other children an influence greater than that of the master himself4 7#g7 ,the reason of man1 then1 may be well able to convey clear instructions to his own residual consciousness1 and send it to associate with1 and work upon1 some other residual consciousness4 ,and if the instructions conveyed1 and the work done1 concern the curing of some ailment1 a case of mental healing will be the result4 ,let ,a be the healer and ,b the patient2 let a and b represent the residual consciousness of each of them2 further1 let ,a#a be the rational intellect of ,a1 and ,b#b the seat of ,b's disease4 ,in that case the following diagram will illustrate the process3 ,illustration ,that is1 ,a concentrates his intellect 7,a#a7 on transmitting a message to his own submerged consciousness 7a72 this submerged consciousness works upon ,b's submerged consciousness and stimulates it to curative action on the seat of ,b's disease4 ,further1 the best time for a to thus work upon b will be when ,a and ,b are both asleep4 ,a will have concentrated the reason on the idea of helping ,b just before going to sleep4 ,mr4 ,hudson1 in his #8,psychic ,phenomena1' gives many illustrations of cures thus effected4 7#h7 ,but the capacity of ,a to exert a strong and right influence must depend on the strength of his will and the clearness of his insight2 and if he is a humble man1 he will recognise his own weakness and ignorance4 ,in proportion1 then1 to his affection for ,b1 he wants to bring to bear on ,b a stronger force and a higher wisdom than his own4 ,a few exceptionally strong and wise people may bring help1 of themselves1 to their friends in the manner described in the last section2 but the majority1 being conscious of their own limitations1 will turn elsewhere for succour1 i4e4 will pray4 7#i7 ,in very many cases prayer is a definite petition to ,god1 that ,god will ,himself act directly on our friend by bestowing a definite blessing on him1 e4g4 recovery from a specific ailment4 ,but that is not quite the highest or the best kind of prayer4 ,god loves to act through us2 ,christ sends out his disciples1 that through them ,he may continue to do ,his gracious works4 ,we can combine a humble reliance on ,god with the offer of ourselves as ,his instruments1 if our prayer conforms to that ,prayer of ,quiet or ,silence of which mystical writers tell us4 ,then1 instead of ourselves acting directly on our friend1 and instead of asking ,god to act directly upon him1 we shall just concentrate our attention upon ,god with special intention for our friend4 ,we shall hope that a ,divine response from ,god will1 during our sleep perhaps1 enter our own subconscious self 7which we have1 through the concentration of our attention1 made receptive of such responses7 and through us work upon that of our friend4 ,in such a case the diagram will be as follows3 ,illustration ,we may add that this ,prayer of ,silence not only renders us receptive of ,divine influences1 which may then through us be transmitted to our friend2 also it embodies the true attitude of humility in relation to ,god4 ,we know not what we should pray for as we ought4 ,we are not to dictate to ,god what blessing ,he is to send4 ,we simply bring our friend's evil case before ,him in the very act of our own loving concentration upon ,him1 and offer ourselves as the agents for the transmission of that blessing1 whatever it may be1 which ,he in ,his wisdom may will to send4 ,by a strong act of sympathy we identify ourselves with our friend1 and trust ,god to provide the right remedy4 #8,have mercy upon me1' said the woman in the ,gospel1 #8my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil4' ,if we can combine this living sympathy for our friend with a humble trust in ,god's power and wisdom1 and further offer ourselves as the instrument through which ,god may act1 we shall be practising the highest and purest form of intercession within our reach4 ,and this form of intercession may be offered in a silent act of ,contemplation1 in which distracting thoughts are set aside1 the favourable attitude of receptivity is attained1 and a loving and concentrated appeal is made to the love of ,god4 ,it may1 perhaps1 encourage us to engage in this highest form of prayer1 if we recognise that it has this intercessory side4 ,an objection is sometimes brought against the practice of ,contemplation as described by spiritual