The Derren Brown film on healing is still causing me to ask some questions. Here’s one for today: should all miraculous healings be verified by doctors and then regularly checked for permanency? Doing this would cover two aspects of concern, namely that the person either wasn’t that ill or disabled to begin with and that the healing was the result of hype in the meeting or street encounter.

Brown asserted that some healings of return of sight, for example, were because the person was only partially sighted and not actually blind. Or that those believing that their hearing had returned were not 100% deaf to begin with. He also said that in a much-hyped meeting or in a random street encounter adrenaline – acting as a pain reliever – could actually account for the ‘healing’ but that once the adrenaline subsided (apologies if I’m using non-scientific language) the aches and pains would return.

A way of dealing with these serious objections, as I say, is to have the healings verified by a professional. Any doubt would immediately be removed. I think this is an issue that needs consideration because we do live in a highly scientific age where belief in anything is underpinned by evidence.

One objection to this – apart from the time and expense issue of practically doing it – is that those healed go on to live out their healed lives in their families, communities and workplaces. All those who come into contact with them will know day in day out that the healing claimed is valid and true. And maybe these are the people that really count in such circumstances; they are the ones witnessing the signs and wonders. But in this internet age when reports of healing are regularly seen by all, is such localism in signs and wonders enough?

Let me finish this post by saying I believe that God is a healer; that I have experienced deep emotional healing in my own life and that I believe that this has had a physical effect (lowering of high blood pressure) in my body.

Any thoughts?

The link to my original post on Derren Brown can be seen here.

Share