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diff --git a/old/65916-0.txt b/old/65916-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 84afb53..0000000 --- a/old/65916-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6720 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Medicine and the Church, by Geoffrey -Rhodes - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Medicine and the Church - -Editor: Geoffrey Rhodes - -Release Date: July 26, 2021 [eBook #65916] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Thiers Halliwell, Tim Lindell and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was - produced from images generously made available by The - Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEDICINE AND THE CHURCH *** - - -Transcriber’s notes: - -The text of this e-book has been preserved in its original form apart -from silent correction of a few minor punctuation flaws (missing commas -and full stops). There are occasional spelling inconsistencies as a -consequence of its multiple authorship. One missing footnote marker has -been inserted at what seemed an appropriate position. Footnotes have -been numbered and relocated below the relevant paragraphs. - - - - -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 ALLBUTT, K.C.B., F.R.S. - A. W. ROBINSON, D.D. - CHARLES BUTTAR, M.D. - STEPHEN PAGET, F.R.C.S. - BISHOP OF BLOEMFONTEIN. - HON. SYDNEY HOLLAND. - PREBENDARY FAUSSET, M.A. - JANE WALKER, M.D. - T. B. HYSLOP, M.D. - ELLIS ROBERTS. - M. CARTA STURGE. - H. G. G. MACKENZIE, M.A., M.B. - - - EDITED, WITH AN INTRODUCTION, BY - GEOFFREY RHODES - - - WITH A FOREWORD BY THE - LORD BISHOP OF WINCHESTER - - - LONDON - KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRÜBNER & CO., LTD., - DRYDEN HOUSE, GERRARD STREET, W. - 1910 - - - - -FOREWORD - -BY - -THE LORD BISHOP OF WINCHESTER - - - FARNHAM CASTLE, SURREY: - _July 4, 1910_. - - Dear Mr. Geoffrey Rhodes, - -The appearance of your volume is very welcome. There is, I believe, -a real need for such a work. You are to be congratulated on the -results of the energy and patience which you have bestowed upon its -preparation. 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 together. - -You are enabling the whole reading world to judge for itself, how the -subject of ‘Spiritual,’ ‘Mental,’ or ‘Faith’ healing, which during -the past ten years has forced itself upon public notice, is being -regarded by able, thoughtful, and impartial minds. There is no -doubt that scientific medical men are not going to pay attention to -evidence of an unscientific character. They will not waste their time -over it. Nevertheless, to phenomena duly attested, and to evidence -scientifically recorded, they will give the most scrupulous attention. -It is the detailed and accurate collection and classification of facts -by those who are trained for the task and expert in its process, that -must precede generalisations upon this new, or shall we call it, -revived, branch of therapeutics. - -Prejudice against it will be found to exist both in ecclesiastic and -in scientific circles. Your book will help to dissipate prejudice by -the spread of better-informed opinion. The time, indeed, is opportune. -The _British Medical Journal_ of June 18, 1910, has published a series -of papers by men ‘who could speak with the highest authority on the -relations between mind and body, as exhibited in the phenomena of -disease.’ ‘Their opinion,’ as the _Journal_ tells us, ‘serves as an -authoritative reminder that there are bodily ills which cannot be -cured by pills and potions, but which yield to methods which, for -want of a better word, may be called “mental”; that cures which, in -a former day, would have been denied by unbelievers and accepted as -miracles by the faithful, really happen, and that they can be explained -without invoking supernatural intervention.’ On the other hand, 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 ministry, than by the knowledge and skill -of trained and certificated doctors and surgeons. To quote our report -in the Lambeth Conference of 1908, ‘Medical science is the handmaid of -God and His Church’ (N.B. not of His clergy, but of that Body of Christ -in which all true callings unite in serving), ‘and should be fully -recognised as the ordinary means appointed by Almighty God for the care -and healing of the human body.’ - -The temper of our age favours an inquiry conducted in a spirit which -will neither disregard the requirements of science, nor rule miracles -out of court as impossible. We need not be anxious as to the results. -It looks, indeed, as if science were only just now awaking to the -realisation of its possibilities through psychical treatment; and as -if the Church had never yet realised to the full its responsibility -and its power in ministration to sickness, and its influence over the -reason and the imagination. - -‘Suspect everything,’ says St. Teresa, as quoted by Sir Clifford -Allbutt, ‘which weakens the use of our reason; for by such a way, we -shall never attain to the liberty of the Spirit.’ ‘Prayer,’ says the -_British Medical Journal_, in the article quoted above, ‘inspired by -a living faith, is a force acting within the patient, which places -him in the most favourable condition for the stirring of the pool of -hope that lies, still and hidden it may be, in the depths of human -nature.’ Truly, it is a tribute to the intellectual temper of our day -that two such quotations, the one from a medieval saint, the other from -a leading article in our modern medical journal, can appropriately -be adduced in illustration of the spirit in which you have edited -your volume. I trust it will have many readers. That it may promote -the wise and temperate study of spiritual and mental, as well as of -physical, forces and disorders, is my earnest hope and desire. 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 -knowledge, and ignore the facts of mortality in suffering, disease, -and death, is an expectation which I pray may be fulfilled. - -Wishing, therefore, your volume all success, - - I am, dear Mr. Geoffrey Rhodes, - Yours very sincerely, - Herbert E. Winton. - - - - -EDITOR’S PREFACE - - -I have to acknowledge my indebtedness to a host of kind people for help -in compiling this book. First of all to the many clergymen and doctors -who assisted me in finding suitable contributors for the different -chapters, and then no less to the contributors themselves who, in spite -of the exigencies of professional duties, managed not only to write -for these pages but to take part in many editorial discussions often -entailing lengthy interviews and correspondence. - -The Bishop of Winchester’s work in connexion with this book has not -been confined to the Foreword which appears under his name. I have had -the benefit of his Lordship’s advice and help throughout, and he has -spared the time to read all the essays in manuscript. - -My thanks are also due to Sir Thomas Barlow and Sir Clifford Allbutt -for assistance in reading the proofs of the medical chapters. - -Messrs. Macmillan and the Editors of the _Hibbert Journal_ and the -_British Medical Journal_ have kindly allowed me to make extracts. - - G. R. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - PAGE - - FOREWORD v - By THE LORD BISHOP OF WINCHESTER. - - EDITOR’S PREFACE xi - - INTRODUCTION: - - PART I. 3 - - PART II. 31 - - 1. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MEDICINE AND RELIGION 33 - - By SIR T. CLIFFORD ALLBUTT, K.C.B., M.D., LL.D., F.R.S., - Regius Professor of Physic at the University of Cambridge. - - 2. RELIGION AND MEDICINE IN THE HOSPITAL 43 - By Hon. SYDNEY HOLLAND, Chairman of the London - Hospital. - - 3. THE SURGEON, THE CLERGYMAN, AND THE PATIENT 45 - By F.R.C.S. - - MEDICINE AND RELIGION 51 - By CHARLES BUTTAR, M.D., Sometime President of the - Harveian Society. - - THE PATIENT 69 - By STEPHEN PAGET, F.R.C.S. - - THE RELATION OF PRIEST AND DOCTOR TO PATIENT 81 - By JANE WALKER, M.D., Physician, New Hospital for - Women. - - FAITH AND MENTAL INSTABILITY 103 - By THEO. B. HYSLOP, M.D., Superintendent of Bethlem - Hospital. - - MEDICAL ASPECTS OF MENTAL HEALING 117 - By H. G. G. MACKENZIE, M.A., M.B. - - OUR LORD’S ATTITUDE TOWARDS SICKNESS 175 - By W. YORKE FAUSSET, M.A., Vicar of Cheddar and - Prebendary of Wells. - - THE PRINCIPLES OF MODERN CHRISTIAN HEALING 205 - By W. YORKE FAUSSET, M.A., Vicar of Cheddar and - Prebendary of Wells. - - THE CHURCH AND MENTAL HEALING 227 - By ELLIS ROBERTS. - - THE EUCHARIST AND BODILY WELL-BEING 245 - By ARTHUR W. ROBINSON, D.D., Vicar of All Hallows - Barking, Examining Chaplain to the Bishop of - London, and Rural Dean of the East City of London. - - PRAYER AND MENTAL HEALING 269 - By ARTHUR CHANDLER, D.D., Bishop of Bloemfontein. - - THE METAPHYSICS OF CHRISTIAN SCIENCE 289 - By M. CARTA STURGE. - - - - -INTRODUCTION - -PART I - - - - -MEDICINE AND THE CHURCH - - - - -INTRODUCTION - -I - - -In the Middle Ages practically the only homes of learning were the -monasteries. Here all the knowledge of the time was taught and all -the studies carried on, so that under the same roof the theologian, -the chemist, the artist, and the artificer sat side by side, and -consequently each drew from and modified the study and practice of -the other. In England, at least, the dissolution of the monasteries -changed this order, and though the brilliancy of the Renaissance for a -time obscured the loss to society in general, in the backwater of the -eighteenth century both religion and medicine drifted into distinct -circumscribed professions. The dawn of the nineteenth century saw an -enormous revival of interest and study in both directions, but the -newfound energy with which the two spheres of learning were pushed -forward, proved in the end inimical to the highest interests of the -community, for religion and medicine found themselves carried farther -and farther apart. - -Before the stress of life became as severe as it is to-day, most common -complaints could be overcome by rest and ordinary treatment. But under -modern conditions of extreme complexity healing can no longer be -conducted on such simple lines, and as time has gone on the effects of -this divorce of medicine and religion have made themselves felt. - -In correspondence with a more highly organised state of society, man -has become a more highly organised being. He has developed faculties -in excess of the man of, say, fifty years ago, and the exercise of -these faculties, that depend for their operation on the nervous -system, entails a strain on that system to which it was not exposed -half a century back. The more elaborate the machinery the more ways in -which it may get out of order. Man to-day is prone to a dozen nervous -complaints whose existence our forefathers were happily able to ignore. -Owing to climatic and other conditions that need not be discussed here, -these nervous disorders first forced themselves on public attention in -the United States of America. The overworked business or professional -man has no time in the rushing life of the great growing cities of -America for rest. Carried off his feet by the tide of prosperity, he -becomes the slave of his inventions instead of being their master. -His sense of proportion becomes atrophied and he fails to maintain a -correct balance between thought and action. A purely materialistic -medicine that ignores thoughts and feelings as being outside the scope -of diagnosis is powerless to prescribe for such a case. 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 relief. These systems of philosophy or religion (if such -they can be called) lack, however, that element of completeness without -which no guide of human conduct can maintain its hold. And as it -becomes realised that these irresponsible and often mercenary societies -are propagating views diametrically opposed to the common-sense -conceptions of the patients, their power will be broken and the cures -cease. Meantime Christian Science undoubtedly does overcome some cases -of nervous trouble, but these in no sense outweigh the mischief done -by its followers in denying the sick medical care. We must clear the -ground before we can commence building, and it may be well to examine -briefly the ‘faith and works’ of Christian Science before proceeding to -discuss the relationship between Medicine and the Church. - -Opening Mrs. Eddy’s handbook at random we come across these two -explanatory statements: - -(1) It is not scientific to examine the body in order to ascertain if -we are in health. - -(2) To employ drugs for the cure of disease shows a lack of faith in -God. - -There is nothing new, of course, in these two statements, nor anything -peculiar to Christian Science in them. They are put forward by the -majority of persons with these views, whether they belong to the -Peculiar People or to Christian Science. - -With Christian Science, as with all these unorthodox and irregular -religious healing societies, it is almost impossible to find any matter -that is sufficiently definite to enable one to form any conclusion of -their objects. They talk glibly about having effected cures of various -kinds of diseases, but on their own showing there is absolutely no -evidence to prove that the individual ever had that disease or any -other form of disease. Mr. Stephen Paget has very kindly allowed me -to make one or two extracts from his invaluable work dealing with -Christian Science. He has, at great pains, collected cases of Christian -Science cures as reported in their own official publications. It is -only necessary to read a few of these to see the absolute hopelessness -of getting at the bottom of them, not merely from a medical standpoint -but from the point of view of common sense. I would ask any person of -average intelligence to read the following five testimonies to healing -that Mr. Stephen Paget extracted from Mrs. Eddy’s weekly journal, -the _Christian Science Sentinel_, and inform me if they convey any -impression whatsoever to his or her mind: - -‘_Mrs. R._--Healed of “sense of fatigue, and throat trouble.” Also, -when knocked down by a bicyclist, she “suffered no pain at all, and had -little sense of shock.”’ - -‘_Mrs. E._--Was healed of the pain of a burn. “The healing went on -rapidly, and in a very short time all manifestation of the trouble -disappeared.”’ - -‘_Mr. W._--Cured of drinking and smoking, and of “stomach and throat -trouble.”’[1] - - [1] A good case of a drunkard converted. The healing of the stomach - and throat troubles, of course, followed the giving-up of the drink. - -‘_Mamie D._--“I seemed to have burned my hand very badly.” Healed.’ - -‘_Mrs. P._--“Many physical ailments have been met and overcome by -Truth.”’ - -And yet if they will refer to Mr. Paget’s book they will find hundreds -of similar instances. In an appendix to the second edition of his work -Mr. Paget quotes the whole of the correspondence in connexion with the -absent treatment of the Hon. A. Holland-Hibbert’s mare, in 1900. This -curious correspondence needs no comment. - -The following is an account _in extenso_ of an alleged cure by -Christian Science taken from an article in the _Twentieth Century -Magazine_, published in Boston, U.S.A., October 1909. - -The contribution in question is from the pen of the editor, Mr. B. O. -Flower. I leave my readers to form their own opinion on this remarkable -testimony. - -‘On the morning of the dedication of the Chicago Church, November 14, -1898, I was in my bedroom in the third story of our house (the house is -three stories and basement). I was getting ready to go to the morning -service, and my little daughter, five years old, was playing about, -when suddenly I felt a silence. I instantly noticed that the child was -no longer there and that the window was open.’ - -‘I looked out and saw her unconscious form on the ground below, her -head on the cement sidewalk. Instantly I thought, “All is Love.” - -‘As I went downstairs the entire paragraph in “No and Yes,” page 19, -beginning, “Eternal harmony, perpetuity, and perfection constitute -the phenomena of Being,” came to me and took up its abode with me, -and with it the clear sense of the great gulf fixed between the child -and the lie that claimed to destroy. The child was brought in, and -as she was carried upstairs she cried. As she was laid down, the -blood was spurting from her mouth, and had already covered her neck -and shoulders. I instantly said, “There is one law--God’s law--under -which man remains perfect,” and the bleeding immediately stopped. The -child seemed to relapse into unconsciousness, but I declared, “Mind -is ever present and controls its idea,” and in a few moments she -slept naturally. During the morning she seemed to suffer greatly if -she was moved at all, and her legs seemed paralysed, lifeless. In the -afternoon, all sense of pain left, she slept quietly, and I went to the -afternoon service rejoicing greatly in my freedom from the sense of -personal responsibility.’ - -‘When I returned she sat in my lap to eat some supper, with no sense -of pain, but still unable to control her limbs, which presented the -appearance of entire inaction. At eight o’clock she was undressed -without inconvenience, and there was no mark on her body but a bruised -eye. During the day she had not spoken of herself. At eleven o’clock -when I went upstairs, I found her wide awake and she said: “Mamma, -error is trying to say that I fell out of the window, but that cannot -be. The child of God can’t fall; but why do I lie here? Why can’t I -move my legs?” - -‘The answer was, “You can move them. Mind governs, and you are always -perfect.” In a moment she said, “I will get up and walk.” It seemed to -require one or two trials to get her legs to obey, but she rose, walked -across the room and back and climbed into bed.... She then sat up, ate -a lunch, fell into a natural slumber, and woke bright and happy in the -morning.’ - -The Archbishop of Canterbury gave a solemn warning in connexion with -this question at a recent conference at Lambeth Palace, and the -following statement from the medical side is important. - -‘Christian Science seems to present one fundamental point of difference -from all other forms of spiritual healing. This is, that whereas the -cures said to be wrought at Lourdes and other shrines are attributed -to the direct action of Christ, exercised at the intercession of His -Virgin Mother or His Saints, Mrs. Eddy and her disciples claim, as far -as we understand the teaching--which is not only obscure in itself, but -often inconsistent--to cure disease by the same power of healing that -was given to Christ. In the sacred book of the sect we read: - -‘Our Master healed the sick, practised Christian healing, and taught -the generalities of its divine Principle to His students; but He -left no definite rule for demonstrating His Principle of healing and -preventing disease. This remained to be discovered through Christian -Science. A pure affection takes form in goodness, but Science alone -reveals its Principle and demonstrates its rules.’[2] - - [2] _Science and Health._ By Mary Baker G. Eddy. Boston. 1908. P. 41. - -She tells us that ‘when God called her to proclaim His Gospel to this -age, there came also the charge to plant and water His vineyard.’ -What she calls her ‘sacred discovery’ was made in 1866, and since -then it has become widespread in America and in this country. It does -not commend itself to the Latin mind, which is nothing if not lucid -and logical. Its methods and results are fully discussed by some -representatives of the most advanced medical thought in the present -issue of the _Journal_, and we have nothing to add to what they say. -To anyone who wishes to see the whole case against Christian Science -put most clearly and convincingly from the medical point of view, we -cordially recommend Mr. Stephen Paget’s book on the subject.[3] It is -attractively written, well ‘documented,’ and informed with the true -scientific spirit. - - [3] _The Faith and Works of Christian Science._ Macmillan and Co. - 1909. The book is now in a second edition. - -We need say only one thing more about Christian Science, which, to -speak plainly, is a repulsive subject, inasmuch as it shows, in a way -no other form of spiritual healing does, the depths of degradation -to which the human mind can sink under the weight of superstition. -That it cures cases of the kind that have been healed at all sorts of -shrines--pagan, Christian, Buddhist, Mohammedan--from time immemorial, -it would be idle to deny. That it brightens the lives of some persons -who have no aim in life, and have nothing to do but evoke pains and -ailments by thinking of their health, is also true. But, none the less, -its pretensions go far behind anything that is credible, except by -such as accept Tertullian’s paradox, _Credo quia impossibile_; and, -instead of courting the light as other methods do, it seems to love -the darkness. We have asked over and over again for facts that would -convince a trained mind, but none are forthcoming. Christian Science -may, indeed, be described as faith with the least possible amount of -works and the largest possible number of words. Here are fair specimens -of the kind of facts which forms all the evidence vouchsafed to us -of its healing efficacy; they are taken from the _Christian Science -Sentinel_ of May 28, 1910, p. 777: - -‘A short time ago I was taken sick with fever. My mother asked for -Christian Science treatment for me, and I was almost instantly cured. -I have been reading “Science and Health, with Key to the Scriptures,” -by Mrs. Eddy, and have been benefited in business and in health ever -since. I am very grateful for Christian Science, and thankful to God, -whence all good comes. - - ‘FRED. WERTH, Dallas, Tex.’ - -‘Some time ago I was attacked by stomach and bowel trouble. A Christian -Science practitioner was called, and my ailment soon left and I was -again able to resume my duties. I am very thankful for the good done me -and others, and praise God for speaking to us through Mrs. Eddy. - - ‘TILLIE WERTH, Dallas, Tex.’ - -There is nothing new in Christian Science except the colossal impudence -of its pretensions. Mark Twain spoke in ignorance when he said: - -‘The Christian Scientist has taken a force which has been lying idle in -every member of the human race since time began.’ - -We have shown that it was not left to Mrs. Eddy to discover this force, -and that, so far from lying idle, it has been active in temples and -churches, at shrines and tombs, for thousands of years. In one thing -Christian Science has probably a unique record of achievement: beyond -any sect or system that we know of it has succeeded in exploiting human -imbecility and turning airy nothing into solid cash.[4] - - [4] _British Medical Journal_, June 18, 1910. - -‘Every false system of philosophy, of ethics, of morals, and of -religion is floated on the vast ocean of conduct, of character, and of -conviction by some element of truth. This corresponds to a water-tight -compartment in a vessel which is in danger of being sunk, through -dishonest contracts, imperfect mechanism, ignorant seamanship, or the -stress and strain of storm. But for this compartment, the ship would -disappear in the gurgling green of the ocean. In the moral Order, and -in all our controversies, there is this unsinkable truth. It keeps -afloat all with which it is for the time united, until the balance is -lost. Then the system is submerged. But the truth sails on.’[5] 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 faith. Christian -Science undoubtedly cures certain kinds of neurotic troubles, just as -it may do incalculable harm by teaching that scientific medicine is -not only useless but mischievous. If its followers confined themselves -to merely enunciating the truth on which the flimsy superstructure is -founded little could be urged against them. As we have seen, however, -by a careful examination of their official records, they contradict the -cardinal doctrines of the Christian Churches, and encourage a disregard -for all bodily complaints that is not merely foolish in the extreme, -but where the sufferings of others are concerned, distinctly brutal, -and in either case often leads to the most disastrous results. - - [5] Dean Lefroy on _Christian Science_. - -This indictment is a serious one. But then the claims of Mrs. Eddy’s -supporters are so portentous that they cannot be lightly dismissed, -and we must not forget that, as the Bishop of Birmingham points out in -a letter printed further on in this volume, both the Church and the -medical profession have played into the hands of Christian Science by -ignoring the facts that Mrs. Eddy has been occupied in distorting. - -However much it may have been possible in the past for the doctor and -the parson in dealing with the less nervous, more easy-going type to -look upon him as composed of two distinct and separate parts, body -and spirit respectively, having no intimate relationship and amenable -to quite different influences, such a view of men and women is to-day -out of the question. To entertain it for a moment is to court failure. -Mind and matter act and react upon one another, and more than this, -without faith all human enterprise would be stultified. Faith plays no -less important a part in medical treatment than it does in the more -commonplace affairs of life. This aspect of the question cannot be -better expressed than it has been recently by Professor Osler.