writers1 on the ground that it is self-centred and selfish4 ,there is never much force in such an objection1 since the contemplative who is concentrating his soul on ,god is thereby making himself a ladder down which ,angels of ,grace descend on others as well as himself2 he is diffusing an atmosphere of ,god's presence1 with the blessings that flow from it4 ,when1 however1 ,contemplation is practised with definite intercessory intention1 its beneficence is clearly and unmistakably emphasised4 7#aj7 ,it is well to dwell a little more on the quality of humility which should characterise all such prayers4 ,we have no right to dictate to ,god what ,his answer shall be4 ,we have no right to assume that it must be ,his will to remove all pain and suffering4 ,any such assumption leads logically to conclusions which those who make it might not be prepared to accept4 ,if pain and suffering are contrary to ,god's will1 and ,god is omnipotent1 it follows that there can be no such thing as pain and suffering2 and as pain and suffering are located in the body1 it will further be concluded that there is no such thing as a body2 and here at once we have ,christian ,science in a nutshell4 ,we may try to escape from this conclusion by distinguishing an absolute and a contingent will of ,god1 and arguing that pain1 as such1 is contrary1 but under certain circumstances is not contrary1 to the will of ,god4 ,but this really abandons the whole position1 since we do not know whether the case of our friend is covered by the #8certain circumstances' or not1 and therefore are unable to dogmatise as to ,god's will in the matter4 ,no one in his senses imagines that ,god wills pain for the sake of pain4 ,everyone would agree that1 if sin had not come into the world1 there would be no occasion for pain4 ,but then sin has come into the world2 the only condition of man with which we are acquainted is his fallen condition2 in that fallen condition sin and suffering are mingled inextricably to a degree which utterly condemns dictation or dogmatism on our part4 ,ignorant people like ourselves must1 then1 be humble in our prayers4 ,we bring our friend's illness before ,god2 #8,lord1 he whom ,thou lovest is sick'2 often ,god's love may be shown in the removal of the suffering2 sometimes in the provision of grace sufficient to enable the sufferer to rejoice in his infirmities4 7#aa7 ,what has been said in this paper is liable to an easy and obvious criticism4 ,it will be said that the whole thing consists of guesses2 and further1 that these guesses are incapable of scientific verification4 ,i cheerfully accept both statements1 and am not particularly affected by either4 ,all increase of knowledge has been made through guesses1 and in the case of an intricate subject like that before us1 we must be content to go on guessing for a long time4 ,further1 there may be verification which would not conform to the more rigorous methods1 but which would be sufficient for practical purposes4 ,if we find that such prayer as ,i have described is followed by relief1 either physical or spiritual1 to him for whom we pray2 and if this sequence occurs again and again under different conditions1 the cumulative weight of such experience will justify a humble belief that ,god is indeed using us as vehicles of ,his grace and love4 7#ab7 ,finally1 ,i should like to add a few words as to the general attitude which1 it seems to me1 we should adopt with regard to facts of mental healing4 ,i have assumed that we are face to face with certain psychical facts which for the first time are winning general recognition of their authenticity4 ,that is1 we are witnessing the birth and development of a special branch of psychology4 ,the whole inquiry into the phenomena of the subconscious1 or subliminal1 or subjective1 or residual consciousness 7whatever we choose to call it7 is a psychological inquiry4 ,it is for the psychologist to investigate the relation in which such phenomena stand to the normal working of the mind2 and it is for the psychologist and physiologist together to probe the method by which subconscious mentality affects the diseased tissue1 and in many cases effects a cure4 ,the facts are becoming patent to all2 the causes are a subject matter for science4 ,where1 then1 does religion come in8 ,i answer that whilst the forces at work are psychical1 and the inquiry into their mode