Faith-healing, especially today, is difficult to differentiate from witchcraft, which in its healing
aspects is involved with expelling evil spirits from the body. The modern witch doctor in Africa still
applies primitive show biz when he "pulls the thorn" by applying his mouth to a wound or the ailing
portion of the body, producing by sleight of hand a thorn, stone, or sliver that is said to be either the
actual cause of pain or a material representation of a demon or devil.

Anthropologists have spent much time examining these methods, and as we shall see, one of them
has compared these primitive methods to those used by today's more civilized practitioners. There
may be a lot of information in these practices that can benefit medical science; much of today's
medical knowledge came trom similar sources.

In spite of this close resemblance of faith-healing to witchcraft, thousands of doctors and nurses in
the United States have revitalized the International Order of St. Luke the Physician, an Episcopal
group stressing a spiritual approach to the practice of medicine, thus identifying with if not actually
joining the witches.

This order experienced dramatic new life as a result of evangelist Oral Roberts's
success in the 1950s. At that time, a Presbyterian minister, John Pitts, commented:
"Today, interest in extramedical methods of healing men's minds and bodies is widespread and
deep-seated, and the phenomena of Faith-healing can no longer be dismissed with a shrug of the
shoulders, a snap judgment, and a clever phrase, either by the church or by the medical profession"

Could faith-healing be a placebo? Do you think diseases are caused by "supernatural" forces and can be cured by the said "supernatural" forces?

Good morning.