[6] - - [6] - - ‘_From the Regius Professor of Medicine, Oxford._ - - ‘_Nov. 18th, ’09._ - - ‘Dear Sir,-- - - ‘The question as you say bristles with difficulties, but no doubt - in the stirring of the pool healing in some form or another will be - the outcome. You are of course at liberty to use any writings of - mine.--Sincerely yours, - - W. Osler.’ - - -‘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 -crucible. Intangible as the ether, ineluctable as gravitation, the -radium of the moral and mental spheres, mysterious, indefinable, -known only by its effects, faith pours out an unfailing stream of -energy while abating nor jot nor tittle of its potency. Well indeed -did St. Paul break out into the well-known glorious panegyric, but -even this scarcely does justice to the Hertha of the psychical world, -distributing force as from a great storage battery, without money and -without price to the children of men.’ - -Three of its relations concern us here. The most active manifestations -are in the countless affiliations which man in his evolution has worked -out with the unseen, with the invisible powers, whether of light or -of darkness, to which from time immemorial he has erected altars and -shrines. To each one of the religions, past or present, faith has been -the Jacob’s ladder. Creeds pass; an inexhaustible supply of faith -remains, with which man proceeds to rebuild temples, churches, chapels, -and shrines. As Swinburne says in that wonderful poem, _The Altar of -Righteousness_: - - God by God flits past in thunder, till his glories turn to shades: - God to God bears wondering witness how his gospel flames and fades. - More was each of these, while yet they were, than man their servant seemed: - Dead are all of these, and man survives who made them while he dreamed. - -And all this has been done by faith, and faith alone. Christendom lives -on it, and countless thousands are happy in the possession of that most -touching of all confessions, ‘Lord! I believe; help Thou my unbelief.’ -But, with its Greek infection, the Western mind is a poor transmitter -of faith, the apotheosis of which must be sought in the religions of -the East. 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 Smith, the Mormon, are as -earnest and believing as are those of Confucius! - -Again, faith is the cement which binds man to man in every relation -of life. Without faith in the Editor of the _Journal_ I would not -have accepted his invitation to write this brief note, and he had -confidence that I would not write rubbish. Personally I have battened -on it these thirty-six years, ever since the McGill Medical Faculty -gave me my first mount. I have had faith in the profession, the most -unbounded confidence in it as one of the great factors in the progress -of humanity; and one of the special satisfactions of my life has been -that my brethren have in many practical ways shown faith in me, often -much more than (as I know in my heart of hearts) I have deserved. I -take this illustration of the practical value of the faith that worketh -confidence, but there is not a human relationship which could not be -used for the same purpose. - -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 world. -There may be very little on which to base it--no matter, but faith in -one’s powers, in one’s mission, is essential to success. Confidence -once won, the rest follows naturally; and with a strong faith in -himself a man becomes a local centre for its radiation. St. Francis, -St. Theresa, Ignatius Loyola, Florence Nightingale, the originator of -every cult or sect or profession, has possessed this infective faith. -And in the ordinary everyday work of the doctor, confidence, assurance -(in the proper sense of the word) is an asset without which it is -very difficult to succeed. How often does one hear the remark, ‘Oh! -he does not inspire confidence,’ or the reverse! How true it is, as -wise old Burton says: ‘That the patient must have a sure hope in his -physician. Damascen, the Arabian, requires likewise in the physician -himself that he be confident he can cure him, otherwise his physic will -not be effectual, and promise withal that he will certainly help him, -make him believe so at least. Galeottus gives this reason because -the form of health is contained in the physician’s mind, and as Galen -holds confidence and hope to be more good than physic, he cures most in -whom most are confident’; and he quotes Paracelsus to the effect that -Hippocrates was so fortunate in his cures not from any extraordinary -skill, but because ‘the common people had a most strong conceit of his -worth.’ - -Faith is indeed one of the miracles of human nature which science is -as ready to accept as it is to study its marvellous effects. When we -realise what a vast asset it has been in history, the part which it -has played in the healing art seems insignificant, and yet there is no -department of knowledge more favourable to an impartial study of its -effects; and this brings me to my subject--the faith that heals. - -Apart from the more specific methods to be dealt with faith has always -been an essential factor in the practice of medicine, as illustrated by -the quotations just given from Burton. Literature is full of examples -of remarkable cures through the influence of the imagination, which -is only an active phase of faith. The late Daniel Hack Tuke’s book, -‘The Influence of the Mind on the Body,’ is a storehouse of facts -dealing with the subject. ‘While in general use for centuries, 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 cases. My experience has been that -of the unconscious rather than the deliberate faith healer. Phenomenal, -even what could be called miraculous, cures are not very uncommon. Like -others, I have had cases any one of which, under suitable conditions, -could have been worthy of a shrine or made the germ of a pilgrimage. -For more than ten years a girl lay paralysed in a New Jersey town. A -devoted mother and loving sisters had worn out lives in her service. -She had never been out of bed unless when lifted by one of her -physicians, Dr. Longstreth and Dr. Shippen. The new surroundings of a -hospital, the positive assurance that she could get well with a few -simple measures sufficed, and within a fortnight she walked round -the hospital square. 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 saint. Who could -deny the miracle? And miracle it was, but not brought about by any -supernatural means.’[7] - - [7] _British Medical Journal_, June 18, 1910. - -If, then, faith is so important an adjuvant to ordinary medical -treatment, we see at once that religion that stands for faith -in its highest and purest form should represent a tremendous -recuperative force. We have said that medicine and religion had become -estranged--the one given over to a rigid materialism, and the other so -busy with men’s souls that it forgot their bodies altogether. This book -is a humble attempt to bridge over the gulf. There is a great movement -that has its roots in history that is already written and that will go -on into the far distant future, around about us. It is a movement that -stands for Idealism and Optimism. It is the harmonising of all kinds -of human experience into one great philosophy. Scientific medicine is -coming to reconsider its position and to realise its responsibilities. -This synchronises with a broadening of the basis of Christian teaching. -Without abandoning any of the cardinal tenets of their faith, the -churches are coming to see that Christianity is a much more wonderful -truth than they had ever dreamed; and, instead of there being any -conflict between Christianity and science, science, like all work for -the good of humanity, must be an integral part of the Church’s service -to mankind. - -Medicine and religion had a common origin in pagan temples, and we -have already seen that in medieval times all such learning was the -monopoly of the monks. Healing by means of influence on the mind of -the patient is no newer a branch of the art than surgery or treatment -by drugs. History abounds with instances of cures effected at shrines -by means of relics, and by saints. Of all modern pilgrimage shrines -the one in the Pyrenees is by far the most famous. That cures actually -take place at the Grotto of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception at -Lourdes is undeniable. The cases have been medically diagnosed and the -certificates may be examined in the Record Office at Lourdes where -such documents are preserved. Whether such cures differ in character -from other cures by what is termed suggestion is an open question. 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 Mr. Butlin, the President of the Royal College of Surgeons, who -recently said: - -‘When such cures take place in the presence of vast masses of people, -although it may be possible to explain all the steps through which -the emotion has produced the “cure,” 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 wrought? - -‘I defy anyone to read Zola’s story of the cure of Marie le Guersaint, -written by a sceptic (Zola’s “Lourdes”), without being moved by it and -without feeling convinced that all true Catholics who were present, -priests and people, with the unhappy exception of the Abbé Pierre -Froment, 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 years. In the eyes of -all who witnessed it, it was a miracle, for every medical man who had -seen her had, with one exception, believed her to be suffering from -a damaged spinal cord. There is therefore no excuse, in such a case -as this or in ninety-nine out of one hundred cases which are cured by -faith, to impute dishonesty and deliberate deception to the priests -and the people who proclaim such cures to be the work of God. From the -little I have seen of the priests actively engaged in the grotto at -Lourdes, I can feel no doubt that the most of them honestly believe -that the cures which they have seen are genuine. I would no more think -of accusing them of deliberate deception than I would accuse my own -relative of it.’[8] - - [8] _British Medical Journal_, June 18, 1910. - -We have spoken of a great movement, that tends to bring into closer -co-operation all human effort and to consecrate it to one ideal--the -service of mankind. - -We are here more particularly concerned with a smaller movement -that exists within the greater. It has made itself felt at Church -Conferences and at Medical Councils. It is a movement to bring the -medical profession and the Church into a closer practical connexion to -fight disease. That such an intimate co-operation is not only desirable -but possible, the thoughtful chapters contributed to this book by -eminent authorities go to show. As regards the general principle -underlying this joint work for the sick, 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 words: - -‘Religion and medical science should always co-operate, while the -ultimate responsibility must lie with the accredited physician.’ - -When the scheme for the present volume was drawn up over a year ago, -it was felt that some authoritative statement was needed to guide the -public in thinking out the topical questions of Spiritual Faith or -Mental Healing. There has, in recent years, been an endless series of -books issued from the European and American presses on this subject. -Some of these publications being obviously the hand-books of societies -whose name spelt their own condemnation, thinking people passed them -by, but, on the other hand, 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 profession, or of both. 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 public, -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 facts. If one may be allowed -to indicate in a general way the position taken up by the doctors who -have written for the following pages, it is one of scepticism towards -quasi-miraculous healing as a practical means of combating disease, 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 mind. Of all the weighty evidence that has been gathered -together to build up this book, the opinion of Sir Clifford Allbutt -forms no unimportant section. Few of us can escape sickness altogether, -and although some illnesses may be blessings in disguise, nevertheless -our desire for health is only second to our desire for life, and it -is right that it should be so. ‘The highest spiritual life depends on -the best bodily health,’ Sir Clifford Allbutt tells us. The Bishops at -Lambeth admitted with regret that ‘sickness has too often exclusively -been regarded as a cross to be borne with passive resignation, whereas -it should have been regarded rather as a weakness to be overcome by the -power of the spirit.’ That there exist potentialities of healing apart -from physic to-day no one can refute, but it is to be feared the Church -and the medical profession have much lost ground to recover, through -having in the past ignored those psychic forces that are now the object -both of scientific inquiry and of theological study. The marvellous -chemical discoveries of the past few years have revolutionised -scientific conceptions. New theories of matter and of energy are -being framed to explain the result of new researches. The wonders of -radio-activity have converted the scientist from a materialist who -believed in nothing unrevealed by test-tube or microscope, into an -idealist prepared to argue from the unseen to the seen. 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 us, there are undoubtedly psychic forces in man that are capable -of development, but of whose exact nature we at present are ignorant, -although we can trace their effects.[9] - - [9] 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 ‘energies’ - for ‘atoms.’ As Dr. Putman has pointed out, the modern physicist - scarcely feels the need of atoms for the world of his conception. We - may even go a step further. ‘Energy’ is ‘immaterial,’ ‘consciousness’ - is ‘immaterial.’ May they not accordingly have a common denominator? - -‘In the case of vital truth ... it may be necessary for a writer to -say some hard things,’ but criticism, prompted by no petty spirit, -but by a noble desire to bring out the best, will never be resented -by right-minded people. Two great and noble professions are about to -make a combined attack on sickness and suffering. They have too great a -sense of their responsibility to enter upon such a campaign lightly. -Much counsel is needed before the allies can give battle. - -The respective spheres of action of the cleric and the doctor have to -be mapped out; so that all the efforts of the one may support and never -hamper the other. - -It will be seen that the medical contributors, not unreasonably, -seriously deprecate any attempt on the part of the minister of religion -to invade the province of medicine. Such intrusion is none the less -dangerous because it may be unintentional. All ‘treatment,’ whether it -be by means of drugs, surgery, or hypnotic suggestion, must necessarily -be a matter for the doctor and those working under his immediate -direction: and for them only. In so far as he may be concerned with -physical disabilities the priest must inevitably defer to the physician. - -At the same time the value of spiritual ministrations in sickness is -emphasised on every page of this book. - -‘Probably no limb, no viscus is so far a vessel of dishonour as to lie -wholly outside the renewals of the spirit,’ says Sir Clifford Allbutt. -But we may go further than this in certain directions. Remembering -that the health of mind and body are mutually dependent, and that -troublesome thoughts may bring sickness in their train, we see that -there may exist sicknesses that are not amenable to medical treatment -only. These are among the ills that the _British Medical Journal_ has -told us cannot be cured by pills and potions alone. - -Dr. Jane Walker writes pertinently on this, under the heading of ‘The -Relationship of Priest and Doctor to Patient.’ As she points out, when -a character has to be remoulded, it is the priest rather than the -doctor who can best help the patient. - -‘A true and philosophic religion raises the mind above incidental -emotionalism and gives stability,’ says Dr. Hyslop: this is the -stand-point adopted by all the eminent theologians who have written for -this book. - -Mental and physical pain is part of the evil in the world. It makes -a great difference, however--it may be all the difference between -sickness and health--whether we allow trouble to break down our -self-control and weaken our will, or whether we face it boldly with a -supreme serenity of spirit, strong in a knowledge of greater things. - - - - -INTRODUCTION - -PART II - - - - -INTRODUCTION - -II - - -In the course of gathering opinions from various authoritative sources -on the subject dealt with in this book, I received communications -from Sir Clifford Allbutt, the Hon. Sydney Holland, and a well-known -surgeon, which, though they do not constitute separate treatises, are -so important, not only in view of the distinction of the authors, but -of the broad survey of the subject that they afford, that I venture to -print them as part of the general introduction. - -In the case of Sir Clifford Allbutt’s paper I have supplemented it by -an important extract from one of his recent writings. - - -THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MEDICINE AND RELIGION - -The response you are good enough to desire can be but brief, crude, -and, I fear, too blunt; but I have not time for careful consideration. -I can only indicate a few points which occur to me offhand, and taking -much for granted. For instance, I must avoid any discussion of those -antinomies which meet us at every side of human conceptions, and be -content to accept the common uses. The chief of these (for the moment) -is that of the material and spiritual; without forgetting that they -melt at their borders the one into the other, and that we meet with -corresponding ambiguities, yet I must take them as distinct fields of -human life. In our interesting personal conversation you may remember -that I expressed the opinion that, on the whole, our prayers must not -be for material but for spiritual things. And, speaking on the whole, -sickness is a material thing. 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--apologetically. The disciples were not to tell any -man of them; or again, a miracle was performed under a compelling sense -of the overwhelming faith of the pleader, which was the main thing. -Faith, prayer, were to be for the needs of the soul, not of the body. -For instance, 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 intervention. 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 Father, and for the child’s spiritual -welfare. Into the origin of evil do not fear that I shall enter; it -is one of the antinomies which I have said that we must avoid, at any -rate at present: I can only now say that disease is a material effect -to be combated by material means, and not by religious processions or -intercessions. - -This being my view, I would try to eliminate notions of the priest as -medicine man; they are essentially pagan, though to this day they more -or less unconsciously influence our thoughts on the present subject. - -But, it may be said, strange healings do take place under religious -influences; and this is true. And at no time in history were such -miraculous cures more frequent and wonderful than in the temples of -Aesculapius or of Serapis. Modern cures, whether of the Eddyites or at -Lourdes, or the like elsewhere, when compared with those of the Roman -Empire fall into insignificance. Now a careful study of all reported -cures of this miraculous or miraculoid kind, a study illustrated for -us many years ago by Charcot, proved to him, and proves to the expert -observers of to-day, that they all--palsies, convulsions and the rest, -often inveterate cases--are and have been cures of one disease, and of -one only, namely hysteria; a malady which in its protean manifestations -mocks all and any particular diseases. I say this of the genuine -cases; but the majority of such wonders recorded turn out on inquiry -(like the ‘Grimsby’ case) to be grossly exaggerated or wholly false. -The ‘miraculous cures’ then, so far as they are genuine, are cures -by suggestion: they take their place with cures of the same kind of -disorder by panic, such as an alarm of fire; by ‘hypnotism,’ 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 one. - -So much for the ‘miracles’; which owe nothing to any sacerdotal magic, -and to the physician are part of a familiar experience, and of a -familiar interpretation. But giving up the hysterical cases--which, -by the way, is to give up a good deal--and admitting that disease is -in the body a material thing, and one not properly matter for the -pleading of prayer, except in the spiritual sense of submission to -the Divine order, 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 renewal, a conversion, or an economy of -energy which should make for recovery? Certainly; and here, I think, is -the restricted, if still important, sphere of religion as medical. - -To consider this aspect of the matter we must go back for a moment to -certain principles. From the letters of Teresa--that noble saint--we -may learn much of the greatest value to us in the present inquiry. -We may learn from her to distrust the ‘ecstasies and melancholies’ -which--as she said--were ‘the perils of conventual life’; she roundly -denounced all that ‘letting one’s self go, outside the control of -reason,’ which has its origin in ‘sick brains.’ - -‘If I were with you,’ she wrote to a certain Prioress, ‘you would -not have so many extraordinary experiences.’ Now Teresa not only -apprehended, but thoroughly understood, that the highest spiritual life -depends upon the best bodily health. She tells us that she supported -her own vigils with plenty of meat (_viande_) and sleep. High and -holy thought demands the greatest effort of the healthiest body, of -the brain most finely balanced and best nourished. The piety of the -sick-bed is at best a passive piety, which on recovery is pushed aside -again by the custom of the world; but herein it is that in sickness -the soul flags and droops upon itself, and that the support of other -sympathy is more precious. The sympathy we all depend on in health we -need most when enfeebled by ailment. 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-bed. In this melancholy, -this debility, this disappointment, perhaps this remorse, energy is -wasted which is sorely required for the conflict with disease. And even -the man of religious life likewise--if in less degree, as one who has -accumulated more inward light--is also disheartened to perceive that -the fountains of spiritual contemplation are then less copious, and -aspiration a wearier effort. He too needs help, if not to make, yet -to reinforce, the happier conversations of his fuller life. In health -the mind in solitude droops and wastes, and the sick-bed is a kind -of solitude; the thousand and one stimulating impressions of common -life cease, the impressions wane which should keep the mind and soul -awake, and fill the wells of energy. On the sick-bed, therefore, -short times of encouragement and sympathy, periods not long enough to -exhaust the scanty stores of energy, are precious; and if the physician -be jealous--as it has been said--of the priest, it is lest he should -expend these stores more in priestly functions than in ‘angels’ visits’ -of love and hope which would unite and reinforce the vacillating and -fading forces. Thus also prayer at the bedside and the short communions -should be of love and hope, not particular requests for material relief -or cure. The kindly physician himself may be a vehicle of much of this -encouragement; 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 sympathy. The most pious patient, openly or -inwardly, resents the divided mind. The instinct of self-preservation -is not lost even in those nearest to God. - -So when all is said and done on this subject I fear that matters for -me remain much where they were before; but they may lead to a more -intimate understanding of the several parts of the spiritual and -the medical visitors, and to a completer sympathy between them. If -still it be urged that an imposing ceremony may, by a measure of the -‘suggestion’ so effective in the many-coloured hysteria, come to our -aid in more noxious maladies, if no more than on the fringe of them, I -should repeat that the advantage would be so indefinite, so relatively -small, and so well to be attained by ordinary spiritual visitation, as -not to be worth the peril of the moral perversion which hangs only too -closely around these good intentions, the peril of imposing upon, even -of bamboozling, the patient. We must remember the saying of Lavoisier, -‘Medicine came into the world with a twin brother, called charlatanism.’ - - Clifford Allbutt. - - * * * * * - -Extract from Sir Clifford Allbutt’s paper in the _British Medical -Journal_, June 18, 1910: - -‘Spiritual gifts may or may not consist in the insertion of a new -entity, they certainly do consist in a reanimation and remodelling of -thinking matter in the uppermost strands of the brain, and probably of -some other, perhaps even of all the other, molecular activities of the -body. Probably no limb, no viscus is so far a vessel of dishonour as -to lie wholly outside the renewals of the spirit; and to an infinite -intelligence every accession of spiritual life would be apparent -in a new harmony (συγγυμνασία) of each and all of the metabolic -streams and confluences of the body. On this conviction it is that -the hopes and methods of faith healing depend. Conversely, every man -who watches his own life must know this, as in time of weariness -or pain he grieves over the drooping of his soul, that the highest -spiritual life depends on the highest bodily health; but this health -means, not health only of the belly, not only health of the heart -and common brain, but also of the rarest and most exquisite textures -of the cerebral web. If in a rude health of the grosser body these -subtlest parts have not been exercised and cherished, the total harmony -is diminished; highly efficient as, on lower planes, the particular -body may be, it is defective in comprehensions, it is an inconsummate -body. To this “materialism” of the body, even on its most spiritual -planes of structure, we must not close our eyes lest in our search -beyond knowledge we walk contrary to knowledge. “To pray well,” said -the noble Teresa, “one must eat well and sleep well.” If into the last -analysis the Pauline division between the carnal and the spiritual -cannot be carried, if under the relations of other times and of other -ideas we have to re-interpret it, 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 casuist. - -‘It must be granted then, in respect of faith healing, that spiritual -influences, divine directly, or indirectly through human mediation, -may to some unknown power radiate from these highest currents downward -through the more and more “material” planes, arousing them less and -less as they have become more and more statical in order. - -‘Once more; it is said that in his “subliminal self” man possesses a -substance peculiarly divine, or a substance or means through which -we may reach divine communion, or through which especially divine -purposes may be fulfilled in us. It is true that we do not know even -approximately the content of the individual man, the materials racially -and personally acquired, the products of past experience, racial and -personal, built sensibly and insensibly into his personality. May we -not each of us be compared with a ship which began its voyage with no -inconsiderable rudimentary equipment, then, calling at many a port, has -gathered many kinds of stores and treasure? Of some of these stores, of -some variety of them, the supercargo has a recollection, especially of -those in frequent use; but, for the most part, the bills of lading had -been lost. Unlike a cargo, however, these contents are not a passive -burden, but a system of coefficients; some on planes which we commonly -call material, some on spiritual planes, some working on the surface, -some working stealthily within; 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 consist. And the influences -which are to effect these revivals must be akin in nature to these -kinds respectively; some must be solidly material--such as splints -or drugs--some must be religious, moral, and even intellectual, yet -inspired by emotion, by appeal to hope and joy; and their instruments -must be devotion, sympathy, gladness, reasonable persuasion, and even -surprise.’ - - -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 clergyman, each helping the patient from his own -standpoint. It must not be imagined that I advocate any usurping of -the duties of one by the other, but in the cure of certain types of -disease, and certainly in the cure of diseases that are primarily -diseases of mind or character, the doctor should welcome the minister -of religion as a valuable ally. In fact none can doubt that the -minister of religion can bring a power to bear on the mind of a -patient, which the doctor cannot. - -Whatever his own personal belief may be, the medical man can of course -only view religion from a philosophic or ethical stand-point. It is -difficult for him to concern himself with dogma. The clergyman can -help by administering suggestions of hope and encouragement. These -suggestions can and do often come from other sources with equal -results, but I think by virtue of his office the clergyman is specially -qualified for the work. - -There can be no doubt that cures of certain kinds of diseases have -been effected by Christian Science and kindred faith-healing cults, -all of which cures come under the head of healing by suggestion. I do -not think that healing disease by suggestion is specially a Christian -work, it can be achieved in many ways. 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 ‘Spiritual Healer’ who is subject -to no authority. But above and beyond all this I think the quieting -and encouraging influences of religion are of the greatest value in all -illness, and I believe a greater use might be made of such power. - - Sydney Holland. - - -THE SURGEON, THE CLERGYMAN, AND THE PATIENT - -Possibly the gravest shock that a human being may receive, so far as -it concerns himself or herself, is to be told that fatal disease is -present in the system. So great may be the actual shock that many a -medical practitioner shrinks from inflicting it, and purposely avoids -direct allusion to the certainty of dissolution. Whether this is -justifiable or no, depends very largely upon the susceptibilities of -the patient and the tact of the doctor. But the word ‘operation’ is, by -some, almost as much dreaded as the word ‘death’; in fact even more, -as it always implies to the lay mind the infliction of hours of pain, -and days of discomfort, though this is far from being the truth in most -instances. - -‘Rather let me die than make me undergo an operation’ is the not -infrequent remark of the highly-strung sufferer. And then comes in all -the sympathy, tact, and good breeding of the surgeon. He will gently -explain matters, 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 pain, and will state, what is the truth, -that the operation, short and sharp, will give years of freedom from -suffering even if it does not completely remove all trace of the -trouble. How bewildered the patient will feel! He has been hoping -against hope that his malady is only a slight one, and that it may be -‘dispersed’ by some magic of physic, and now his hopes have been rudely -mocked and shattered. Surely here, if ever, help from an outside source -is needed and should be welcomed. But such help must be rational, based -on truth, and fearing not the consequences. - -Supposing the disease is cancer, what awaits him if the sufferer flies -to the quack and is befooled till all hope of successful treatment -is gone? Or rushes to the Christian Scientist, who, with seeming -_bona fides_, avers there is no such thing as a cancer cell! The -eye that has seen it a hundred times under the microscope, and can -recognise it amongst a hundred other varieties, does not exist in the -purblind conception of such a ‘Scientist,’ for the cell is matter, -it cannot exist, and neither for the same reasoning, if consistency -is maintained, can the eye which sees the cell exist, for it also is -material. - -And still as the growth increases there is the lurking certainty ever -protruding itself that after all the surgeon was right, and the days -are slipping by. Would that friends could be true and friends indeed, -and not in ignorance hinder these circumstances, not mere blind leaders -of the blind. - -It is here if anywhere the enlightened clergyman and the surgeon may -join hands for the good of spirit and body. And then when a decision -has been arrived at calmly and deliberately, and the time of the -operation has been fixed, there is still work for both the minister -and the surgeon to do. A quiet talk and prayer the evening before the -ordeal, how it has often soothed the trembling soul, and invoked a -night of rest and refreshment, enabling the patient to meet the trials -of the morning calm, because mentally and physically there has been -repose. - -And the surgeon with his cheering word, and the anæsthetist with his -quiet reassuring manner and conversation, 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 operator. - -Surely, surely here is a period when the efforts of the spiritual are -to crown the success of the material. - -And then, observe how the quiet and confidence, engendered by the -combined efforts of pastor and doctor, continue during convalescence, -causing that period to be shortened in many a case. - -In a hundred different ways members of the two professions may work -hand in hand, but each should be able to mutually esteem the other and -give to each his proper place and function. They ought never to despise -one another, because they ought never to encroach on one another’s -province. - -Till the clergyman recognises that it is his duty to understand -something of elementary physiology, if he is going to be a benefactor -to spirit and body, and the medical practitioner is willing to admit -that there are spiritual forces which can be brought to help the -perfection of his work, 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 assistance. May the time soon come when the rising -generation of all classes may be so taught at school, and in church, -that they will come to understand something of the composition and need -of the tripartite nature of man, and may the day speedily dawn when the -enlightened clerical and medical professions mutually work for the good -of the whole, spirit, soul and body. - - F.R.C.S. - - - - -MEDICINE AND RELIGION - -BY - -CHARLES BUTTAR, M.D. - -SOMETIME PRESIDENT OF THE HARVEIAN SOCIETY - - - - -MEDICINE AND RELIGION - -BY CHARLES BUTTAR, M.D. - - -Widespread interest has been taken of late in what is called ‘Spiritual -Healing,’ or ‘Healing by Spiritual means’; interest which is manifest -from the popularity of such books as ‘Religion and Medicine,’ and -‘Body and Soul,’ no less than from the thoughtful articles contributed -to this volume by many eminent authorities. Yet it may be observed -that, although some of these contributors belong to the profession of -medicine, it is doubtful if many medical men are acquainted with the -objects and purpose of Spiritual Healing, and probably few of them -regard the movement seriously. It is unwise, however, to adopt an -attitude of indifference towards the aspirations of earnest men, so -that it seems well to attempt to define the position of medicine with -regard to such methods of healing, to investigate the cures alleged, -to utter some warning as to possible dangers, and to inquire how far -the results justify the movement, and to what extent it is possible -to adapt the processes of Spiritual Healing to recognised forms of -treatment. - -Spiritual Healing has been hailed with enthusiasm by certain members -of the Church of England, 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 Apostles. A theological -discussion as to the possibility of miracles occurring at the present -day is outside the scope of this article, but it would be well to -define the standpoint from which the medical man approaches all -investigations connected with disease. - -The researches of scientists are conducted by the methods of -observation, experiment, and induction; it is the medical man’s duty -to observe symptoms, to experiment as to their cause, to investigate -possible remedies, and to apply these to the relief or cure of disease. -In recent times much has been done towards elucidating the influences -of mind upon body and its diseases; but so far questions connected with -the Spirit have been regarded as outside the scope of medicine. - -The minister of religion, on the other hand, has been content hitherto -to leave questions of physical health to be dealt with by the doctor; -he has not interfered to any extent in mental questions, and his chief -concern has been with what is called the ‘Spirit.’ It would seem a -little difficult to define the attributes of Spirit, or to draw a -sharp line of division between spirit and mind; but, however this may -be, spirit has usually been considered as opposed to matter, and no -influence over the material diseases of the body has been ascribed -to it. Whatever views the Church may have held as to the miracles -of healing mentioned in the New Testament, she has to some extent -kept them in the background; and it is possible that they might have -remained there, but for the success obtained by certain irrational -cults that have sprung into being, with the object apparently of -abolishing both parson and doctor. The foundation on which all these -sects are based would seem to be a passage in the Epistle of St. James, -chap. v. verses 14, 15, which reads as follows: ‘Is any sick among you? -let him call for the elders of the Church; and let them pray over him, -anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith -shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up.’ - -Again this is no place to go into theological discussions, such as -whether ‘elder’ can be taken to mean ‘priest,’ the views to be held -on anointing with oil, and so on. But it may be suggested incidentally -that the term ‘elder’ 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 medicine, whose claim to authority rests on his -own assertion, and whose methods are only too liable to drift into what -is known as ‘quackery.’ Even the Peculiar People, who rely upon the -same text in support of their tenets, retain, I believe, some meaning -of authority in the word ‘elder’; and their position seems logically -sounder than that of the believer in a self-styled ‘Spiritual Healer.’ - -As regards the procedure of the Spiritual Healer, it would appear to -consist in laying hands on the affected part of the body, at the same -time offering up extempore prayers of a very impassioned character for -the recovery of the sick. The treatment takes place in as impressive -surroundings as possible, and at times a priest is called in to anoint -the patient with oil. It is doubtful to what extent the practitioners -of Spiritual Healing claim what are called ‘special powers’; but it -seems certain that the possession of these powers is sometimes alleged. -Unlike the Christian Scientist, the Spiritual Healer does not despise -medical assistance, 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 cure. - -It has been indicated already that the first great difficulty -experienced by a medical man, in discussing such a treatment as -Spiritual Healing, is the definition of terms. Accustomed to deal with -more or less concrete facts, a doctor has some sort of mental picture -of an infectious disease, as the reaction of the physical body to the -invasion of a germ or its poison; he can see and feel a tumour, and -determine its relation to anatomical structures, though he may not know -as yet the cause of its growth; he has learnt by experience the results -of the removal of new growths. - -In the region of the mind also he has investigated many phenomena; he -is able to attribute many insane states to toxic influences; he has -studied to some extent diseases known as ‘functional’--a class that is -becoming numerically less with the advance of knowledge; but he is not -able to grasp to the same extent the meaning of the word ‘Spirit.’ The -medical man recognises in many cases the influence of the temperament -or character of the patient upon the course of the disease, and would -prefer to treat one who takes a hopeful view of the future; just as he -desires quiet cheerful surroundings, and the avoidance of conditions -that tend to irritate or depress. In so far as the ‘Spiritual’ attitude -of the patient conduces to his peace of mind, its assistance would -be welcomed by every practitioner of the healing art. But to regard -this ill-defined attitude as not only influencing the character of the -patient, but also as having a direct effect on all the ailments to -which the body is subject, is a view that can hardly be accepted so -readily. For example, it would seem to be inconceivable that Spirit -could have the slightest influence on a parasitic skin disease such as -ringworm. - -This is an instance of a simple ailment due to a local extrinsic cause. -Numerous other conditions might be mentioned, such as congenital -malformation, aneurysms, valvular affections of the heart, and -strangulated hernia in which curative influence of the Spirit is -difficult to imagine. Even if a single well-authenticated miracle in a -case of any of these affections could be produced, we should still be -met by many difficulties; such as the question why a solitary sufferer, -possibly not highly distinguished for his spiritual attributes, should -be selected for the manifestation of this power. 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 cure. - -Thus there are limitations to the field of operation of Spiritual -Healing. - -In view, however, of the hopes raised amongst many good Christians -that the Church may take part once more in healing the sick, everyone -would wish to avoid offending the susceptibilities of enthusiastic -and religious people. Still it is by members of the Church that the -question of Spiritual Healing has been brought forward, so that -it should be for the Church to define her meaning and wishes. In -the nature of things it seems impossible to define ‘Spirit’; and, -perhaps, it would be wiser not to attempt the impossible, nor to -endeavour to yoke spiritual forces to purely material conditions such -as bodily diseases. But if certain cases are produced as cures by -spiritual means, and if the co-operation of the medical profession -is desired in investigating such cures, the Church must be prepared -to accept scientific methods of inquiry, methods which do not permit -of assumptions except as tentative explanations, to be given up when -they fail to explain phenomena, or when they are replaced by simpler -explanations. - -If it should appear that the results of Spiritual Healing are -attributable to ordinary activities of the human mind, and that no -difference exists between cures by this means and those resulting from -ordinary mental influences of the nature of ‘suggestion,’ then the -Church must be prepared to abandon all miraculous explanations in these -cases. 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 observation, experiment, and induction. - -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 investigation. Much has been said and written on the matter; -comparisons have been made with the cures said to be effected at -Lourdes; even the Venerable Bede has been quoted as an authority on -medicine. But when a request is presented for the production of actual -cases for investigation by trained medical men, it is found that the -sources of supply are few and very limited. - -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 -recorded. It must be remembered that to avoid any loophole for error -the requirements of a really scientific investigation are somewhat -severe. In the first place the diagnosis of the disease must be -absolutely certain. This frequently necessitates microscopical or -bacteriological examination. A medical man is not always infallible in -his opinion of cases; and it may happen that a condition that has been -thought to be cancer turns out to be merely a comparatively harmless -inflammatory thickening. Such a condition might have recovered by -natural processes without any treatment; to attribute such recovery to -any particular treatment that the patient might be undergoing at the -time would be rash; to use such a case as an advertisement for that -treatment would be dishonest. - -In the second place, a fair comparison must be made between the results -obtained by the method under investigation, and by other means of -treatment. Warts may disappear rapidly under many forms of treatment, -or with no treatment at all. To attribute the disappearance of warts to -Spiritual Healing would be very unsafe argument. - -Thirdly, a careful distinction must be drawn between the cure of a -disease and the relief of subjective symptoms. - -It is in this matter of subjective symptoms that Spiritual Healing -appears to have obtained the greater part of whatever success it can -boast. There is some evidence that under this treatment pain may be -relieved, and there is little doubt that patients attain a calmer, -happier and more confident frame of mind, however hopeless their -disease may be. Their outlook on life is improved, their thoughts are -directed into other channels, and the pain is forgotten, or hindered -from rising into consciousness. - -Yet there are certain dangers connected with the process, to which -attention should be called. It is well to remember that, in cases such -as incurable cancer, false hopes are being raised, and the patient -is deluded into a vain belief that he will recover. How far this is -justifiable is a matter for philosophical discussion; moreover it -is true that most doctors allow their patients to delude themselves -with the same vain hopes. Still, it might be better that ministers of -religion should strive for the spiritual welfare of their charges, -rather than help directly to maintain these delusions as to physical -conditions. - -More important still is the possibility that treatment, that might be -effective in the early stage of a disease, may be postponed until too -late, in order that a trial may be given to Spiritual Healing. 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 avoided; but it must be remembered that a literal reading of -the text of St. James undoubtedly may suggest to a deeply religious -person that medical methods are of minor importance. ‘The Prayer of -Faith shall save the Sick’: is it not possible that the sufferer may -possess a grain of that faith that will remove mountains? And in -the end that small focus of malignant disease, that might have been -eradicated by the surgeon’s knife, has extended and disseminated itself -until all hope of cure is gone. And such results are more likely to -follow while this treatment remains in the hands of untrained laymen. -There is great danger that an earnest person, with limited knowledge -both of theology and of medicine, may come to regard himself as -superior to theologian and physician, owing to the fervour of his -faith, combined possibly with a belief that he is endowed with special -powers. It is on practical points such as these that the medical man -is entitled to expect an expression of the views of the Church; and in -this connexion it is permissible to hope that in the examination of -‘special powers’ the authorities of the Church will be content to be -sceptics, in the true sense of the word, until irrefutable proofs of -the possession of these powers are produced. - -In attempting to inquire how far the results obtained by Spiritual -Healing justify the movement, the medical man is met by the difficulty -that exists in obtaining evidence. It is true that there is a Society -whose objects are stated thus: - -1. For the cultivation, through spiritual means, of both personal and -corporate health. - -2. For the restoration to the Church of the Scriptural practice of -Divine Healing. - -3. For the study of the influence of Spiritual upon Physical well-being. - -Investigation of the literature published by this Society does not -throw much light on the methods by which these objects are pursued. -A pamphlet entitled ‘The Principles of Spiritual Healing’ seemed to -arouse hopes of elucidating the problem. Yet the author says, ‘I do -not know how “life” is affected by spiritual means, I observe that it -is so.’ There is no attempt to define spiritual means. Again, it is -asserted that no one will ever find, at meetings of the Society, a -parade of successful cases. Is the statement, then, of members of the -Society to be the only evidence vouchsafed to inquirers? And how far is -the second object of the Society to be carried? It must be remembered -that the Scriptural practice of Divine Healing was unassociated with -the ordinary medical treatment. In ‘The Principles of Spiritual -Healing’ it is asserted that miracles of healing did not cease; they -have only become less frequent because faith is less intense. The -second object of the Society is to restore to the Church this practice -of healing; and it is difficult to see how the dangers suggested -earlier in this article are to be avoided. - -The fact of the matter is, that it is useless to attempt to adapt -the processes of Spiritual Healing to recognised forms of treatment, -until the exponents of the method cease to soar on the wings of the -imagination, and descend instead to the more prosaic levels of reason. -Nevertheless, there is no doubt that theologians equally earnest, but -far more rational than the founder of the Society to which reference -has been made, are anxious that something should be done by the Church -to assist in the work of restoring the sick to health. These men do -not aspire to work the miracles of Christ and the Apostles by laying -on hands and anointing with oil, but they wish to retain for the -Church some portion of the command ‘Preach the Gospel; heal the sick.’ -This wish is entitled to respectful consideration by the medical -profession, and most certainly will receive it from broad-minded -medical men. But inasmuch as the trained physician must be paramount -in his own province of mental and bodily disease, it is the duty of -the minister of religion to recognise that he is subservient in purely -physical matters of health. By all means let him visit those of his own -faith who are sick. Let his object be to inspire these patients with -hope, directing the sufferer’s thoughts away from his disease to higher -things. The laying on of hands and the anointing with oil may well be -dangerous, unless used in a purely symbolic sense; 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 times; and admirable though -the spirit of reverence may be, it is not good to attribute miraculous -powers to the object revered. - -Therefore, let the clergyman be content, for the present, to leave -the untrained practice of methods of suggestion to quacks; and -investigation of so-called cures to the medical profession. At the same -time, let the medical man avail himself of the services of the minister -of religion in cases in which exhortation is likely to be of use; for -in the field of functional nervous conditions, and slight mental -disturbances, the help of a priest of forceful character, reasonably -controlled, may be of great service. - -In concluding this article a summary of the suggestions offered for -consideration may be made: - -(1) The main function of the minister of religion should be concerned -with what is called the spiritual side of man, and not with purely -material conditions, such as disease. - -(2) If ministers regard the Scriptures as imposing upon them duties -in healing the sick, they should be content to be subservient to -the physician in material conditions that are not included in their -training. - -(3) In dealing with phenomena as specific as diseases, the Church -must be prepared to accept scientific explanations. It is useless to -complain of the materialism of doctors in connexion with material -physical disorders. - -(4) It is not unlikely that the effects of spiritual healing will prove -to be merely results of a form of suggestion. - -(5) Results that can be described as curative will be found, probably, -only in what are known as functional and neurotic conditions. - -(6) It is most unwise to countenance untrained laymen in carrying on -spiritual healing in the name of the Church; for in the end the Church -may find herself dragged at the heels of quackery. - -(7) While much can be done by ministers of religion in encouraging -sufferers from disease, or in distracting the attention of -neurasthenics, and while such assistance should be welcomed by medical -men, yet the Church should beware of attempting to attract believers -by means of thaumaturgic displays of healing, which are open to -explanation in other ways. The Church should not enter into competition -with bone-setters, osteopaths, physical culture quacks, and other -undesirable persons. - -(8) Opinion on so-called ‘special powers’ should be suspended until -alleged instances of their existence have been thoroughly investigated -by competent trained experts. - - - - -THE PATIENT - -BY - -STEPHEN PAGET, F.R.C.S. - - - - -THE PATIENT - -BY STEPHEN PAGET, F.R.C.S. - - -The Bishop of Birmingham wrote to me, last year, the following letter. -He gave me leave to publish it in the second edition of a book of mine -about Christian Science: and he gives me leave to publish it again here: - -‘... I should wish to make a little more of your admissions as to -Mental Therapeutics. Thus--If, as you admit, there are so many -functional disorders; and they are curable by mental influences; and -religion is a great mental influence; and this influence (“Quietism”) -is much needed in such and other cases--I should demand of the Church -that it should recognise, far more explicitly, this field of legitimate -curative power, and control it, and claim it by showing the power to -use it. The neglect of this sphere of influence by the Church plays -into the hands of Christian Science. (All this could be associated with -the revival of unction.) - -‘Also, I think the medical profession likes--in public--to ignore all -this, and thus in its turn plays into the hands of pseudo-theology. -My criticism is that I want your “admissions” made the basis of a more -positive claim both on the Church and on the medical profession. - -‘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 use. -I do most seriously want to reform (1) the Church, (2) the medical -profession, in the light of what you admit.’ - -This wise letter says all, to my thinking, that need be said as to -the duty of the doctor towards the cleric, and the duty of the cleric -towards the doctor. It says not a word about the signs and wonders -alleged by the Society of Emmanuel in London: and I hope that Dr. Gore, -by his silence, condemns them, as not worthy of credence. I hope, also, -and am sure, that in a few years we shall hear less about that Society. -Meanwhile, I should like to say something about one aspect of this -matter of ‘spiritual healing,’ which has not received so much attention -as it deserves. We have heard all about the cleric, all about the -doctor: and we are in danger, I think, of forgetting the patient. We -have been tempted to believe that the patient, somehow, belongs to the -cleric and the doctor. That we may clear our minds of this mistake, -let us put ourselves in the patient’s place. Most of us, I suppose, -know that place: I have been there half a dozen times. It is the -centre of a great planetary system of kind people. Home love, and the -affection of my friends, and the pleasant goodwill of the servants, and -the wisdom and the gentleness of doctors and of nurses, and all prayers -for my recovery, wheeled round me, each in its appointed course. There -I lay, and was watched, like a big baby: and these activities of the -spiritual life encircled me, day and night, till I got better. The -point is, that it all came naturally to everybody. It was the habit -of the home, it was our usual way of doing things. My friends did not -suddenly begin to care for me: the doctors and the nurses did not -suddenly begin to be gentle: the maids were not stung by the splendour -of a sudden thought for my comfort: the use of prayer on my behalf was -nothing new. Everybody was kind to me, because everybody in the house -always is kind to me. They made me comfortable, and one prayed for me, -because they are always making me comfortable, and one daily prays for -me. All of us, except myself, were doing what we always do: and I was -being what I always am. - -Illness, nine times out of ten, no more changes a man than sleep and -exercise change him. As by a long sleep, or a long day in the open air, -we gain tranquillity, insight, and self-judgment, so, by an illness, -we gain, if we will, a like measure of self-improvement. The same good -thoughts come to us, as we lie idle in a sick-bed, which come to us as -we lie idle, in holiday time, on a hillside. An illness, apart from its -drawbacks, is in reality a sort of holiday, a dull but not unprofitable -vacation, something halfway between a real holiday and what religious -people call a retreat. There is no sudden change in the patient’s -mind and outlook: only, there is more inlook, more self-doubt, more -quietness of vision. - -One day, I shall put myself in the patient’s place, and not come out -of it: I shall not get well, but die. On that occasion, the love, -sympathy, goodwill, medical attendance, and prayers, will be the same -as before. They will swing round me once more, each in its proper -sphere, these familiar angels and ministers of grace defending me. But, -as I begin to stop, so they will begin to stop. It will become absurd, -for my friends to call and ask after me; absurd, for the household to -devise plans for my comfort; absurd, for the doctors to try to feel -what is left of my pulse; absurd, for anybody to pray for my recovery. -Spiritual processes are blessed with plenty of common-sense: they leave -off, when it becomes downright foolishness to go on. Let them leave -what remains of me, and start again round another centre. - -They who desire, extravagantly, to put ‘spiritual healing’ among the -methods of the Christian ministry, seem to me to be losing sight of -this fact, that common-sense is an essential part of the spiritual -life. Common-sense tells me, that as I was intended to live, so I -am intended to die. I cannot see any reason, human or divine, why I -should live to old age, and die of that. I would rather not: anyhow, -I see no reason why I should. God, who brought me into the world by -my mother’s pain, will some day put me out of the world, by my own -pain. He is in no sense more on the side of life than on the side of -death. I have been looking at the ‘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 majestical.... _Know this, that -Almighty God is the Lord of life and death, and of all things to them -pertaining, as youth, strength, health, age, weakness, and sickness. -Wherefore, whatsoever your sickness is, know you certainly, that it is -God’s visitation._ And the prayer for a sick child, also, seems to me -a very sensible and beautiful piece of writing. I find, also, a prayer -for a sick person, ‘when there appeareth small hope of recovery.’ I -have heard it read over one at the point of death, when there was no -hope at all of recovery. ‘We know,’ it says, ‘that, if Thou wilt, -Thou canst even yet raise him up.’ I hope that I shall not, when I am -dying, hear this phrase. It rings false, to my thinking: it offends -the natural dignity of a dying man. We doctors are blamed, now and -again, for not telling the truth to patients hopelessly ill: but here -is the Prayer-book, at the last moment, hardly more straightforward. -All the same, this Order for the Visitation of the Sick is admirable; -and I desire to contrast it with the following instance, how Christian -Science treats the dying: - -‘Mrs. ---- is a widow, and an old friend of mine. In February 1905, -her only child, a boy of eleven, was in the last stage of a hopeless -illness--mitral valvular heart disease, with rheumatism and dropsy. I -had an opportunity of a few minutes’ talk with the Christian Science -“practitioner”--a sweet, gentle, earnest woman--and asked her if -she really thought she would do any good. “Oh yes,” she replied, -with a smile of confidence; “I have never known a failure.” “But,” I -suggested, “the boy is very seriously ill:” and I explained the nature -of his complaint. Still confidently smiling, the practitioner replied, -“We have had worse cases than this.” I told her the best medical advice -had been taken, and the doctors had all given the boy up. Upon which -the lady remarked, with gentle emphasis, “_God_ has not given him up.” -That of course was conclusive, and I left her to do her best. I went -away at ten o’clock, and then the Scientist seated herself by the -patient, read to him from the Bible and Mrs. Eddy’s book, and exhorted -him in some such language as this: “You must not think you are ill, my -dear little boy. You are _not_ ill: you _can’t_ be ill. God would not -make you ill. He made all things good, but not illness”--and so on, -and so on. The boy, I am told, heard her patiently but wearily, and at -one-thirty he died. Then the practitioner gathered up her books and -papers and went away, and that is the end of the story.’ - -Here we have Christian Science in a favourable light: all the same, it -is not a pleasant picture, these falsehoods told to a dying child. If -it be not true that God ‘makes illness,’ and if it be not true that God -‘gives us up,’ then I attach no meaning at all to that Name. - -Let us put ourselves at that point of the case where there appeareth -small hope of recovery. The doctors have given the patient up. God, -in their opinion, has done the same. The cleric will not say that, -not in so many words: _Yet_, he says, _forasmuch as in all appearance -the time of his dissolution draweth near, so fit and prepare him, we -beseech Thee, against the hour of death, that after his departure -hence in peace, and in Thy favour, his soul may be received into Thine -everlasting Kingdom_. The cleric does not pray for the patient’s -recovery. He does not expect anything to happen, save the patient’s -death. He will not point-blank deny the possibility of a miracle: but -he neither asks for anything to happen, nor, so far as I can see, wants -anything to happen: he only cares to be sure that the patient, who is -fast going, shall go the right way. - -It is here, on this edge of time between life and death, that the -professional spiritual healer loves to perform. He desires to make -something happen: he will not take it for granted that nothing will -happen. - -His position is logical, and may be held in absolute sincerity. Only, -he is bound to tell us what, in his experience, does happen: and he is -bound to tell us of every case of failure, or partial failure. And we -are bound to examine, test, cross-examine, criticise, analyse, watch, -and almost spy upon every scrap of his work; and that in a spirit of -hard and well-nigh brutal indifference to his belief in himself as a -channel of divine intervention. What else does he expect of us? What -else are we here for? - -Among a pile of letters and pamphlets on my table is a tract called -‘New Eyes in answer to Prayer.’ It gives the case of Mr. Evison, of -Grimsby. He had something the matter with his eyes. At last, ‘while -walking out with a friend one day, I put my hand in my pocket for -something, and dropped it on the ground: on stooping down to pick it -up, the remaining pieces of my eyes dropped out of their sockets on to -the ground. They were about the size of the kernel of a nut.’ So he -went to a ‘Divine Healing Home,’ where he was anointed with oil in the -name of the Lord. Ten days later, as he was praying in his bedroom, he -felt two warm fingers touch his empty sockets, and they became warm. -Later, at a prayer meeting, his eyes ‘came wide open,’ and he saw -perfectly. Next day he testified to his recovery; and, says the tract, -‘When this testimony was given by Mr. Evison, there were fifty-seven -cases of blindness restored in answer to prayer.’ - -I feel sure that the writer of this tract thought that he was telling -the truth. And I am no less sure that a great deal of ‘spiritual -healing’ is just as worthless, just as untrue, as these Grimsby -miracles. Till the alleged wonders of spiritual healing, and its -unpublished failures, have been all submitted to keen scrutiny, and to -every severest and most searching test that can be devised in science, -nobody who knows anything about pathology can take much interest in -them. So I come back to the Bishop of Birmingham’s wise eirenicon. - -It is a great pity that the work of the cleric and the work of the -doctor should ever clash; for they are ordained (the Prayer-book again) -for the mutual society, help, and comfort that the one ought to have of -the other. Only, if they are to be friends in ministering to the sick -and the dying, they must be friends always. If, in social life, they -do not get on well together, they will not work together well in the -sick-room. If the doctor makes stupid jokes against religion, and the -cleric doses his parishioners with quack medicines; if the doctor is -dull to the wonders of faith, and the cleric is dull to the wonders of -science: if neither has the grace to recognise and honour and openly -praise the good works of the other--how shall they adjust themselves, -in the presence of impending death, who thus waste the opportunities of -daily life? - - - - -THE RELATION OF PRIEST AND DOCTOR TO PATIENT - -BY - -JANE WALKER, M.D. - -PHYSICIAN, NEW HOSPITAL FOR WOMEN - - - - -THE RELATION OF PRIEST AND DOCTOR TO PATIENT - -BY JANE WALKER, M.D. - - -In considering the subject of Religion and Medicine, we shall be helped -by looking back to the beginnings of things, when people first realised -that illnesses existed, and that certain of them were curable. They -knew nothing of internal anatomy or physiology, nothing of the origin -and treatment of disease, nothing of its infectious, communicable -character. The treatment, or, at any rate, the healing of disease, -must have been by means of what seemed to be mental influences in -those early ages. Why, our very word ‘Influenza,’ revived within -comparatively recent years, shows how vaguely and imperfectly was -understood a disease which now we recognise as having a definite train -of symptoms, but of which we still know so little that we speak of it -merely as an _influence_. - -The idea of mental influence in disease was first scientifically -formulated about twenty-five years ago, and was provided with one of -those queer names which we now use more or less glibly, with a sort -of comforting feeling that we understand the subject, when we have -successfully mastered the spelling and pronunciation--the scientific -name _psychotherapeutics_, or, in plain English, _mind cure_. These -investigations were undertaken in France, to start with, at Nancy -University, by Liébault, who published, in 1866, ‘Treatment by -Suggestion,’ and by Bernheim, and simultaneously in Paris by Charcot, -and they were primarily to observe sundry methods of treatment used -at that time in an unscientific manner, such as animal magnetism, -mesmerism, hypnotism, &c. Liébault’s book, which was taken little -notice of at the time, gave a full description of the methods he -pursued, which more or less coincide with those followed by doctors -who practise Treatment by Suggestion and Hypnotism at the present day. -He lived a retired life, and practised entirely amongst the poor, who -were devoted to him, but, at the same time, regarded him as an amiable -enthusiast. Liébault finally retired on a very small competency, not -acquired from his practice, which was altogether unremunerative. - -As a result of this gathering up of all these so-called occult methods -of treatment into the more or less exact science of Psychotherapeutics, -have come into prominence many cults--or sects, shall we call -them?--such as Mental Healing, Faith Cures, Peculiar People, -Metaphysical Healing, Christian Science, each of which is overlaid with -doctrines of a more or less dubious kind. The growth of these various -bodies of late years has been extraordinarily rapid: to mention two of -them only, Christian Science and New Thought are now enthusiastically -practised and believed in by many thousands of people, both here and -in America, and hundreds of churches have been provided and erected in -their names. - -It must not be lost sight of that Christian Science, as well as New -Thought, which has been described by Mr. Dresser, one of its chief -exponents, as being ‘a common-sense, rational phase of the Mental -Healing Doctrine,’ ‘are dealing with genuine _facts_ in the sphere of -Mental Therapeutics’; but these facts are entirely independent of the -theories by which either school attempts to explain them. - -The spread of Christian Science was viewed with considerable alarm by -many influential members and dignitaries of our own Church, and this -feeling was brought to a head at the Pan-Anglican Congress in 1908, -when a large meeting on the subject was held at the Albert Hall, which -is fully reported in the handbook of the Pan-Anglican Congress. - -Following on the Pan-Anglican Congress meeting came the Pronouncement -of the Bishops assembled in Conference at Lambeth, in July 1908. The -report of this Conference is published by the S.P.C.K. as a pamphlet. -On November 16, 1908, an important conference on Spiritual Healing -was held at Sion College, which was presided over by Prebendary -Pennefather, who said that the Church had too long neglected that -part of her teaching and ministry. Mr. Hickson gave an account of the -Society of Emmanuel, and stated that they desired to revive in the -Church the use of the gift of healing committed to her by our Lord. - -The Rev. Francis Boyd explained the objects and work of the Guild of -Health. They held that bodily healing was not of primary importance, -that sanctification might indeed be gained through sickness, 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 Lord. The -Guild of Health, Mr. Boyd proceeded to say, recognised three systems -of healing--physical, mental, and spiritual--though there was not -necessarily any opposition between them. They felt, however, that -Spiritual Healing was the only system which concerned the Church. They -were quite alive to the dangers of over-estimating the value of bodily -health, and only desired to further it so far as it ministered to the -perfection of the whole nature of man. After some further discussion, -a resolution was passed that, ‘In the opinion of this Conference, -the time has come to form a Central Church Council in the diocese of -London, for the consideration of questions connected with Healing by -Spiritual means.’ - -At the outset, we must take exception to Mr. Boyd’s three systems. I -very much question whether there is more than _one_ system, and I am -convinced that physical and mental are one and the same. And I would -go so far as to say, that the disastrous mistakes that have been made -in the past, and which are still in operation to-day in the treatment -of one large section of sick people, viz. the insane, largely owe -their origin to this arbitrary division. And, by a curious irony, the -branch of medical science where there is the most marked predominance -of materialism is this very department of mental diseases. This is all -the more curious when we reflect, what occult influences have been, -in all ages, supposed to work upon the insane. The obnoxious word -‘lunatic’ is a proof of this. The moon was by some supposed to have a -deleterious effect on the intellect; insane persons were spoken of as -‘moonstruck’; the periodicity of the mental attacks was also supposed -to have some relation to the lunar interval. Indeed, the whole subject -of insanity bristles with occult and mysterious theories. The really -hopeful treatment of insanity began when it--a mental disease--was -treated, not by mental, but by physical methods, and the more mental -and physical are taken together as one and the same, the more rational -and productive of good, in the best sense, is our treatment likely to -be. Indeed, the whole indivisibility of the three systems is nowhere so -well shown as in the arbitrary division of Religious Insanity. Surely -if we try to turn the minds of the sufferers from any considerations -of religion, by removing their Bibles, by preventing them from any -religious discussion, or from taking part in any religious ceremonies, -we are helping to keep up the evil. People, as we put it, become -insane on religious matters, not only because they have been dwelling -on the subject unduly, but because it is naturally of the greatest -importance, and absorbs more attention than probably anything else in -the world. Now, as the more purely physical, as distinguished from the -more or less occult methods of regarding the insane, has become the -more enlightened and modern view of the subject, so has the spiritual -method of dealing with it come into prominence. Spiritual ministrations -to the insane may be thought to be useless, or, at any rate, to be -fraught with little practical utility. Comparatively recently a man who -had charge of a country parish was appointed chaplain to Broadmoor, -which is the asylum for insane criminals. A friend, on being told of -the appointment, said to him, ‘Why, whatever will you say to them? You -can only talk to them of their sins.’ ‘Talk to them of their sins!’ he -said; ‘I shall never mention them.[10] I shall talk to them of Hope.’ - - [10] ‘The Society of the Crown of Our Lord’ was formed for the - purpose of supplying spiritual ministrations to the insane. - -I have thought it advisable to dwell rather at length on the question -of the insane, because it really rather fairly represents my point of -view on this subject. Whether you agree with me or not, it is better -that I should state quite fairly and straightly my position, which has -only been reached by honestly striving after truth, and by looking -fully into the subject for the purposes of this paper. In talking about -Spiritual Healing, we are hampered at the start, because we have only -actual knowledge of physical things, i.e. of things as they appear to -us here. We have to define spiritual things in physical terms, because -they are the only things we know and understand. Time and space do not -exist in the spiritual domain. Take just one word in illustration of my -meaning, the word _Rest_. Our present state of being here has certain -peculiarities. Labour involves rest from labour, and if the limits of -rest and labour are exceeded, the result is ruin to man’s moral and -physical being. Disease is sure to follow the inactive mind or body, -and then comes a time when ‘we cannot do the things we would.’ But -these things do not exist in spiritual language. ‘They rest not day and -night, but cry “Holy, Holy, Holy.”’ When we pray ‘Eternal rest grant -them, O Lord,’ we have no thought of a period of rest as we understand -it, but rest in and with God. - -We are far too apt to think that suffering is an evil--it is not -necessarily so; on the contrary it may be a blessing, because it is -often a direct means of advance towards perfection. Far too much -attention is paid at the present day to temporal benefits. ‘Get rid -of poverty, of suffering, and the world will be virtuous and happy,’ -but this is not so. The people who starve and brutally ill-use their -children are not the very poorest; they are usually well-to-do in -the world. There is a great deal too much of considering poverty as -a _real_ cause of suffering. Christ’s mission of redemption was not -primarily a mission for the relief of suffering. If He bids us to take -up our cross, He also bids us, as a quite essential corollary, to -follow Him. Indeed, taking up our cross is useless, if we do not follow -Him. Pain, far from being shunned, should be welcomed and embraced, -because it brings us nearer to the sufferings of our Blessed Lord. It -is not, of course, mere pain in itself that lifts and cleanses: it is -pain rightly and courageously borne, from whatever motive. If this -be true, the modern revolt against all suffering--and here I quote -from the late Miss Caroline Stephens’s article on ‘Pain,’ published -in the _Hibbert Journal_ for October 1908--‘is obviously suicidal. To -extinguish all suffering, were that possible, would be to deprive the -world of a leverage as all-pervading and effectual towards spiritual -elevation and purification, as is gravitation towards stability.’ - -Pain and evil are not interchangeable terms, but are quite different. -Evil cannot be innocent, though pain can be, and often is. When the -disciples said, ‘What hath this man or his parents done that he should -be born blind?’ they formulated the usually accepted idea at that time, -and an idea, moreover, that dies very hard. The whole treatment of -disease in the Middle Ages was based on it. - -If we quite briefly consider our Lord’s miracles, they were _signs_ -of His Divine mission, not proofs, and in performing them, He felt -limitations; for we are definitely told that in Capernaum ‘He did no -more mighty works, because of their unbelief.’ These signs were sudden -manifestations of His power, and as such they are preferably called -Divine Healing. They showed the very highest degree of spiritual power, -but there was nothing really new. Christ was the perfect manifestation -of eternal things, and eternal things are obviously never new. 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 duty, and more than that, that all -hygienic social work undertaken is an important part of the duties -of religion. Both nursing and doctoring bring us very near to part -of the work of Christ, for He went about doing good to the sick, and -He symbolised this, not only by His healing words, but by the simple -medicines and nursing of the Good Samaritan. But just as illness is -by no means caused by evil or ill-doing, so it is equally clear that -goodness does not of necessity bring health. The question of bodily -health has no connexion with spiritual conceptions at all. If it were -so, the persons who are the strongest physically would be the most -spiritual; but we know, of course, that this is not so. Take St. -Catherine of Siena, one of the greatest of saints, statesmen, and -scholars that the world has ever known. She healed others, but she -died herself of a lingering, painful disease, at the early age of -thirty-three. Also St. Paul, who prayed the Lord thrice that the thorn -in the flesh which tormented him might be removed. And the Lord’s reply -has been a help and comfort, and a lesson to countless thousands ever -since. ‘My grace is sufficient for thee, for My power is made perfect -through weakness.’ And what we so very often see now, persons bereft -of all that makes life dear, in suffering of mind or body maybe, yet -rise above their weakness, 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 surroundings. Indeed, -St. Paul’s affliction was the means of his converting the Galatians, -for his illness compelled him to stop with them for a time, and in -writing to the Corinthians from them, he could truly say, ‘Most gladly, -therefore, will I rather glory in my weaknesses that the strength of -Christ may cover me.’ To repeat, it is our duty, as far as can be, -to keep our bodies in health, though we can most of us conceive of -circumstances when to lose our life may be indeed to save it. - -In a sermon preached for the ‘Guild of Poor Brave Things,’ the present -Bishop of London, who is the president of the Guild, said: ‘What made -more impression on me as an undergraduate at Oxford than all the -sermons I ever heard in chapel was a young don, insisting, at the -risk of his life, on ministering to an undergraduate dying of a most -infectious disease.’ - -After all, St. Paul’s life, as narrated by himself, can hardly have -been considered as hygienic. ‘Of the Jews five times received I forty -stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, -thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day have I been in the deep; -in journeyings often, in perils of rivers, in perils of robbers, in -perils of my own countrymen, in perils from the Gentiles, in perils in -the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils -amongst false brethren; in labour and travail, in watchings often, in -hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Besides -those things that are without, there is that which presseth upon me -daily, anxiety for all the churches.’ In comparison with this, the -‘Don’t-worry Gospel’ of the Christian Scientists seems utterly beside -the mark. Health is undoubtedly good, but it must sometimes be cast -away in the service of others. - -Of course there is a philosophical difficulty in the whole position -of the relation of religion to medicine. In a manner they are, as it -were, at loggerheads from the outset. The Church is bound to teach -that it matters not how long or how short a man’s life is, if it is -rightly spent, whereas the doctor’s point of view must be to keep the -man alive at any price. And although we may feel that, under certain -circumstances, the medical attitude might be modified, it is the only -safe one in the present state of our knowledge. Euthanasia seems, -on the surface, a most humane and comforting suggestion, but it is -allowing us finite beings to take into our own hands things which are -beyond our comprehension. We all know of instances where it must -have been thought that death would be preferable to life; but apart -from the presumptuous thought of mere human beings, look how often -the maimed bodily frame ‘rises on stepping stones of its dead self to -higher things.’ A man struck with blindness, for example, may be living -a full and perfect and whole life, in spite of his maimed condition, -because he puts out all his powers and lives at the top of his bent. -Such a man is in the highest state a healthy being. The unwhole man is -one who is always in terror of his life, and who does not accept with -faith and cheerfulness, and in a life of prayer, the ills that are -laid upon him by a wise and Divine Providence. It is true that there -are more things wrought by prayer than this world dreams of. Yes, but -even our prayers have necessary limitations arising from our imperfect -knowledge, and when St. James declared that the prayer of faith shall -save the sick, he spoke at a time when scientific investigation was -non-existent, and when people must have been sorely distressed by -their total inability to overcome the diseases from which those around -them were suffering. But for us, whose physical knowledge is so much -more exact, to refuse to accept the remedies which hard and patient -toil has discovered, under God’s help and guidance (there whether -we recognise it or not), is both presumptuous and foolish. Spiritual -Healing--i.e. a quasi-miraculous process--_must_ die a natural death, -even if the agony is prolonged. It is simply pandering to charlatanism, -and by its exaltation of the Health of the Body, is almost pagan in its -effects. It is, moreover, an emphatic expression of individualism at -a time when co-operation in every direction is the natural and right -trend of affairs; for truly never did we feel so strongly as now, -that no man liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself--as true -of nations as of individuals. It is, therefore, in the highest sense, -reactionary, and a sentimental attempt to put the clock back, which is -doomed to failure. Take one item, which is wrapped up in this idea of -Spiritual Healing, and that is Demoniac Possession. This was an ancient -belief, as is shown by some of the miracles narrated in the Gospels, -and there is an attempt to revive it in the present day, and with that, -a practice of Exorcism as a cure for it. ‘But,’ and here I quote from -‘Religion and Medicine,’ ‘it is a significant fact that as education -spreads, belief in demoniac possession dies out, and the greatest -strongholds of the belief to-day are in non-Christian countries.’ -A possible explanation of this is, that in Christian countries, -spiritual forces have been actively at work for many generations, and -that this spiritual activity has weakened the power of the forces -of evil. There is, too, no blinking the question that the behaviour -of insane people, or even of people supposed to be insane, might be -explained on the theory of demoniac possession. For example, how often -one sees people generally good and kind, and even truly religious, go -suddenly into a fury of temper or violence of some kind; or in delirium -we know that quite sweet, innocent people say dreadful things which one -would think they could not even _know_. 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 us, when discipline -and training are in some way relaxed, and that such is our _real_ -nature let loose. - -The dangers of a belief in, and of practising _consciously_, Spiritual -Healing are great, as far as doctors are concerned. It simply puts -a premium on ignorance and laziness, and is disastrous to exact -knowledge and scientific investigation. Spiritual healers assert that -to dwell on the abnormal and pathological prevents their work on the -normal. But who is to say what is the normal, till abnormalities have -been weighed and considered? No, to people like myself who practise -medicine, it is a dangerous and uncertain weapon to employ. Far be it -from me to say that the spiritual side of medicine should be ignored -altogether. We know that our prayers, rightly offered, are a help to -our patients--we _know_ that the ordained Sacraments of the Church are -a help to them. Moreover, we know very well that there is no royal road -to the treatment of disease. We know well how many cases there are in -our various hospitals and infirmaries, that have baffled all the skill -of diagnosis and treatment that has been vouched to the world up to the -present time. Is it rational to believe that such cases will be healed -by a glance, or a touch, or a word of any merely human person, however -holy, who is manifestly ignorant of any ordinary scientific knowledge? -No, Spiritual Healing as a cult, as a part of the sacramental life of -the Church, will cease to exist, but all that has come out of it will -be quickened and strengthened. We shall feel greater need of prayer -and intercession, and we shall feel more and more the real value of -meditation. - -That the medical profession is fully alive to the importance of the -question, in spite of its difficulties, may be inferred from the -following extract from the _British Medical Journal_, November 6, 1909: - -‘We welcome the discussion at the Harveian Society, as a sign that the -profession is more fully realising the value of certain potentialities -of healing and relief, which an ingrained materialism passes by on one -side. All around us spiritual or mental healing is going on. It is our -duty, as it is our interest, to study the process scientifically, to -define its limitations both in regard to the conditions to which it -is applicable and to the persons who can successfully apply it, and -to recognise perhaps more fully than before that man is a compound of -body and spirit, both of which have to be taken into account by those -who undertake the treatment of disease. The first step to be taken, -if the profession is not to surrender a large part of its sphere -of usefulness, is that medical practitioners should be trained in -psychology as well as in physiology. In saying this we do not wish to -be understood as pinning our faith entirely to experimental psychology. -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 impressions.’ ‘A careful study of the works of the -great masters of the human heart’--this rings true, and makes one -hopeful, in spite of the confusion in terms that exist in regard to -Psychic Healing and Spiritual Healing. - -Spiritual Healing may be defined as a change in a person’s point of -view. It may be a question of building up character, or of development -of spiritual attributes. In both cases, it is essentially a matter of -instruction. And the teaching will be effective in proportion as the -teacher is possessed of sincerity and sympathy. I am anxious to be most -emphatic in saying this, because so much misunderstanding has arisen -of late on all sides, owing to misconceptions on this point. Spiritual -Healing can only, in quite a secondary way, be a physical process. -Again, take the case of a man who becomes blind in a way that prohibits -any idea of his ever recovering his sight; he may develop into a -miserable, discontented being on account of his affliction. He comes -under the influence of some teaching, of some person, or of some sudden -religious inspiration. He is healed. Can he see again? No, but he has -risen superior to his blindness. He is a _whole_ man once more. This -is all that he and his lay friends know. He _may_ even enjoy better -physical health than he did while his blindness oppressed him. Or, -again, there may be morbid physical conditions directly or indirectly -attributable to a morbid temperament, sleeplessness due to wrongdoing, -or chronic dyspepsia due to worry. In such cases as these, the doctor -may do little or nothing. The malady is only incidentally a physical -one. Here ‘Spiritual Healing’ in the true sense is the only remedy, -and every liberal-minded medical practitioner would desire it for the -patient. - -Practically, as I have repeatedly found from experience, priest and -doctor can combine to the great advantage of the patient. Medical -practitioners need have no fear that, with wise and experienced -priests, they will find their special province interfered with; on the -contrary, their hands will be strengthened, the patients calmed, and -their fortitude increased. It has been my lot many times to find the -irritable patient resentful of her illness, and of God’s dealing with -her, brought to a calm, hopeful, restful frame of mind, and that by the -ministrations and prayers of a wise and tactful priest. - -Perhaps St. Catherine of Siena expresses what is meant by all this in -speaking of praying for others. ‘It is toil for him ... to hold him in -the presence of God.’ 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 care. - - - - -FAITH AND MENTAL INSTABILITY - -BY - -THEO. B. HYSLOP, M.D., - -SUPERINTENDENT OF BETHLEM HOSPITAL - - - - -FAITH AND MENTAL INSTABILITY - -BY THEO. B. HYSLOP, M.D. - - -_The Tendency for Insanity to increase on Account of the Stress of -Life._ - -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 deny. 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 avocations. The influences of rural and urban life, -trades and occupations, &c., as favouring the occurrence of insanity, -have been dealt with in an exhaustive manner in various reports, -treatises, and innumerable papers, 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 midst. - -It is well-nigh impossible to obtain a complete census of the physical -and mental states of the people. Statistics furnish us with so many -fallacies that for present purposes I prefer to omit them, and deal -only with broad issues which seem to have direct bearings upon the -mental health of the community. - -It is now an accepted fact that civilisation, with its tendencies -towards the aggregation of individuals into dense communities, favours -the occurrence in those communities of overcrowding, pauperism, crime, -and degeneration. For those designed by habit and heredity to rural -life, migration to cities where the struggle for life is continued -under totally different circumstances is disastrous, and for them -the step from country to town is but one of the commonest of all the -steps towards mental and physical deterioration, the accidents of -civilisation finding in them merely the readiest victims. - -The necessity of this migration, as determined by the state of -agriculture, makes it none the less an evil, 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 stability. - -The problem, however, has a different aspect for those who by habit and -heredity are trained for city life, 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 energies. As a physician, 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 people. There is no doubt that periodic decentralisation of town -dwellers is essential to the maintenance of bodily health, and it is -also true that physical exercise and change from mental to physical -functioning and _vice versa_ is essential to all--i.e. if the balance -between the mental and physical powers is to be adequately maintained. -It is, of course, to be understood that to a physician the preservation -of this balance is his first care, and to him is entrusted the function -of aiding in the proper observance of all that is in agreement with -biological and, therefore, natural laws. To him there is a great -difference between ‘observance’ and ‘belief’; and he sees in them -either mutually co-operative or mutually destructive factors for good -or ill respectively. - -If religious observances, under determined conditions, are found to -be useful and essential for the sane in mind and body, they are also -likely to be so, under conditions otherwise determined and arranged, -for the insane. Many insane patients are totally incapable of attending -any religious function. Some must be prohibited; others may be -encouraged. 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 subsided. 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 influence. The fact that mental aberration forms a -special study and phase of life increases his difficulties and limits -his possibilities. Where there is apparent failure both inside asylums -and without, such failures may very possibly be attributed to the -deficiencies of the doctrine, the discipline of the religion itself, -the organisations peculiar to it, or the functionaries associated with -it in our day. If the Christian religion is a true philosophy, it is -the duty of all who profess Christianity to assist in the practical -application of its precepts, where such can be judiciously and safely -applied, taking religious things perforce as they find them, and -utilising their own special knowledge to the best possible advantage, -according to the conditions they find. - -Is a person with deep religious conviction better equipped to face the -stress of life than an unbeliever? 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 1905. In stating that ‘a true -and philosophical religion raises the mind above a mere incidental -emotionalism’ he used the word ‘religion’ in its literal sense, as -derived from _re_ and _lego_, to gather and consider, as opposed to -_negligens_. He in no way extended its connotation so as to include -demonstrations of incidental emotionalism, superstition, or fanaticism. -Religion and moral obligation he considered to be almost convertible -terms, both equally compatible with intuitionalism, utilitarianism, -or any other ‘ism’ derived from the study of the laws of life and -mind. Moral laws are generally principles of thought and action, which -an intelligent being must apply for himself in the guidance of his -conduct, and the translation of such general principles (expressed -either in general abstract form or in the form of a command) into -particular actions. Conformity with such precepts of morality may with -reason be regarded as a safeguard against the ‘lusts of the flesh.’ - -Religious enthusiasm in itself cannot justly be termed an evil. -Rather does it embody the most healthy and preservative development -of our social forces. Like many other tendencies of the mind, it is -subject to exaggeration, misapplication, and a predominance of the -emotions over the intellect. The typical cases of religious insanity -directly developable from sectarian and even undenominational religious -enthusiasm, from religious meditations, exercises, devotions, or -superstitions, are by no means so common as they are supposed to be -by the uninitiated observer. The true point lies in this, that very -many mental cases bear a strongly marked religious or at least moral -aspect. The psychology of the subject will show, for example, that -acute depression--a predominant phase of abnormal emotional life--leads -almost necessarily to a religious interpretation. And this is even more -the case with many actual sense perversions. Such, I mean, as have -ever been associated with the ideas of the supernatural. - -These are not necessarily caused by religious over-excitement or -enthusiasm. They may assume the appearance of it, because, being -the deepest and most real feelings, desires, and convictions of the -perverted organic life or of the moral reaction which accompanies it, -they cannot well be expressed or described except in strong moral -terms. Over and over again does this appear, and often among those -least likely to be suspected of any religious predisposition. That -these feelings should be clothed according to the prevailing ideas and -creed of the patient is an essential reproduction of the mind. But, -after all, this only relates to the form of their appearance, and there -are many things which lie deeper. - -Religious excitement is not infrequently assigned as a cause of -insanity. The writer has stated elsewhere his belief that the -philosophy of the infinite, far from being a source of aberrations -of thought which may be deemed insane, is the ultimate point of our -mental evolution, and that a true and philosophical religion raises the -mind above a mere incidental emotionalism and gives stability. With -no religion and no moral obligation the organism is apt to become a -prey to the lusts of the flesh and their consequences. Gasquet observes -that religion may either produce or tend to hinder unsoundness of mind; -that it may cause certain symptoms of insanity or modify them; and, -lastly, that it may be employed as a means of moral prevention and -treatment. He believes that every form of religion, however widely it -may differ from our standard of the truth, if it enforces the precepts -of morality, is a source of strength to the sound mind that sincerely -accepts it. - -Clouston has justly observed that far more depends upon the brain that -goes to church than upon what it may obtain in the church. That is to -say, there must be the predisposition to break down, the religious -influence being often merely an accident. It must also be remembered -that religious over-enthusiasm may be merely a symptom and not a cause. - -Much misconception through misquotation has arisen in connexion with -the writer’s views as to the therapeutic value of prayer. 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 childhood, and its therapeutic value was there urged -more as a preventive than as a curative agent. It was urged that the -mental hygiene of childhood was not to be determined by any special -denominational method. - -Such limited methods may result in the fixity of an idea or belief -quite compatible with usefulness in any sphere of activity, but they do -not deal with the broader and deeper question of the preservation of -the mental health of the individual. The exaggerated importance of the -denominational question, which has engendered passive resistance, 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 infant. It ought to be our object as teachers and -physicians to fight against all those influences which tend to produce -either religious indifference or intemperance, and to subscribe as -best we may to that form of religious belief, so far as we can find -it practically embodied or effective, which believes in ‘the larger -hope,’ though it condemns unreservedly the demonstrable superstition -and sentimentality which impede its progress and power. As an alienist, -and as one whose whole life has been concerned with the sufferings of -the human mind, the writer believes that of all the hygienic measures -to counteract disturbed sleep, depression of spirits, and all the -miserable sequelæ of a distrait mind, he would undoubtedly give the -first place to the simple _habit_ of prayer. Let the child be taught to -believe in an anthropomorphic God the Father, or in an all-pervading -medium of guidance and control, or in the integrity of a cosmic whole, -with its transmutations, evolutions, and indestructibilities. It -matters little, for they all lead in the same direction. Let there -but be a habit of nightly communion, not as a mendicant or repeater -of words more adapted to the tongue of a sage, but as a humble -individual who submerges or asserts his individuality as an integral -part of a greater whole. 