of operation is scientific1 they can be best put in motion by religion4 ,some such demarcation of spheres seems to me to be essential4 ,it would be fatal to assume that all manifestation of subconscious activity is supernatural2 that all mental healing is necessarily spiritual healing4 ,the facts postulate neither a special spiritual gift1 nor a special theory of the universe 7such as that of ,christian ,science7 to account for them4 ,they are1 we repeat1 psychical facts1 and come under the domain of psychology4 ,further1 as ,i have suggested above1 religion is not the only motive power by which they can be roused to action4 ,a rigorous process of attention and concentration of the mind1 which has been rendered quiescent by the elimination of other thoughts and ideas1 seems to be the condition under which the healer acts successfully2 and such a process is not confined to the sphere of religion4 ,but1 on the other hand1 we ,christians possess two great qualifications in this matter4 ,first1 in the higher forms of prayer we have ready to our hand a peculiarly effective method of concentration and attention2 and1 secondly1 through the use of this method1 we can link our own action with the action of ,god1 correcting our ignorance by the wisdom of ,god1 and supplementing our weakness by the power of ,god4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,note4--,in this article ,i have dealt with healing as exercised on the ills of another1 not on one's own ills2 and the prayer associated with such healing has therefore been presented as intercessory prayer4 ,but of course the troubles which we have in view may be our own4 ,in such a case the method will be much the same as that sketched above2 relief may be effected subconsciously through the medium of prayer4 ,but the procedure is now much simpler4 ,instead of sending out our subconsciousness 7the phraseology is necessarily materialistic and fearfully inadequate7 to work on that of another1 we merely commission it to work on the seat of our own malady4 ,the method now becomes one of auto-suggestion1 i4e4 the healing suggestion is made by us to ourselves4 ,we know the power of this process in the moral sphere2 we know how1 by fixing our minds on lofty and ennobling ideas1 we can break the power of temptation1 not by a frontal attack1 but by getting round it and above it to a higher level of life and thought4 ,this1 in fact1 is the main purpose and effect of meditation as ordinarily practised4 ,the scope of meditations only have to be slightly extended in order to apply to our physical as well as our moral troubles4 ,but1 although this method of healing becomes simpler in procedure1 because applied to ourselves1 yet for the same success it demands still greater humility and purity of intention4 ,if1 when we pray for others1 it is hard for us to believe that the prayer may be really and effectually answered in other ways than by the removal of the physical suffering1 it is still harder for us to recognise this in our own case4 ,to meet this difficulty1 it will be well that prayer for our own relief should be as much as possible silent prayer4 ,we shall concentrate our attention on ,god's love and power1 as revealed in ,christ1 just spread out our trouble before ,him1 and resolve to trust ,him to the uttermost4 ,the suggestion thus conveyed to our own subconscious life will be charged with ,god's grace2 if physical healing results1 the restored health will be transformed by dedication to ,god's service2 if the relief takes the form of strength to endure1 it will be none the less relief1 lifting us above the level of self-pity into tranquil communion with ,christ crucified1 and may be none the less an instrument in ,god's hands for the doing of ,his blessed will4 ,,the ,,metaphysics ,,of ,,christian ,,science ,,by ,m4 ,,carta ,,sturge ,,the ,,metaphysics ,,of ,,christian ,,science ,,by ,m4 ,,carta ,,sturge ,in attempting to criticise the ,metaphysics of ,christian ,science1 as put forth in the book which claims to be the authority for its doctrine1 #8,science and ,health1 with ,key to the ,scriptures1' one is tempted to quote the famous chapter on #8,snakes in ,iceland1' which runs #8,there are no snakes in ,iceland1' and to say at the outset that ,christian ,science has no ,metaphysics4 ,since1 however1 it claims to explain the ,universe1 and to give a theory of such metaphysical subjects as ,matter and ,spirit1 as well as of ,unity and ,reality1 it may be well to examine its statements on these abstruse matters to see if they can justly claim to have value as ,metaphysics1 to search the island1 as it were1 before pronouncing that there are no snakes in it4 ,undoubtedly ,christian ,science owes a good deal of its attractiveness to its teaching of a sort of popular ,idealism4 ,it was put forth at a time when a great wave of ,materialism had overspread the ,christian world1 not owing only to discoveries in ,natural ,science1 which seemed in the first flush of their triumph1 before they had been adjusted with other fields of thought1 to destroy all belief in ,spirit1 but owing also to the fact that ,religion had been for so long established and1 apparently1 firmly seated upon a secure spiritual foundation1 that it had been loosely taught as to its fundamental basis4 ,so little had its relation with physical things been explained that the spiritual and physical aspects of the ,universe had become1 as it were1 separated in thought and shut up respectively in watertight compartments4 ,the result was that in the popular mind the two worlds1 the spiritual and the physical1 stood in a merely artificial relation with each other1 connected1 as it were1 by unmeaning hooks1 instead of standing in an intimate organic relation1 so close that no true statement regarding the one could possibly stand in collision with the truth of the other4 ,in consequence of this merely artificial relation of the two in the popular mind1 at the first breath of the new scientific announcements the two worlds in the minds of only too many fell apart1 and the spiritual world floated away1 if one may say so1 to nowhere1 whilst the physical1 with all its limitations1 its ruthless laws1 its indifference to the individual1 its total disregard of pain1 and its insurmountable barriers1 reigned alone4 ,materialism had triumphed with its apparently hard-and-fast solidity2 whilst the ideals of ,poetry1 the truths hinted at by ,art1 the revelations of the prophet1 the dreams of the young and the visions of the old1 and our intuitions of unseen realities which cannot be uttered1 were consigned by many1 supposed to be wise1 to the region of illusions1 the realm of nothingness1 and ,man seemed indeed to be nothing more than a creature helplessly subject to circumstance1 the sport of every wind1 and entirely beyond the region of hope wherever physical aid failed4 ,it was in the midst of a state of things something like this that ,christian ,science came with its contrary announcement that all is ,spirit1 and this given forth with the energy and freshness which always accompanies the discovery of a new aspect of truth1 or1 as in this instance1 the rediscovery of a world-old truth which had been for a time despised or forgotten4 ,and with it came a message of hope1 the assurance that we are not the creatures of mere circumstance1 that we are not limited to physical life1 nor altogether tied down by its limitations1 that things are not as hard and fast as they seem1 and that in the power of ,spirit we can throw down many a barrier and rise above circumstances4 ,most welcome teaching1 and yet to those of us accustomed to singing1 on the third evening of the month1 #8,with the help of my ,god ,i shall leap over the wall1' it seems strange that it should appear quite so new6 ,however1 as before said1 ,materialism had darkened much of this old truth and somewhat blinded our eyes4 ,whether1 therefore1 it seems new or old to us1 we can only welcome a powerful reassertion of ,idealism1 of the supremacy of ,spirit1 provided it come with good credentials1 and be so stated as to appeal to the best and sanest part of ourselves1 and with the breadth and depth of treatment that so wonderful a truth calls for4 ,unfortunately1 it is here that ,christian ,science fails us4 ,it is a cheap1 too much ready-made ,idealism that is put before us1 and one that rather appeals to our less sane moments than to our more brilliantly illuminated ones4 ,idealism1 by reason of its very greatness1 by its perception of things that lie outside our senses1 by its apprehension of infinities far beyond our grasp1 has many and great difficulties to encounter as soon as1 leaving the inspired region of ,poetry1 and of prophetic vision1 it tries to present itself as rational to our intellect1 