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 him. Our schools are as gardens -for the cultivating, judicious pruning and sustaining young life -by gardeners who have, or who ought to have, full knowledge of the -tender plants under their care. Our churches are to the moral welfare -of the community as our schools are to the intellectual. The church -has been aptly termed ‘God’s Garden,’ where the art of living good -lives and the making of character is helped by specially appointed -gardeners. It is needless to say, however, that the light of reason or -sanity, as bestowed upon us by Nature, 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 are. - - - - -MEDICAL ASPECTS OF MENTAL HEALING - -BY - -H. G. G. MACKENZIE, M.A., M.B. - - - - -MEDICAL ASPECTS OF MENTAL HEALING - -BY H. G. G. MACKENZIE, M.A., M.B. - - -I. _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 ‘mental’ and ‘spiritual’ healing. No attempt whatever is made to -give an exhaustive summary. It will be sufficient for my purpose if I -can make clear to the non-medical reader-- - -(1) That there is nothing new in the elaborate and confident -pretensions now being thrust forward by a variety of ‘healers.’ - -(2) That, so far from scientific medicine ‘standing helpless in the -presence of a new phenomenon,’ she is in possession of a very large -amount of clinical material on which quite definite conclusions have -been formed; and, as always, she is perfectly ready to consider and -investigate any new evidence which might tend to mitigate the force of -such conclusions. - -Now, there are obviously two main lines of investigation. We may -consider (1) the _à priori_ reasonableness of the claim that certain -bodily diseases can be cured by ‘mental’ or spiritual processes, or we -may proceed to (2) an _à posteriori_ investigation of cases of alleged -cures. A third method of investigation, that which is, of course, -adopted in _all_ cases of scientific treatment of disease by new -methods, viz. the tabulation of all cases treated, with the diagnosis, -extent of disease, immediate and permanent results, negative as well -as positive, noted in each case, is not usually possible, since no -psychic or spiritual healer whom I have ever met seems to consider such -tabulation at all necessary or even desirable. - -In the first place, I submit a somewhat long quotation from an -admirable paper[11] by one of the greatest medical authorities in the -English-speaking world, Professor W. Osler. - - [11] _The Treatment of Disease_, by W. Osler, M.D., F.R.S. London: - Henry Frowde. 1909. - -‘An influenza-like outbreak of faith-healing seems to have the public -of the American continent in its grip. It is an old story, the oldest -indeed in our history, and one in which we have a strong hereditary -interest, since scientific medicine took its origin in a system -of faith-healing beside which all our modern attempts are feeble -imitations.... Once or twice in each century the serpent entwining -the staff of Æsculapius gets restless, contorts, and in his gambols -swallows his tail, and all at once in full circle back upon us come old -thoughts and old practices which for a time dominate alike doctors and -laity. As a profession we took origin in the cult of Æsculapius ... -whose temples were at once magnificent shrines and hospitals.... Amid -lovely surroundings, chosen for their salubrity, and connected with -famous springs, they were the sanatoriums of the ancient world. The -ritual of the cure is well known, and has been beautifully described -by Pater in Marius the Epicurean.... The popular shrines of the -Catholic Church to-day are in some ways the direct descendants of this -Æsculapian cult, and the cures and votive offerings at Lourdes and Ste. -Anne are in every way analogous to those of Epidaurus.’ - -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 widely, if not well, in the matter of -the healing of disease. It is indeed a portentous fact. The slightest -acquaintance with the history of therapeutics, the most casual -examination of the evidence of alleged cures, the faintest stirring of -the reasoning faculty, 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 cure, -by means other than extirpation, than a quite uninstructed _masseur_ -who has taken to ‘spiritual healing,’ these, one would suppose, would -be sufficient to check the growth of credulity which we see in such -evidence around us. Yet the reader will probably feel that Osler is not -going beyond the warrant of easily ascertainable fact when he says: - -‘We must acknowledge its potency to-day as effective among the most -civilised people, the people with whom education is the most widely -spread, yet who absorb with wholesale credulity delusions as childish -as any that have enslaved the mind of man.’ - -Professor Osler’s conclusion is worth quoting: - -‘Having recently had to look over a large literature on the subject of -mental healing, ancient and modern, I have tried to put the matter -as succinctly as possible. In all ages and in all climes the prayer -of faith has saved a certain number of the sick. The essentials are, -first, a strong and hopeful belief in a dominant personality, which has -varied naturally in different countries and in different ages: Buddha -in India and in Japan, where there are cults to match every recent -vagary; Æsculapius in ancient Greece and Rome; our Saviour and a host -of Saints in Christian communities; and, lastly, an ordinary doctor -has served the purpose of common necessity very well. Faith is the -most precious asset in our stock-in-trade. Once lost, how long does a -doctor keep his clientele? Secondly, certain accessories--a shrine, -a grotto, a church, a temple, a hospital, a sanatorium [Osler might -have added the admirably devised entourage in such places as ‘Physical -Culture’ Institutes and ‘light cure’ establishments], surroundings -that will impress favourably the imagination of the patient. Thirdly, -suggestion in one of its varied forms--whether the negation of disease -and pain [as among the ‘Eddyites’], the simple trust in Christ of the -Peculiar People, or the sweet reasonableness of the psychotherapeutist. -But there must be the will-to-believe attitude of mind, the mental -receptiveness--in a word, the faith which has made bread-pills -famous in the history of medicine.’ We must, however, recognise the -limitations of ‘mental healing.’ ‘Potent as is the influence of the -mind on the body, and many as are the miracle-like cures which may be -worked, all are in functional disorders, and we know only too well that -nowadays the prayer of faith neither sets a broken thigh nor checks an -epidemic of typhoid fever.’ - -The following extract is from an article in the _British Medical -Journal_ of March 13, 1909. The article begins by quoting from a paper -by Dr. Allan Hamilton (U.S.A.) to the following effect: - -‘In all this agitation, it would almost seem as if the intelligent -physician had never made use of psychotherapy, but that he was a -mechanical giver of drugs and took little or no interest in his -patients. If the new critics of the medical profession, who have been -so active of late, would take the trouble to investigate, they would -often find, among the great and successful men of all times and of -to-day, that the human side is very strongly developed, and that their -patients are studied from every point of view, and treated accordingly.’ - -‘We would add,’ says the writer of the article in the _British Medical -Journal_, ‘that 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 or, what comes to the -same thing, enabling sufferers to work out their own deliverance from -the thraldom of functional disease. All really great physicians have -used this force, sometimes, it may be, unconsciously, but often with -deliberate intent. It is the power of influencing the mind of the -patient or, in other words, of exciting confidence in his gift of -healing, that makes what is called “personal magnetism.”’ - -At this point I may be permitted to offer one or two observations. - -(1) To speak quite strictly, it is not a question of _‘à priori’ -possibility or impossibility_. As Huxley pointed out, twenty years -ago, few things can be said to be _impossible_ except mathematical -misstatements or manifest contradictions. Thus 2 + 2 cannot possibly -yield any result but 4. A square circle, a raised depression, are, in -the strictest sense of the term, _impossibilities_. But, with regard to -an enormous number of alleged phenomena popularly styled _impossible_, -what is really meant is either that they are not impossible at all, but -only in some high degree improbable, or that we have not sufficient -knowledge to enable us to say whether or not they are impossible. In -any case, before accepting them, we are bound as honest men to demand -evidence which may be thoroughly sifted. The sort of stuff which we -usually get, when we ask for such evidence, will be instanced at a -later stage. - -(2) Again, to speak quite strictly, I do not know that anyone would -care to draw a hard-and-fast line between what is ‘functional’ and -what is ‘organic.’ These terms are extremely convenient, but we must -remember that they are only terms. There is an oft-recurring danger, -against which we all require to be continually on our guard, of falling -into the old error of the realists. ‘Animate and inanimate’ (assuming -that the recent claim to have demonstrated in metals a process of -reproduction analogous to those observed in protoplasm is endorsed, as -seems probable), ‘genus and species,’ ‘animal and vegetable,’ these -and many others are eminently useful classifications, and the border -line between each and its opposite varies from comparative precision to -extreme vagueness. But in no case are they absolutely precise in the -sense in which the distinction between an integer and a vulgar fraction -is precise. And in the matter of the terms ‘functional’ and ‘organic’ -we must walk very warily indeed. Is epilepsy a functional neurosis or -an organic disease? Analogy suggests organic changes. No such changes -have been constantly demonstrated by _post mortem_ evidence; partly, -of course, because _post mortem_ examinations of cases of death in -the epileptic or epileptiform condition have been extremely rare, -and are not very common in cases where there is a well-authenticated -history of attacks; but partly because our investigations into the -minute anatomy of many morbid conditions are at present barred by the -limitations of microscopic vision. 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 1000 diameters--though for a -variety of reasons, which all pathologists will recognise, it is not -altogether _probable_ that a magnification of 10,000 diameters would -in such cases demonstrate a constant change. In any case, if we are -told by a spiritual or psychic healer that he cures cases of, let us -say, old-standing chronic nephritis or cirrhosis of the liver by his -own peculiar methods, our reply must be, not that this is impossible -because we are dealing with organic disease, but rather that-- - -(1) If he claims to act mentally or spiritually on the higher centres -of the brain and so to reach the diseased tissues, a cure is in the -highest degree unlikely, for a reason which will be given at a later -stage; - -(2) If his method is avowedly quite empirical, and he only professes -to exercise a power which he does not even dimly understand, we must -respectfully ask for evidence, which can be examined and tested to the -satisfaction of a competent and impartial mind. - -Now, as to the influence of ‘suggestion,’ whether or not accompanied -by other methods, e.g. hypnotism, magnetism, electricity, &c., on -(so-called) functional conditions, modern medical science speaks with -no uncertain voice. - -At a meeting of the Harveian Society held last October, much -interesting information was produced. - -A paper of great and permanent value was read by Dr. Claye Shaw on the -‘Influence of Mind as a therapeutic agent.’ It is impossible in the -space at my disposal to quote more than two brief extracts from his -paper. He thus defines ‘suggestion’: - -‘Suggestion is the insinuation of a belief or impulse into the mind of -a subject by any means, or by words or questions, usually by emphatic -declaration; also the impulse of trust and submission which leads to -the effectiveness of such incitement.’ - -On the effects of treatment by suggestion, Dr. Claye Shaw writes: - -‘It is with such conditions as chronic inebriety, opium, or the drug -habit, that suggestion is most powerful; with acute insanity I have not -seen it successful, and, though it has been fairly tested in asylum -practice, it has not obtained general recognition as a therapeutic -agent.’ - -A considerable number of medical men, alienists and others, took part -in the discussion which followed the reading of the paper. - -Dr. 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 treatment. Among these were instances -of neurasthenia (‘la grande hystérie’), claustrophobia, morphomania, -tendency to suicide, a morbid fear of cats. Dr. Seymour Tuke said that -he had found ‘suggestive treatment marvellously effective in cases -of inebriety in which the will was under some sort of control,’ but -that he was ‘unable to make encouraging report of the use of hypnotism -and suggestion amongst insane patients.’ [A useful and discriminating -testimony.] Dr. Lloyd Tuckey had cured ‘many cases of genuine -dipsomania, which could not be reached by drugs, by hypnotism--as well -as other intractable conditions, such as three cases of Menière’s -disease.’ Dr. R. H. Cole said that, twenty years ago, when he was -a House Physician, he first tried to hypnotise patients. Later, he -went to Paris and attended the ‘Salpétrière and Bernheim’s cliniques, -but was greatly disappointed in what he saw.... In his experience of -mental diseases he had only seen it do good in one insane patient. -It had never had any effect in his experience upon people with fixed -delusions, but it would cure dipsomania.’ Dr. T. F. Woods had treated -4000 cases, and he described a few of them in which he had obtained -remarkable results. One was that of a woman, with severe asthma and -delusions that she was going to be cut in pieces, who was cured by -suggestion at one sitting, and had kept well ever since. Another case -of severe sciatica, which had resisted every line of treatment for -eight months, was also cured rapidly. He did not find it necessary to -induce hypnotic sleep. Dr. E. A. Ash thought that ‘genuine hypnotism -(the state of somnambulism) was unsatisfactory in practice. Only a -small proportion of cases could be hypnotised, and these in his -experience did no better than those treated by simple suggestion. He -quoted two cases of nocturnal enuresis, one of which he had failed -to cure by hypnotism, whilst the other was cured by suggestion, and -a case of blepharospasm, which had been cured by suggestion, with -light massage on the eyelids, although a similar case treated only by -suggestion had not been relieved.’ Dr. W. H. Blake described ‘a series -of cases in which he had used hypnotism with the utmost benefit.... His -most remarkable cures had been effected in a case of asthma, for which -the patient was accustomed to drench himself unavailingly with drugs, -and in a severe case of dipsomania.’ - -Here we have grouped together the expression of the opinions of trained -minds of responsible medical men. The differences are comparatively -slight. The agreement is remarkable. Not one of them (though in one -case as many as 4000 records are in his hands) claims to have cured -what are usually called organic conditions. 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 persistent, but -none the less ‘functional,’ ailments. - -Moreover, 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 ‘suggestion.’ In no case is there so much -as a hint that a new force, viz. ‘spiritual healing,’ has appeared, -different in kind not only from other varieties of suggestion but from -the countless cults of spiritual healing, which have flourished and -disappeared in the past or the relics of which still survive in many -continental and eastern shrines. - -Now, with regard to ‘spiritual 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 9, 1909. The article begins by describing some meetings -of different societies, in some cases mutually antagonistic, but -all existing for the purpose of advancing the claims of healing by -‘spiritual’ means. It goes on to say: - -‘If all or any of them can show that they have discovered a new force, -or a new method of applying one already known, to the cure of disease, -rational medicine will welcome a new weapon. As we have often said, -the wise physician understands the action of the mind or the spirit -on the body, and uses it for the benefit of his patient. A man who -firmly believes in his doctor’s skill, or in the efficacy of the -treatment to which he is subjected, is in the best possible condition -for the operation of curative forces. On the other hand, a patient -who believes that nothing can cure him helps to seal his own doom. -Avicenna well said, _Plus interdum prodesse fiduciam in medicum quam -ipsam medicinam_. The “lady of the highest rank,” 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 physician, must have been a living -tribute to his skill. - -‘The fact cannot be too much insisted upon that there is nothing in the -least new about faith healing. It is as old as medicine and religion, -which in the beginning were one, as they still are among many savage -tribes. Faith can move mountains, and it matters little on what it is -based or how it is excited. As John Hunter has told us, the touch of -a dead man’s hand has charmed away a tumour. But there are limits to -its action, and while willing to accept faith as an adjuvant, 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 system. By all means let us know the full power of -the spirit over the body. Only let us have facts that can be fairly -and fully tested. A scientifically trained doctor takes nothing on -trust, and there can be no useful co-operation between medicine and -spiritual healing unless the facts of each case are fully disclosed. -That is the point where science and faith part company; the former is -as importunate as Arthur Clennam at the Circumlocution Office, and -the wonder workers are as painfully surprised at this as the youthful -Barnacle was at the persistence of “the fella that wanted to know, you -know.”’ - -Let us dispose at once of one simple question of fact. Modern medical -science has given the ‘spiritual healers,’ who claim to cure any -and every disease by touch or prayer or unction, an absolutely -fair hearing. Evidence is asked for, and, if it is forthcoming, is -patiently investigated, no matter how antecedently unlikely may be the -pretensions which such evidence is brought forward to support. - -The general attitude of mind of the supporters of the ‘spiritual -healers’ is shown by the following illuminating extract, quoted by Sir -H. Morris in the course of a recent lecture on ‘Looking back’: - -‘We have no difficulty in believing that ulcers that have a malignant -aspect may be healed by the hope that comes from a potent suggestion. -We have ourselves known of more than one case in which every clinical -sign of malignant disease of the stomach was present, and in which a -cure was effected by means that could only have derived their potency -from suggestion.’ - -People who are prepared to accept this _without clearly ascertained -and properly sifted evidence_ will accept anything. They simply -believe what they wish to believe. When one widely advertised ‘case of -spiritual healing’ breaks down on investigation, another is put forward. - -Indeed, for the most part they have no idea as to what constitutes -evidence in these matters. In many cases the unsupported statement of -a patient, as to the diagnosis pronounced by a medical man, is calmly -accepted by them as though there were no need of further investigation. -We have heard, perhaps, more than enough of a highly placed dignitary -of the Church who believes (no doubt quite sincerely) that he was cured -of cancer by the ministrations of one of these ‘healers,’ after an -absolute diagnosis as to the existence of an inoperable tumour had been -made by a leading specialist. The repeated denial by the specialist in -question, that he ever supposed the condition which he examined to -be cancerous, makes no difference. The patient continues to announce -as a fact what is almost demonstrably untrue; and his followers will -no doubt continue to accept his statement in preference to first-hand -evidence, so long as this particular cult survives. - -But, for those who are not blinded by ignorant credulity, the following -extracts from a letter from Dr. Combe Atthill may be of interest. Dr. -Atthill’s experience could, of course, be paralleled by any medical man -of long practice: - -‘Shortly after I retired from practice, some ten years ago, a -well-known clergyman wrote to me, saying that members of his -congregation were being much disturbed by the advent amongst them of -a lady professing herself to be a faith healer, and saying that her -conversion was due to the fact of my having told her that she was -suffering from a dreadful disease, and that her sole hope of cure lay -in the performance of a very dangerous operation. She refused to submit -to this, and instead placed herself in the hands of “the healer,” and -was cured. He concluded by asking me to give him particulars of her -case. - -‘I had no recollection of any such patient, but, as the name was given, -I traced her, and found the following particulars recorded in my case -book. - -‘I had only seen the lady once in my own house, when she stated that -she was well past middle life, and for more than a year had been -weakened by a well-known condition. - -‘On my telling her I must examine her she replied that she could not -submit to it that day for sufficient reasons, so I arranged that when -she was in a condition for examination she would let me know, and I -would call on her and examine her. I made no diagnosis, and gave no -opinion as to the nature of the case. I said no word about performing -an operation. - -‘Instead of writing to me to call on her, she went to London. No doubt -an examination would have revealed the fact that no disease ever -existed. - -‘It is impossible to deal with patients of this class. Their mental -equilibrium is disturbed; they distort what the doctor may say, and not -infrequently invent and circulate statements he never made.’ - - -II. _The Society of Emmanuel_ - -Special attention has been directed of late to the claims of the -‘Society of Emmanuel.’ This society appears to profess adherence to -the tenets of the Church of England, though, except for Dr. Mylne -(formerly Bishop of Bombay), no well-known churchman, lay or cleric, -seems to be a member of the executive. The names of some ladies of -title are given in the list of the General Committee. The president -and principal ‘healer’ is a Mr. James M. Hickson. The objects of the -society are closely akin to those of other similar societies, except -that they have a distinctly ‘Church’ flavour. For instance: - -‘To develop the Divine gifts left to His Church by the Master, -especially the gift of healing by prayer and laying on of hands, with -the object of using these Divine gifts ... for the healing of the body.’ - -A perusal of its literature reveals the usual pretension to cure and -to have cured any and every disease. Nothing like a tabulated list of -cases treated appears anywhere. The society has now opened a ‘Hospice,’ -where free treatment (by prayer and laying on of hands, &c.) is given -by the aforesaid Mr. Hickson. - -For some time the _British Medical Journal_, the official organ of the -British Medical Association, called attention to widely advertised -‘cures,’ and asked for information which would make it possible for an -investigation into the true facts to be carried out. The results were -hardly satisfactory. Here are some of the cases: - -(1) In the _British Medical Journal_ (May 1, 1909) the following case -is given as recorded in _The Healer_ (the organ of the Society of -Emmanuel): - -‘The patient fell and injured the patella, which had previously been -broken four times--two doctors expressed the opinion that he would -never have full use of the knee again. It was very painful and quite -callous (_sic_) at the time of the first treatment by prayer, but in -twenty minutes he was able to bend it without help; the following day -to walk about the house, and after four visits to resume ordinary -duties.’ - -Inquiries failed to elicit any details which would enable investigation -to be made. - -(2) From the _British Medical Journal_ of June 5, 1909: - -‘Mr. Hickson is reported to have said that he has another case of -“cancer of the throat” under his care; the patient had undergone two -operations before going to him, and is now apparently getting well. We -should be glad to have particulars of so interesting a case, but we -doubt whether they will be forthcoming.’ - -Apparently they were not. But the case was identified without -difficulty. A clergyman, the vicar of a country parish in the Oxford -diocese, was under ‘treatment’ by Mr. Hickson at this time for what -was undoubtedly cancer (epithelioma) of the larynx. A friend of mine -who saw him in the summer described him as being quite certain that he -was being cured, though he looked extremely ill and could hardly speak -above a whisper. A few weeks later the patient died. If Mr. Hickson -has anywhere publicly announced the failure of his ‘treatment’ in this -case, after having stated that the patient was ‘apparently getting -well,’ no such announcement has come under my notice. - -(3) In its issue of June 12, 1909, the _British Medical Journal_ -published a quotation from the _Evening News_, which ran as follows: - -‘The following account of a cure of cancer is furnished by a lady -member of the Society of Emmanuel: “The patient was a Bishop of the -Church of England. The doctors abandoned all hope of a cure. Then Mr. -Hickson took the case in hand. He arrived on the morning of the day -on which the sufferer had to undergo an operation. Mr. Hickson prayed -with him and anointed him, followed by a laying on of hands (_sic_). -In the afternoon the surgeon arrived and made his examination. He was -greatly surprised. ‘The case puzzles me,’ he said. ‘There is a mark -of a new wound, but the cancer has gone!’ The cleric in question is -now perfectly well, and was with us the other day, but I believe the -surgeon has not yet recovered from his surprise.”’ - -The usual request to Mr. Hickson or any member of the Society of -Emmanuel to furnish details of this truly miraculous cure, which could -serve as a basis of investigation, followed, but no reply came to hand. -Again, I ask, has Mr. Hickson publicly repudiated this account of his -healing powers? - -(4) The following is an extract from an article in the _British Medical -Journal_ of May 22, 1909: - - -‘SPIRITUAL HEALING AND CANCER. - -‘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 evidence. For instance, most of the -patients on behalf of whom prayers were asked in the earlier numbers -of _The Healer_--which is published by Mr. J. M. Hickson, and which, -we suppose, may be regarded as the organ of the Society of Emmanuel -of which that gentleman is the president--are vaguely described -as suffering from “rheumatism,” “loss of nerve power,” “spinal -trouble,” “internal weakness,” “low vitality and great weakness,” -“heart trouble,” “internal trouble.” Some, indeed, are said to be the -subjects of “locomotor ataxy” and “consumption,” but no particulars -are given by which the diagnosis can be checked, and it is difficult -or impossible to trace the result of the treatment. In a report of the -past year published in the number for November 1908, Mr. Hickson does -give some details of a few cases. The two following taken at random -may be given as specimens: “Priest. Cancer in bowel. Specialist, -who examined him nine months ago under an anaesthetic, said that an -operation was impossible, and that he could not live for more than -about three months. He then sought help through Divine Healing, when -he was anointed with oil in the name of the Lord, and Mr. Hickson laid -his hands on him in prayer, after which he was examined by the same -Specialist, who found that a process of absorption was taking place. -He is now quite well.” “Lady’s Maid. Age about 28. Suffering from -rupture, which gave great pain. One year under treatment at Middlesex -Hospital, and, while waiting for an in-patient’s bed for operation, -was advised to seek help through Divine Healing. After three visits -to Mr. Hickson, two months ago, she is now quite well and strong, with -no pain or swelling. 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 done.” - -‘These cases are sufficiently definite to be tested, and we should be -glad if Mr. Hickson would supply us with the information necessary -for the purpose. We should undertake not to publish the names of the -patients or any particulars by which they could be identified. We -should place the results of our investigation honestly before our -readers.’ - -Result: No reply. If the first of these cases is the one already -referred to, it will be observed that the clear and definite denial of -the specialist in question goes for nothing; also that, like all other -stories of the kind, this has lost nothing in the telling. - -(5) The article goes on: - -‘In the meantime, we have succeeded in tracing a case more remarkable -than either of the two just cited, and the result is very instructive. -It was related in the third number of _The Healer_ (March 1908, p. 9) -by the Right Rev. L. G. Mylne, D.D., formerly Bishop of Bombay, in -a paper entitled “The Anointing of the Sick for their Healing.” It -has already been quoted in the _British Medical Journal_ of January -9, 1909, p. 109; but, to enable the reader to form a correct judgment -on the subject, it must be repeated here. Bishop Mylne said: “In the -latest up-to-date book on cancer, which is in the hands of the most -scientific men of to-day, there is a case quoted which is, I have no -doubt, correctly said to be a unique one of _abortive_ cancer. The -case is fully described from a medical point of view--how a patient, -stricken unquestionably with cancer, was found to have, in place of the -tumour, something which could only be called abortive cancer, the like -of which was never heard of before. I happen to know the whole history -of the case from the brother of the patient, himself a medical man. -It was this: The patient had been suffering from a serious affection -of the throat. He went to one specialist after another. Three eminent -men told him without hesitation that he was suffering from a cancer -growing on the vocal cords, and that nothing but their total excision -could save his life. He was a hard-working priest of our Church, and, -of course, the operation meant that he would never utter a word again. -However, his life had to be saved. The doctors came; the throat was -laid open; the operator had his knife in his hand to excise the vocal -cords. He stopped dead. Instead of applying the blade of the knife, he -took hold, between his thumb and the handle, of all he found there, and -peeled it off, just like the skin of a fruit. Between the diagnosis -and the operation the patient had been anointed with oil in the name -of the Lord. That is one of not a few cases which some of us know -about, but it is by far the best defined one I know of, and one that is -actually celebrated in medical circles; not, of course, being quoted as -an instance of what may be done by anointing, but as a case unique in -surgical experience.” We went on to say that we should be glad to have -fuller particulars, and we respectfully invited Bishop Mylne to furnish -us with the name of the “latest up-to-date book on cancer” from which -he quoted. - -‘In the meantime, we had been put on the track of the case by a -distinguished physician, and had obtained a report of the case from -the surgeon who operated. All, therefore, that was wanting was the -name of the book from which the quotation purported to be taken. -We communicated with Bishop Mylne on the subject, and we have to -acknowledge the courtesy with which he received our request for -information and the pains he took to procure it for us. _His Lordship -was, however, unable to gain the consent of those to whom he applied to -help in any way in supplying an answer to a very simple question._[12] -As the matter is one of general interest not only to the medical -profession but to the whole of mankind, we think it right to give the -true facts of the case, of course without disclosing the patient’s -identity. - - [12] The italics are mine. The Bishop is one whose statements, made - on behalf of ‘spiritual healing,’ have been accepted by persons at - any rate adequately educated. He writes a preposterous account of ‘an - abortive cancer,’ and professes to quote from ‘the latest up-to-date - book on cancer, which is in the hands of the most scientific men of - to-day.’ On being asked to give the name of the book, he says that he - cannot ‘obtain the consent of those to whom he applied.’ - -‘The operator was Mr. Butlin, who has been good enough to give us -permission to publish the following account. He saw the patient, who -was at that time thirty-seven years of age, in 1890. There was then a -very white patch, flat and sessile, on the middle of the left vocal -cord, looking like a papillary growth. A month later the surface seemed -to be ulcerated. The patient was seen by other well-known specialists, -who, like Mr. Butlin himself, were puzzled as to the nature of the -disease. Tubercle, papillary growth and malignant disease were in turn -considered, but no definite conclusion was arrived at. The patient was -treated in various ways for four months before it was thought right to -open the larynx. Mr. Butlin then operated in the presence of an eminent -specialist, a distinguished surgeon, and another medical man, a friend -of the patient.’ - -Somewhat to curtail the account, 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 papilloma. The latter -seemed on the face of it to be the more probable, though evidently -Mr. Butlin did not think so. Whatever it was, it was certainly not -malignant. It was scraped away without difficulty: no signs of -infiltration were observed, and, when last heard of, the patient’s -recovery seemed to be complete. The rest of the article in the -_British Medical Journal_ consists of some criticisms of Dr. Mylne’s -proceedings, which certainly do not appear to me to err on the side of -severity. - -The Society of Emmanuel has at last consented to allow the British -Medical Association to carry out a full investigation into its alleged -cures. The report will be interesting reading. Incidentally, it will be -instructive to note how many of the above cases have been submitted to -the investigators. - -Meanwhile, the danger is a real one. Probably an investigation into the -facts of the ‘cures’ reported by other ‘psychotherapeutic’ societies -would yield much the same results as have attended the inquiries into -the claims of the Society of Emmanuel. Not one of them, so far as I -know, even attempts to put its work on a scientific basis; and all -claim implicitly, if not explicitly, that they possess a power to cure -the most malignant organic diseases as well as functional neuroses. - -If this cult is allowed to spread among the ignorant and credulous -(and it seems to me that, _pari passu_ with waning faith, the most -childish credulity is rapidly increasing in our midst, often appearing -in the most unexpected places), a golden opportunity will be offered -to plausible impostors, without even the pretence of a scientific -training, to set up as ‘healers’ and reap a rich harvest of gain. A few -startling successes will be widely advertised, and the huge tale of -failures quietly ignored. But a more serious danger lies behind. - -I take the following from the _British Medical Journal_ of May 1, 1909: - -‘A man with some slight symptoms of bladder trouble consulted an -eminent specialist, who discovered a small growth which could easily -have been removed. It was arranged that the patient should undergo an -operation. In the meantime he fell among Christian Scientists, who -persuaded him that he was quite well. And, indeed, for a time the -symptoms almost ceased. But the insidious disease remorselessly went -its way, till the unfortunate patient was past all surgery.’ - -If it be said that the societies I have mentioned repudiate all -connexion with Christian Science, I reply that by their fruits must -they be judged. Both Christian Science and the various associations -for spiritual healing profess to heal any and every disease, and offer -proofs of their claim, which, whenever they have been tested, have been -shown to be utterly without foundation. - - -III. _Spiritual Healing on a Scientific Basis_ - -In a book which has recently appeared, ‘Body and Soul,’ by the Rev. -Percy Dearmer, we have a serious and able attempt to put ‘spiritual -healing’ on a scientific basis. Considerations of space do not permit -me to deal as fully as I should wish with this really interesting -book, but, if I may try to put the general argument into a single -paragraph, Mr. Dearmer’s contention is as follows: - -Bodily functions and bodily health are regulated and sustained by -what may be called the lower nerve centres in the medulla of the -brain. It is by the exercise of these centres, which in turn control -the circulation, the secretion of various glands, &c., that the body -combats disease. This work is continually going on and we are for the -most part quite unconscious of it. But, says Mr. Dearmer, ‘we now know -that these centres are in direct connexion with the higher centres of -the cortex of the brain.’ I should think we do. So did our ancestors a -hundred years ago. Their knowledge of the work of such centres as the -vasomotor, the respiratory, the heat-regulating, &c., was fragmentary -and imperfect to the last degree, but not one of them had any doubt -that myriads of nerve fibres connected the cortex with the medulla. -Let us, therefore, know how to stimulate the cortex, and all disease -(organic as well as functional) can be cured. Hence, when our Lord -cured Bartimæus’s blindness, and when a ‘healer’ cures locomotor ataxy, -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 current. - -This sounds plausible enough. There is nothing very new in it; indeed, -when we come to analyse it, we shall see that, so far as general -principles go, there is nothing which was not perfectly familiar in -Sydenham’s day, or which the most materialistic practitioner of our -own time would not admit without a moment’s hesitation. But, of the -limitations of his process, Mr. Dearmer only seems to have a confused -idea. Let us take one of the instances which he adduces in illustration -of his argument. He is speaking (p. 33) of the familiar phenomenon of -blushing. ‘When a person blushes,’ says our author, ‘the small arteries -are relaxed and dilate, the amount of blood in them is increased, and -this hot red fluid flows in such quantities through the capillaries -of the skin that the skin itself becomes hot and red. It is strange -that the thought “He says I am a pretty girl” should cause the small -arteries to behave in this way; but the physiological explanation is -simple enough. These arteries are supplied with muscles which regulate -them, and all muscles are worked by nerves. The thought in the higher -conscious centres has somehow seen fit to hitch itself on to the -arterial muscles, just as when we telephone to a friend in the City -the exchange connects us on to his office. _Now, supposing it to be -possible to cure a man, say of indigestion by thought, the process -would be the same._’ - -‘Supposing it to be possible to cure a man of indigestion by thought,’ -this is a statement which no one would wish to dispute. But I -expect Mr. Dearmer would be surprised to hear that the analogy of -the excitation of the vaso-dilator centre, which causes blushing, -can be applied to only a few varieties of indigestion. Roughly, the -commonest causes of indigestion might be said to be: (_a_) anæmia, -or an insufficient supply of blood to the mucous membrane of the -stomach; (_b_) an imperfect secretion of hydrochloric acid and the -digestive fluids owing to structural defects in the glands of the -stomach, usually a hereditary condition; (_c_) a dilated organ; (_d_) -some pathological condition of the accessory large glands, e.g. liver -and pancreas; (_e_) dyspepsia, owing to faulty balance of the nervous -system. Any one of these five is fairly common, but only in the -last is there a shred of evidence for supposing that suggestion or -any other factor which would cause the higher, and through them the -lower, nervous centres to show a healthy activity, would bring about -amelioration or a cure, while there is much evidence against any -supposition of the kind. - -Mr. Dearmer elsewhere lays it down that healing by excitation of the -‘undermind’ is only possible where the case is ‘curable.’ If, he says -in effect, the case is incurable, 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 admission?], _but so will any -other more material means_. To this one may be permitted to reply: - -(i) In many acute infections, e.g. scarlet fever, typhoid fever, -cholera, where complete recovery may be expected if (_a_) the infection -is not too virulent, (_b_) the resisting power of the tissues is -vigorous and unimpaired, suggestion in any form--hope, the desire -to live, the unexpected arrival of a much-loved friend, &c.--will -most certainly assist the patient to battle with the disease. But -these factors will always operate without the elaboration of a -psychotherapeutic philosophy, and really I do not like the idea of -encouraging the adoption of a solemn form of prayer, unction, and -the laying on of hands, when all the evidence to hand points to this -‘treatment’ having in acute infections just as much value as (but -no more than) the realisation on the part of the patient that, if -he dies at that particular time, his business will be left in an -unsatisfactory condition and perhaps in incompetent hands. - -(ii) In the case of what are usually termed chronic ‘organic’ -conditions, honours are no longer even. Let us take four crucial -examples. - -(_a_) Malignant tumours. - -Certainly we have no warrant for supposing that in any, except cases -of the extremest rarity, the ‘undermind’ can possibly effect a cure. -But in a very large number of cases which are taken sufficiently early -and are otherwise favourable, extirpation by the surgeon’s knife can -and does save the life of the individual and prevent recurrence of -the tumour. I say again that an attitude of hesitancy on this subject -by those who, like Mr. Dearmer, approach the question in a scientific -spirit, and their quasi-acceptance of the alleged cures of cancer by -spiritual and other healers, which hopelessly break down when anything -like impartial investigation is brought to bear on them--all this is -likely to be productive of infinite harm. In the case of cancer or -sarcoma a day’s delay may make the whole difference between hope and -despair. - -(_b_) A class of disease of which a good example is tuberculous -affections of bone. - -Here we have to do with what is strictly a non-malignant condition. -That is to say, there is always a fair ground for hoping that surgery -may operate like auxiliary steam power in the battleships of the -Crimean period. Help nature (or the ‘undermind’) enough and, other -conditions being favourable, a tolerably satisfactory result may be -expected. But, really, clinical experience in all civilised communities -for the past fifty or sixty years must be allowed to have some value; -and the value surely lies in this, that the experienced surgeon knows -more or less exactly when to excise or scrape and when to refrain. -That anyone should prefer to this the services of some unqualified, -inexperienced ‘healer,’ who bids his patient trust in prayer, unction, -or whatever his method is, telling him that if his faith is sufficient -the largest sinus will be cleared up and the most distressing ankylosis -broken down, simply strikes me with amazement. If the ‘healers’ really -wish us to believe their claims, let them produce a properly codified -list of cases which can be thoroughly investigated. - -(_c_) Diseases in which certain drugs are empirically known to act with -marked success, e.g. malaria. Here, properly graduated quantities of -quinine _can_ and _do_ effect an absolute cure. There is no evidence -whatever that suggestion in any form can do the same. - -(_d_) What may be called progressive organic conditions, e.g. cirrhosis -of the liver. - -I entirely agree that, in the conditions of which this is an example, -scientific medicine can only hope to ameliorate and render life more -tolerable to the sufferer. - -But here I come to close grips with our author, whose close and fair -reasoning it is a real pleasure to follow. In a very large proportion -of the diseases from which people die, the pathological condition -consists in the deposition of fibrous tissue in some organ or part of -the general system. The causes and clinical varieties are endless, but -the result the same. To instance only a few, we have: - -(_a_) Granular kidney, i.e. chronic Bright’s disease. - -(_b_) Cirrhotic liver. - -(_c_) Arterio-sclerosis, resulting in cerebral hæmorrhage -(stroke--apoplexy--paralysis). - -(_d_) Locomotor ataxy. - -(_e_) Tuberculous peritonitis with adhesions. - -Now, in all these, the fibrous tissue is first deposited as an -effort on the part of Nature to repair the damage done by an acute -or chronic inflammation. But, unfortunately, not only does this -fibrous tissue take the place of normal cells, whose activity is of -the utmost importance in preserving the health of the individual, but -it invariably tends after a time to contract; from which contraction -further damage and the gravest results are likely to ensue. It will -be observed that in its simplest form a fibrotic change is of the -nature of real repair. Thus, after a deep cut or extensive injury to -the skin, we all know that a ‘scar’ results. This affords admirable -protection to the damaged area. Nor does the subsequent contraction -seriously matter. Care has to be taken to allow for it in the treatment -of extensive burns, and considerable allowance is made for contraction -in the suturing of skin incisions made in the course of an operation. -But except when the scar is on the face, where it is objectionable -for cosmetic reasons, a contracting superficial scar is seldom a -cause of serious inconvenience. But the case is very different in -the kidney or the spinal cord. Contraction there causes an extensive -destruction of delicate cells, and, by cutting off the blood supply, a -great impairment of function, if not actual necrosis, of an infinite -number of cells which were not directly affected by the preceding -inflammation. And so the vicious circle goes on. - -Does Nature make no effort to play the part of the spear of Achilles -and ‘heal the wounds which she herself has made’? Only to a negligible -extent, on account of the vicious circle just alluded to. So we have -the curious phenomenon that in the skin and round the broken ends of a -fractured bone (for what is called callus is really only fibrous tissue -with special bony elements superimposed) fibrous tissue is very slowly -but more or less steadily absorbed; while in the places where such -absorption would be of the utmost value to the individual it hardly -takes place at all. - -Now, the reader will observe that this fibrous tissue is, in the first -instance, laid down by the activity of leucocytes acting, to some -extent at any rate, in obedience to impulses from the circulatory -centres of the medulla, to which Mr. Dearmer quite rightly attaches -considerable importance. They make up, in fact, his ‘undermind.’ I can -only say that, so far as any pathological evidence which we possess -justifies us in coming to a definite conclusion, we can but suppose -that a stimulation of these lower centres to greater activity, by -excitation through suggestion of the higher ones, would lead to a -further deposition of fibrous tissue, to the great detriment of the -general condition of the patient. Any attempt at subsequent absorption -seems to be practically negligible. - -So, in the case of blind Bartimæus, Mr. Dearmer’s contention that our -Lord acted by suggestion is almost demonstrably untrue. At least, it -is only even remotely probable on the supposition that Bartimæus was -suffering from snow blindness, toxic amblyopia, or one of those rare -conditions following on such a sudden, but transitory, disturbance of -the nervous system as sea-sickness. And since snow blindness is for -obvious reasons unknown in Palestine, and since he certainly did not -use tobacco, and probably, like most Jews, hated the sea, this does -not seem to be a likely explanation. If, on the other hand, it was a -case of corneal opacity following trachoma, cataract, or glaucoma, -or some condition resulting in atrophy of the optic nerve, it may be -safely affirmed that the method of healing was emphatically not that so -carefully worked out by Mr. Dearmer. - - -IV. _The ‘Neurotic’ Theory of the Miracles of the New Testament_ - -The whole question of our Lord’s miracles of healing, regarded merely -as so many faith cures, has been discussed in an admirable essay -contributed by Dr. R. J. Ryle to the _Hibbert Journal_ of April 1907. -He had before him no such systematic attempt to defend this view -as that made by Mr. Dearmer, but only the rather loose theorising -of certain ‘Modernists’ who, however competent they may be to deal -with textual criticism, are hardly in their element when reviewing -pathological probabilities. Dr. Ryle quotes Professor Harnack as saying: - -‘That the earth in its course stood still, that a she-ass spoke, that -a storm was quieted by a word, we do not believe, and we shall never -again believe; but that the lame walked, the blind saw, and the deaf -heard will not be so summarily dismissed as an illusion.’