and as conformable with our knowledge of physical things4 ,had the foundress of ,christian ,science confined herself to the uninquiring assertions of ,seership1 and left the explanation of ,spiritual truths 7of which no one can deny that she caught some luminous glimpses7 to minds equipped with the necessary knowledge and training1 ,christian ,science would have been shorn of much of its incoherence and false teaching1 and perhaps have proved itself a real ally to ,christianity4 ,but the foundress was not content with the rle of giving forth such insight as she may have had as a ,seer4 ,she tries to explain it1 and the consequence is such a tangle of incoherent1 inconsistent1 confused statements1 contradictory to each other1 as has1 perhaps1 never seriously been given to the world before4 ,and where1 occasionally1 the statements1 at least as to their wording1 are clear and unmistakable in their meaning1 so far from clearing away the difficulties of ,idealism1 they add much to the obscurity1 and leave the subject in a position likely to act in the long run in favour of ,materialism rather than in the direction intended4 ,we will take an instance4 ,mrs4 ,eddy lays great stress on the ,oneness of the ,universe4 ,here we shall few of us quarrel with her1 for ,unity is the root-idea of ,thought1 whether scientific or philosophic1 or even that of mere common-sense1 since it is only by ,unity that one thing can be seen in relation to another4 ,the ,unity is1 however1 difficult of apprehension1 since it is essentially an idea--although none the less real for that--being1 from the physical point of view1 never seen or apprehended as a material thing4 ,therefore it is non-material1 something spiritual or mental to be realised by insight other than that of the senses4 ,mrs4 ,eddy has this insight1 and has it very strongly4 ,idealism1 however1 is no sooner arrived at than it presents us with a very hard knot to untie1 and it is here that we shall see how far ,mrs4 ,eddy can give us any adequate metaphysical solution4 ,she realises1 like much greater thinkers1 how hard it is to understand how our material world can be contained in a spiritual idea1 and that ,matter and ,mind are of difficult reconciliation1 although1 if we grant they both exist1 they are so obviously related that they must be reconcilable within a ,unity somehow4 ,this reconciliation has cost much thought for thousands of years on the part of the deepest thinkers1 but the easy way of solving the difficulty in the case of shallow thinkers is to do it by throwing one or other of the members in this pair of opposites away1 to deny it existence1 and so to attain a cheap conception of unity by pronouncing either matter or mind to be a mere illusion4 ,the ,materialist tries cancelling ,mind4 ,mrs4 ,eddy throws out ,matter and with it our entire physical world1 not only the objects in it1 but all mental conceptions in regard to it1 such as the ,laws of ,nature1 and all possible theories as to its being a manifestation of ,mind4 ,all our conceptions of its laws are errors conceived by the intellect1 she teaches1#aae which is itself non-existent4 ,in fact1 the world only is because we falsely think it is4 ,we have only to unthink it1 and it will disappear4 ,spirit is ,one1 and therefore the many objects of the world cannot be included in it2 and only ,spirit is real1 therefore the material world cannot be real4 ,such is her argument1 and she cannot allow that ,matter may be a manifestation of ,mind or created by ,mind1 or have any relation with it of whatever sort4 #8,spirit and ,matter no more commingle1' she says1 #8than light or darkness1' and she asserts that #8,science reveals nothing in ,spirit out of which to create ,matter4' #aae ,for proofs of my assertions regarding the teachings of ,science and ,health1 ,i must refer the reader to my book ,the ,truth and ,error of ,christian ,science4 ,we have here attained1 if we have attained it1 ,oneness at the expense of the ,many4 ,it is ,one simply by means of containing nothing1 and1 in place of the inspiring conception of the true thinker of the ,unity as ,one because it includes the ,many harmoniously related within itself--a ,unity of infinite richness and fecundity--we have a dead1 empty ,one1 misnamed ,unity because there is nothing to unite4 ,the worship of such a ,oneness1 it has well been said1 would be the worship of the ,none4 ,such an ,one would be all-exclusive instead of all-inclusive1 and be gained by the annihilation of everything1 instead of by the inclusion of all within ,itself as the vital expression of ,itself4 ,in yet another way ,mrs4 ,eddy's statements concerning ,unity contradict themselves4 ,we have seen that in her conception of ,unity the whole world1 as we know it1 has to be evaporated1 as it were1 into nothingness1 and it has been roundly denied that ,spirit had anything to do with its creation4 ,yet the world has to be accounted for1 and in the sequel we find that1 according to #8,science and ,health1' it has been created--but by whom or what8 ,it has been created by the mind of ,man1 by his thinking power1 but not1 as we shall find if we read the book carefully1 by that part of man's mind that is real1 but by that part of it which is constantly asserted to be unreal1 to be1 in fact1 as much nothing as the world itself is nothing4 ,this part of ,man1 which is over and over again affirmed to be nothing1 is the ,mortal ,mind1 and is endowed with the most tremendous creative powers2 for by its thought1 its false thought1 which is again nothing1 it has created for itself a world of objects1 and objects connected with each other1 not in a state of chaos1 as one would expect in a world created by false thought1 but objects connected with each other in a marvellously ordered sequence1 obeying exact laws with the utmost obedience--laws so elaborate and complex in their results that it has taken ,man ages to understand them even a little 7although in ,mrs4 ,eddy's view his own creation71 and yet1 in their ordered complexity1 so simple that they are reducible to a few heads4 ,such is the wonderful world created by the ,mortal ,mind1 and with which ,god1 as ,all-in-,all1 has nothing to do6 ,thus we have two ,creators1 two unrelated worlds1 and we are landed in a ,duality which is absolutely opposed to1 and inconsistent with1 the ,oneness on which ,mrs4 ,eddy lays so much emphasis1 and which consequently disappears4 ,all the rest of ,mrs4 ,eddy's so-called metaphysical ideas1 her teaching on ,reality1 on the nature of ,man1 on what constitutes truth and what error1 and so on1 are equally contradictory1 and we are driven to the conclusion that such a hopeless confusion of contradictions is scarcely worthy of the name of ,metaphysics or of serious discussion4 ,we welcome1 as we have said1 so emphatic an announcement of ,idealism1 and of the truth of the supremacy of ,spirit1 but must deeply regret that the ,idealism is of so poor and thin a character1 and the idea of ,spirit and of the ,eternal ,unity so deplorably impoverished4 ,for1 indeed1 thus presented1 they could not long hold their own1 and would soon give place again to the darkness of ,materialism4 ,however1 rather than criticise1 let us welcome the recall to ,idealism1 to the recognition of ,spirit as the supreme reality in which all physical laws find their truth1 and1 by a careful study and meditation upon the length and breadth and depth of these great ideas1 as set forth in ,christianity and all that led up to it1 endeavour to do our little part towards a better understanding of these things1 and thus in practice we shall indeed find that many a seeming solid barrier can be overleapt1 the crooked made straight and rough places plain4 ,,printed ,,by ,,spottiswoode ,,and ,,co4 ,,ltd41 ,,colchester ,,london ,,and ,,eton ,,religion ,,and ,,medicine4 ,by ,,samuel ,,mccomb1 ,m4,a4 7,oxon471 ,d4,d4 7,glasgow71 ,,elwood ,,worcester1 ,d4,d41 ,ph4,d41 and ,,isidor ,h4 ,,coriat1 ,m4,d4 ,with a ,preface by ,,somerset ,e4 ,,pennefather1 ,m4,a41 ,d4,d41 ,vicar of ,kensington and ,prebendary of ,st4 ,paul's4 ,crown #hvo4 #fs4 net4 ,this book sets forth in clear and non-technical language the principles1 and the methods by which these principles have been applied1 that underlie the notable experiment in practical ,christianity known as the ,emmanuel ,movement4 ,the fundamental conception of the work is that a great number of disorders1 half nervous and half moral1 which are widely prevalent in ,american and ,english society1 can be alleviated and cured by means which are psychological and religious4 ,the book illustrates how an alliance between the highest neurological science of our time and the ,christian religion in its primitive and simplest form1 as modern ,biblical scholarship has disclosed it1 may become a powerful weapon with which to attack the causes that lie behind the neurotic and hysterical temperament that characterises the life of to-day4 ,the work is written by two scholars trained in scientific theology1 and a physician of high reputation as an expert in psychological medicine4 ,the ,church ,times says3--#8,dr4 ,mc,comb's lecture1 reported in our columns last week1 has been speedily followed by the appearance of a book1 in which he and two of his colleagues give a complete account of the work of healing undertaken at ,emmanuel ,church1 ,boston4 ,this seems to justify our suggestion that the limitations accepted were designed mainly with a view to the friendly co-operation of the medical profession4 ,another reason for limitation is neatly expressed3-- #88,in the treatment of functional nervous disorders1 we make free use of moral and psychical agencies1 but we do not believe in overtaxing these valuable aids by expecting the mind to attain results which can be effected more easily through physical instrumentalities40 #8,there speaks sanctified common sense1 in exact agreement with the dictum of ,st4 ,thomas ,aquinas that miracles are not to be multiplied praeter necessitatem4 ,there is also a recognition of what is presumably true1 that miraculous healing--for we prefer the old-fashioned term--is not an easy way of escape from doctors' bills1 but a process far more difficult1 and involving far more expenditure of mind and will1 than the use of drugs or splints4 ,when this is understood1 some prejudices will disappear4 ,meanwhile1 the three doctors--one of medicine and two of divinity--should have a respectful hearing for their record of work done4' ,,the ,,healing ,,ministry ,,of ,,the ,,church4 ,by ,rev4 ,,samuel ,,mccomb1 ,d4,d4 ,crown #hvo4 #cb pp4 sewed1 #f;d4 net4 ,this little book is published under the direction of the ,emmanuel ,committee for ,great ,britain1 and deals with the method and working of the ,emmanuel ,clinic when brought into contact with persons suffering from maladies which appear to be primarily mental1 moral and spiritual1 and only secondarily physical1 but which1 nevertheless1 defy the utmost efforts to console or to relieve4 ,,psychic ,,healing3 ,an ,account of the ,work of the ,church and ,medical ,union4 ,crown #hvo4 sewed1 #f;d4 net4 ,no one will deny that psychic healing is a question of paramount interest at the present time4 ,it is an everyday topic of conversation in the market place1 the workshop1 and in the schools4 ,as a leader writer in one of the chief medical papers pointed out the other day1 #8spiritual or mental healing is going on all around us4' ,that psychic medicine is daily becoming of more value to the community most people probably realise1 but1 if not properly controlled1 it may lead to evils against which the public are entitled to be safeguarded4 ,this feeling prompted a small number of laymen to form themselves into a ,committee1 and this ,committee formed the nucleus of the ,society now known as the ,church and ,medical ,union4 ,,legends ,,of ,,our ,,lord ,,the ,,holy ,,family4 ,by ,mrs4 ,,arthur ,,bell4 ,with #cb ,illustrations4 ,crown #hvo4 price #fs4 net4 ,the present volume from the pen of the well-known author of #8,the ,saints in ,christian ,art' is an attempt to weave into a consecutive narrative the more important of the many legends that have in the course of centuries gathered about the ,gospel story1 and reflect the natural yearning of believers in ,christ to learn all that is possible concerning their ,,lord from those most closely associated with ,his life on earth4 ,founded on a great variety of sources1 including the ,apocryphal ,new ,testament1 the various ,,ms4 fragments of ,gospels and ,sayings of ,christ that have from time to time been discovered1 with the publications inspired by them1 the book will1 it is hoped1 appeal alike to the serious student who delights in tracing tradition to its fountain-head and to the wider public able to recognise1 without desire to analyse1 the spiritual significance and poetic beauty of many of the quaint tales recited in it4 ,,archbishop ,,trench',s ,,works4 ,,copyright ,,edition4 ,,sonnets ,,and ,,elegiacs4 ,with ,portrait4 ,small pott #hvo4 cloth1 #as4 #f;d4 net2 lambskin1 #bs4 net4 7,dryden ,library47 ,archbishop ,trench's poems have been well known and well loved for nearly half a century1 and this little volume--which includes his principal shorter poems--should still further increase their popularity and make an acceptable gift-book4 ,,the ,,study ,,of ,,words4 ,twenty-seventh ,edition4 ,revised and ,enlarged4 ,by ,a4 ,l4 ,,mayhew4 #as4 #f;d4 net4 ,,english ,,past ,,and ,,present4 ,fifteenth ,edition4 ,fcap4 #hvo4 #as4 #f;d4 net4 ,,proverbs ,,and ,,their ,,lessons4 ,eleventh ,edition4 ,enlarged4 ,fcap4 #hvo4 #as4 #f;d4 net4 ,,notes ,,on ,,the ,,parables ,,of ,,our ,,lord4 ,new and ,cheaper ,edition4 ,crown #hvo4 #bs4 net4 ,,notes ,,on ,,the ,,miracles ,,of ,,our ,,lord4 ,new and ,cheaper ,edition4 ,crown #hvo4 #bs4 net4 ,,the ,,resurrection ,,narratives ,,and ,,modern ,,criticism4 ,by ,,thomas ,,james ,,thorburn1 ,b4,d41 ,,ll4,d4 ,demy #hvo4 #fs4 net4 ,in this work1 which is mainly a critique of ,professor ,schmeidel's theory that the recorded appearances of ,jesus after ,his ,crucifixion and ,death were merely subjective hallucinations on the part of the disciples and others1 the writer endeavours to show that such a view is untenable from a psychological point of view1 as well as inconsistent with the general tenor of the ,narratives themselves4 ,in the ,appendices he gives in addition the ,extra-,canonical ,versions of the ,resurrection1 together with a critical abstract of all the various theories which up to the present time have been proposed to explain that event1 including the most recent form of the original mythical theory of ,strauss4 ,the author hopes1 and believes1 that the work will be of especial use1 not only to parish clergy and ministers1 but also to intelligent laymen of all classes who wish to inform themselves regarding the developments of theological thought1 and to be able to form some idea of the value to be attached to modern critical theories dealing with the ,resurrection of ,jesus4 ,,the ,,disciples4 ,by ,mrs4 ,,hamilton ,,king4 ,thirteenth ,edition4 ,elzevir #hvo4 cloth1 #fs4 ,small crown #hvo4 cloth1 #es4 ,dryden ,library ,edition4 ,pott #hvo4 cloth1 #as4 #f;d4 net4 leather1 #bs4 net4 velvet calf1 #cs4 net4 ,,the ,,sermon ,,in ,,the ,,hospital 7from #8,the ,disciples'74 ,fcap4 #hvo4 ,leather1 #bs4 net4 ,cloth1 #as4 ,miniature ,edition1 leather1 #as4 net4 ,cheap ,edition1 sewed1 #c;d4 ,,within ,,hospital ,,walls4 ,by ,lady ,,lindsay4 ,miniature ,edition1 leather1 #as4 net4 ,,kempis1 ,,thomas 4 ,the ,imitation of ,christ4 ,revised ,translation4 ,elzevir #hvo4 7,parchment ,library71 vellum1 #gs4 #f;d42 parchment or cloth1 #fs4 ,red ,line ,edition1 fcap4 #hvo4 #bs4 #f;d4 ,cabinet ,edition1 sm4 #hvo4 #as4 #f;d42 cloth limp1 #as4 ,miniature ,edition1 #cbmo41 with red lines1 #as4 #f;d42 without red lines1 #as4 ,fancy ,border ,edition1 #as4 #f;d4 net4 ,de ,imitatione ,christi4 ,latin ,text1 ,rhythmically ,arranged1 with ,translation on ,opposite ,pages4 ,crown #hvo4 #gs4 #f;d4 ,of the ,imitation of ,christ4 ,in four ,books4 ,edition de ,luxe ,fcap4 #dto4 ,with fifteenth-century initial letters1 printed in red and black on ,aldwych hand-made paper4 ,edition limited to #ejj copies for ,england and ,america4 ,bound in velvet roan and limp vellum4 ,price #a4 #as4 net4 ,,complete ,,works4 ,vol4 #a4 ,prayers and ,meditations on the ,life of ,christ4 ,a new and ,complete ,translation from the original ,latin4 ,by ,w4 ,,duthoit1 ,d4,c4,l4 ,fcap4 #hvo4 ,with ,portrait4 #es4 net in buckram2 #ajs4 #f;d4 net in limp pigskin4 ,vol4 #b4 ,lives of the ,followers of the ,new ,devotion3 being the lives of ,gerard ,groote1 ,florentius ,radewin1 and their followers4 ,translated into ,english by ,j4 ,p4 ,,arthur4 ,the ,translation revised by the ,prior of ,downside4 ,with ,photogravure ,frontispiece4 ,fcap4 #hvo4 #es4 net4 ,vol4 #c4 ,the ,chronicles of the ,canons ,regular of ,mount ,st4 ,agnes4 ,translated into ,english by ,j4 ,p4 ,,arthur4 ,crown #hvo4 cloth1 #es4 net4 ,vol4 #d4 ,a ,meditation on the ,incarnation of ,christ4 ,sermons on the ,life and ,passion of our ,lord2 of ,hearing and ,speaking ,good ,words4 ,translated by ,dom ,,vincent ,,scully1 ,c4,r4,l4 ,fcap4 #hvo4 #es4 net4 ,vol4 #e4 ,sermons to the ,novices ,regular4 ,authorised ,translation from the text of the edition of ,,michael ,,joseph ,,pohl1 ,ph4,d41 by ,dom ,,vincent ,,scully1 ,c4,r4,l4 ,fcap4 #hvo4 #es4 net4 ,vol4 #f4 ,the ,imitation of ,christ4 ,fcap4 #hvo4 #es4 net4 ,,kegan ,,paul1 ,,trench1 ,,tr,,bner ,,co41 ,,ltd41 ,london4