[13] - - [13] _What is Christianity?_ - -Others write to the same effect. ‘Progressive criticism,’ says Dr. -Ryle, ‘has adopted, with much assurance, the opinion that the diseases -which were healed were what doctors commonly speak of as functional -diseases of the nervous system, and that the production of a strong -mental impression was the means by which the miracles of healing were -brought about. 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 points. Thus Dr. Abbott tells -us that the mighty works were simply “acts of faith-healing on a -mighty scale.” The “Encyclopædia Biblica” lays it down that “it is -quite permissible for us to regard as historical only those of the -class which, even at the present day, physicians are able to effect -by psychical methods.” Principal Estlin Carpenter (in the “First -Three Gospels”) says, “The real force which worked the patient’s cure -dwelt in his own mind: the power of Jesus lay in the potency of his -personality to evoke this force.” - -‘The writers have adopted what may be called, for brevity, the Neurotic -Theory. It is for them to show by an actual examination of the records -that the ministry of healing which is admitted “to stand on as firm -historical ground as the best accredited parts of the teaching,” -consisted in the curing of neurotic patients by strong mental -impressions. Have they done so?’ - -Dr. Ryle has, of course, no difficulty in showing that they have done -nothing of the kind. - -‘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 detail. We are offered a number of quite commonplace allusions to -the power of mind over body, and we find a complacent conviction -expressed in several ways by several writers to the effect that a -certain class of disorders, which are vaguely alluded to as “nervous,” -are promptly curable by emotional methods. 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 diseases; and that of nervous -diseases, again, only a very small and unimportant group admit of cure -in this way. - -‘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 -this: - -‘1. They must show that the diseases which Christ is said to have -cured were of the kind which experience proves to admit of psychical -treatment. - -‘2. 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 effected, when what has been -called moral therapeutics has been the method employed.’ - -The difficulty is obvious. If our Lord was merely a faith healer, the -results of long and laborious investigations into many faith-healing -systems, all presenting very much the same features both in methods of -treatment and effects, justify us in assuming that the number of cures -would have been strictly limited. - -‘But then, quickly enough, would follow the discovery that the powers -of healing were available not for all, but only for a small and limited -group of disorders; for in any casual collection of sick people, though -there might be perhaps here one and here another suitable patient for a -faith-healing exhibition, the majority would be unsuitable. What, then, -of the failures? - -‘The difficulty here referred to has not been wholly overlooked, and it -is worth while to notice how the attempt has been made to meet it. “Did -a kind of instinct (asks Dr. Abbott) tell Him that the restoration of -a lost limb was not like the cure of a paralytic, not one of the works -prepared for Him by His Father?” and again, “Experience and some kind -of intuition may have enabled Him to distinguish those cases which He -could heal from those (a far more numerous class) which He could not.” - -‘The suggestion would not commend itself to a medical reader as a -very happy way out of the difficulty. The naïve supposition that -in cases of disease which require unusually minute and scientific -investigation diagnosis was made “by a kind of instinct” or “some -kind of intuition” is quite on a par with the innocent conception of -the nature of diseases of the nervous system which Dr. Abbott shows -elsewhere. Dr. 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 Jerusalem. Why should he imagine that he -was less likely to be at fault in the presence of equally difficult -problems of another kind? The assumption of an infallible capacity -for discrimination, which could arrive at correct conclusions without -the use of any of the methods and appliances of scientific medicine, -is merely to substitute one kind of “supernaturalism” for another. -A miraculous faculty of diagnosis is no easier of acceptance than a -miraculous cure. A “kind of instinct” is an absurd supposition.’ - -Dr. Ryle then examines in detail certain of the healing miracles as -related by the Evangelists. The result is to leave the intelligent -reader in no doubt that in nine out of ten of the cases of ‘paralysis’ -brought to Him, our Lord would have been, on the ‘neurotic’ hypothesis, -no more likely to effect a cure than (to take Dr. Abbott’s example) in -‘the restoration of a lost limb.’ His clear account of the case of the -man with the withered hand, which the non-medical reader will be able -to follow without difficulty, is worth quoting in full. - -‘In the story of the man with the withered hand it is probable that we -have to do with another case of paralysis; and if so, we may assume -with considerable confidence that the case was one of “infantile -paralysis.” This is the affection to which at the present day nearly -all the instances of “withered hand” or of “withered leg” are owing. A -child who has been in good health, or has suffered perhaps from a few -days of feverishness, is found to have lost power in an arm or leg. -The limb hangs flaccid and motionless. The muscles are found to be -wasting when the limb is examined a week or two later, and the limb to -be cold. For a month or two there may be a little recovery of movement. -This soon stops, and the arm or leg remains ever after more or less -powerless and shrunken and cold. Normal growth is largely checked, -and, in addition to the actual atrophy and arrest of development, -various contractions and deformities become established as time goes -on. After death the muscles are found to have become much diminished -and shrunken, and throughout a certain portion of the spinal cord, -corresponding with the affected limb, 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 palsy. Such is the ordinary history of a -withered hand. Here the very word “withered,” which aptly describes -the condition of the limb, is the most appropriate description of the -result of the process which has taken place. If such was the pathology -of the case described in Mark iii. 1, it is needless to say that, -although it belongs to the group of the nervous diseases, it does not -belong to that class of nervous disease which admits of treatment by -moral impression or emotional shock.’ - -If this is accepted in the case of what may truly be described as -‘nervous diseases,’ then _à fortiori_ the improbability of the view -taken by ‘progressive criticism’ is enormously enhanced when we come to -consider the healing of the blind, the ‘woman with an issue of blood,’ -and others where the nervous system was not primarily, if at all, -affected. - -The conclusion of the whole matter seems to be this. Medical science -has at her command a vast accumulation of clinical material on which -she is able to form a clearly reasoned judgment. There is no such -thing in Medicine as a ‘chose jugée.’ No single verdict ever found -but is open to revision if the evidence is satisfactory. But we do -claim that it should be recognised, by all who have the interests of -truth at heart, that the limits of ‘psychotherapeutics,’ ‘spiritual’ -or otherwise, are, according to our present knowledge, sufficiently -well defined, and that nothing has yet been brought forward to warrant -anyone in making an exception in favour of any one society or method. - - -V. _Clergy and Doctors_ - -So much may be said on the critical side. - -A few words, for many are not needed, may be added as to the positive -advantages of a clear understanding between the Church and scientific -Medicine, as to the spheres in which both may hope to operate in -fulfilment of a genuine desire to cure or alleviate bodily disease. - -(1) The clergy have an unrivalled opportunity of taking the lead in -educating public opinion on the subject. In no other religious body in -the world is the ministry of so high a class, not merely socially (a -small matter) but intellectually, morally, and spiritually, as in the -Anglican Communion. As a result, I know no body of men better able to -come to sane and balanced conclusions on any subjects, the details of -which are within their own experience. They touch life at many points. -Their calling brings them into contact with vast numbers of people, -and they usually show in their dealings with others a broad-minded -tolerance and shrewd common-sense which is beyond praise. I do not -hesitate to say that, if I were accused of a crime which I knew I had -not committed, I should feel safer if the trial were conducted before -a jury of Anglican clergymen than before men drawn from any other -profession; but in this matter of ‘spiritual’ or ‘psychic’ healing -they have not risen to the occasion. An article in the _Church Times_ -of February 18, 1910, lies before me. A dogmatic gentleman (or lady, -perhaps--the style is essentially feminine) writes the most confident -nonsense on the subject of the ‘Gift of Healing’ that ever filled two -columns. Here is an extract, not by any means the most precious gem -from the entire chaplet, but a fair example of the whole: - -‘The gift of healing is simply a human gift ... like the gift of -music or any other gift, and also, like music, present in some people -more than in others, though probably present in some degree in nearly -everybody.... The gift transcends all knowledge, it cures diseases -considered incurable. Consumption, cancer, blindness, deafness, -cripples (_sic_), &c., this is within our practical experience to-day, -so that it stands to reason that the art of curing by medicine will -gradually disappear as the gift of healing grows and develops. Not -so the scientific knowledge of the doctors, which will be used more -and more where it ought to be used, and that is _in the prevention of -disease_.’ - -Comment would be quite superfluous. But what follows is instructive. -In the next issue of the _Church Times_ the irrepressible Mr. Hickson -and the ‘Warden of the Guild of Health’ rush into print with some -rather vague assertions about the ‘spiritual nature’ of this gift. -There is an extremely sensible letter from a doctor, pointing out with -great moderation that, if there is any evidence for those confident -assertions, he would be glad to know what it amounted to. No clergyman -seems to have thought it worth his while to disclaim agreement with the -wild statements of the writer of the article. - -In the first place, then, I would appeal to the clergy to inform -themselves as to the limitation of ‘spiritual healing,’ 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 life; and to act as wise advisers to their people -in this matter. - -(2) The clergy will do well to remember that a great deal of bodily -_ill-health_ may exist quite independently of bodily _disease_. These -cases are commoner than cases of organic malady. There is plenty of -scope for ameliorative work in connexion with them. At the risk of -being thought egotistical, I may be allowed to quote a case which -recently came under my own observation, and which is typical of a large -number of others. - -A young man, who was clearly very far from being of a neurotic or -hysterical type, came to me complaining of severe pain in the region of -the heart. It had, according to his account, been gradually increasing -for some time. It frequently came on after he had run upstairs, and on -one occasion had been intense after running to catch a train. It was -sometimes accompanied by violent palpitation and breathlessness, and -had no relation to food. Would I tell him if his heart was all right? I -examined the heart and could find no trace of any abnormal condition. -Nor could I find any evidence of anything in the abdomen which would -be likely to account for the pain. I told him that his heart was -absolutely sound and that there appeared to be nothing to suggest -disease anywhere. A rather careful diet would do him no harm. If it -did not do any good, it would be easy enough to prescribe a tonic, but -I did not think it necessary. I never expected to see him again. Five -months later, however, he called and explained with much gravity that -he had come to thank me for ‘curing his heart.’ I then remembered the -case, and was fairly staggered. ‘But bless my soul,’ I said rather -brusquely, ‘there never was anything the matter with your heart.’ ‘No,’ -he replied, this time with a quiet smile, ‘I know there wasn’t. All I -can say is that from the time you told me it was all right, the pain -disappeared, and I have never had any return of it. But, look here, -when it was there, _the pain was real_.’ - -I have no doubt it was. To label all such cases as ‘hysterical,’ -‘neurotic,’ and so on (in the ordinary connotation of these terms) -is utterly unscientific. This young fellow was a sensible, cheerful, -rather unimaginative youth without a trace of ‘_neurasthenia_’ about -him. Yet, by coming to believe that his heart was diseased, 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 conditions. - -Now, in such a case as this (and the number of them must be very large -indeed) the parish clergyman has a great scope for quiet, useful work. -Let him urge the patient not to dwell on his supposed condition, but -go at once to a competent practitioner and find out what exactly -(if anything) is the matter. The clergyman will find that (if he -has the patient’s consent) the doctor will make no difficulty about -affording him the fullest information about the physical condition of -the patient, and from their co-operation the happiest results may be -expected. - -(3) Conversely, there are many cases where a sympathetic doctor would -be only too glad to be in touch with a parish clergyman. Occasionally -we get at the hospital a note from a clergyman, saying that X. Y. is to -call at the Out-Patients’ Department to-day, and that the writer would -be glad to know in confidence what is the matter with him. I only wish -we had more. If there is no objection raised by the patient, there is -no difficulty whatever about entering into the fullest particulars, -and in those cases (and they are far from infrequent) where the -patient complains of ‘worries,’ a sympathetic adviser on the spot -will probably do more to bring about an improvement in the physical -condition than all the compounds of iron, strychnine, &c., in the -hospital pharmacopœia. The full consent of the patient is, of course, -an indispensable preliminary. When this is obtained, the rest is easy -enough. - -(4) In the same way, when there is a suspicion or fairly clear evidence -that health is being undermined by some evil habit, the sympathetic -clergyman, who knows the patient well, can do far more for him than the -most skilled doctor who has probably only seen him once or twice. Why -any clergyman should want to babble about a special ‘gift of healing’ -in dealing with these most distressing cases, considering what the -evidence on the subject of a ‘gift of healing’ is, I cannot conceive. -The unostentatious, healthy influence of a cultured Christian gentleman -has a potency which no manipulation or ritual is in the least likely -to enhance. If he will equip himself with the necessary information as -to the ‘patient’s’ actual physical condition, he can set to work to -exercise his influence, with the knowledge that he will probably effect -more, so far as a permanent result goes, than all the self-styled -‘healers’ who ever supported scientific misstatements with bad logic, -or clouded with frothy verbiage what intellect they possess. - - - - -OUR LORD’S ATTITUDE TOWARDS SICKNESS - -BY - -W. YORKE FAUSSET, M.A. - -VICAR OF CHEDDAR AND PREBENDARY OF WELLS - - - - -OUR LORD’S ATTITUDE TOWARDS SICKNESS - -BY W. YORKE FAUSSET, M.A. - - -(1) Men are commonly influenced by actions and personal example much -more powerfully than by abstract teaching; and the Christian tradition -conforms to this principle in placing the three Synoptic Gospels in -the forefront of the New Testament. For they set before us the mind -of Christ in the words and acts of Jesus. Thus when the thoughtful -Christian is asked, ‘What is the Gospel view of disease?’ he will be -inclined to reply, ‘The question is a difficult one, but we may say -with some confidence that our Lord answered it by His miracles of -healing.’ A study of these and of their underlying principles may help -us towards the definition we seek. - -The records are fragmentary. Yet they are warm with living realism. The -great facts of our Faith stand out before us in the moving drama of -the Synoptic Gospels,[14] just as truly as they are interpreted for -us in the spiritual Gospel, the Fourth. Jesus Christ is portrayed as -the Son of Man: and whatever else that most significant title denotes, -it speaks to us of His human activity, His practical and energetic -sympathy with the sins and sorrows of men. And this activity found -its exercise in two directions: teaching and healing. The association -of the two things is noteworthy, as indicating a great principle. The -sins of mankind are not unconnected with their sicknesses; spiritual -restoration with bodily relief. A calm of soul may bring rest to the -body. He who fulfilled in His earthly ministry the prophetic office -was also a ‘Physician of extraordinary achievement.’[15] To render -Professor Bousset’s words, though we cannot reproduce their eloquence: - - [14] Euseb. H. E. vi. 14. 7. So called first by Clement of Alexandria. - - [15] Professor Bousset’s _Jesus_ (3rd ed. 1907, p. 26). - -‘How the simple populace must have hailed this Deliverer in every time -of need! With what unspeakable confidence they must have thronged -him! At his coming, despair lifted its head, dull eyes glistened, -weary hands and arms reached forth towards him. They trusted him -for everything, all things became possible. Body and soul with all -their needs they brought to him for healing. The cries of need and -anguish, the confidence which knew no limitations, the craving for -help, the faltering prayer, the shouts or sobs of joy, the tears of -gratitude--daily he moved in the midst of it all.’ - -Are we then to conclude that our Lord attached no less importance to -the cure of bodily ailment than to the spiritual redemption of men? -Much has been written of late years which might seem to imply this. -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 spirit: witness His words in the Sermon on the Mount about taking -thought for the life or the body.[16] And therefore we must avoid mere -rhetoric and special pleading. - - [16] Matt. vi. 25. - -(i) It is plain, at the outset, that our Lord set certain limits to the -exercise of His healing activity. What has often been said of miracles -in general[17] may be said of the miracles of healing. There is a -severe economy in the exercise of such supernatural, or extranatural, -powers. This is illustrated by our Lord’s apparent reluctance to work -miracles when it is not certain that a true faith asks for it.[18] -In other words, the receptivity of men is necessary to the Divine -transaction with the sufferer. - - [17] E.g. by Dr. Illingworth, _Divine Immanence_, p. 120. - - [18] Cp. John iv. 48: ‘Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not - believe.’ - -Again, He is slow to exercise His power outside the boundaries of -Israel, within which He was pleased to confine His work of preaching -and healing. Possibly He knew that there He would be welcomed as a mere -wonder-working magician. He makes it a condition of His action that the -atmosphere should be one of real faith.[19] He could there do no mighty -works because of their unbelief.[20] Was it because of the waning -faith of the multitudes that, towards the end of His work on earth, -the Healing Ministry almost ceases?[21] Whether on this account, or in -the desire to escape the demonstrations of popular interest which the -miracles evoked, or because the full evidential effect of these ‘signs’ -was now almost attained, He restricts His healing, life-giving power to -some four cases, one of them the raising of Lazarus. For each and all a -special reason can be found.[22] - - [19] On this see next chapter, p. 209. - - [20] Mark vi. 5, 6; Matt. xiii. 58. - - [21] Professor A. B. Bruce, _Miraculous Elements in the Gospels_, p. - 265. - - [22] Luke xiv. 3: Vindication of the true principle of the Sabbath; - John xi.: Lazarus, His ‘friend,’ the only brother of Martha and Mary; - also Trench’s _Miracles_, p. 434 sq.; Luke xvii. 16: The universality - of His salvation; Mark x. 47: The appeal to the Son of David. (The - Healing of Malchus stands by itself.) - -(ii) Christ’s healing activity was therefore strictly limited in -scope. It may be asked, Was it a ‘unique manifestation of a unique -Personality’[23] or did it differ in degree rather than in kind from -the wonderful works of human healers, or, at all events, of healers -who have wrought ‘in the name of Jesus Christ’? The latter view by no -means commits its advocates to a ‘humanitarian’ view of the Person of -Jesus Christ: while it amply satisfies the facts. Again, it is not -necessary, for the purpose of the present discussion, to digress into -the field of New Testament criticism. Renan, in his ‘Vie de Jésus,’ -feels himself constrained to apologise for the miraculous action of -Christ, on the ground that ‘the rôle of thaumaturge was unwelcome to -him, but was imposed upon him by his contemporaries.’[24] To Loisy, a -critic of profounder learning and far more reverent temper, it appears -that the miracles were in reality ‘works of mercy ... and not a direct -argument in favour of the Messiahship of the Saviour,’ a complexion -which was afterwards put upon them more or less unconsciously by -the Evangelists.[25] But it is quite consistent with a reverent -acknowledgment of the Divinity of our Lord, and an acceptance of the -Gospel records in substance as they stand, 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 which, in itself, -betokened the expected Messiah; rather than an immediate exercise of -Almighty power, and the utterance, within the physical order, of the -Eternal Word. We find our Lord proclaiming Himself, in the synagogue -of Nazareth, the Fulfiller of that great prophecy of Isaiah in his -sixty-first chapter, in which the Messianic mission is set forth -in language in which a spiritual and a physical deliverance are -inseparably intertwined.[26] Similarly, in answer to the Baptist’s -message, the same blending of evangelical teaching and spiritual -healing is to be noticed; and, once again, sin and disease stand out as -the dominant factors in the condition of this present world. - - [23] Illingworth, _Divine Immanence_, p. 119. - - [24] Renan, _Vie de Jésus_, p. 264. - -[25] Loisy, _L’Évangile et l’Église_, p. 17. - - [26] Luke iv. 18: note the double sense in the words - -(iii) But if the source of the miracles is thus to be sought in the -Sacred Humanity, that Humanity is, after all, the perfect ideal and -norm of all humanity. Whatever exceptional powers of genius, whatever -special faculties and latent gifts of mind and will have appeared at -rare intervals among men, these we should expect to find exemplified, -one and all, in the Life of Christ, had that Life come down to us in -a complete form. Now, it cannot be questioned that in every age a few -individuals have been found, who were endowed with a preternatural -therapeutic power, connected generally with a very subtle power of -sympathy, but, in some instances, if we may believe what we are told, -inherent in a person who had no wish whatever to exercise it.[27] That -some such virtue resided in Christ, and accounts for some part of His -healing work, need not be questioned. The records may be said to imply -it in two passages,[28] that which relates to the act of the woman who -touched the hem of His garment in the crowd, and that which speaks of -this method of cure as ofttimes repeated. They besought Him that they -might touch if it were but the border of his garment--and as many as -touched were made whole. - - [27] See an article by Dr. A. T. Schofield in the _Contemporary - Review_, March 1909, for examples. - - [28] Matt. ix. 20 (Mark v. 27); Matt. xiv. 36 (Mark vi. 56); also - Luke vi. 19: Power came forth from Him and healed them all. Cp. - Acts, xix. 11, 12 and v. 15; the Apostles and, apparently, our Lord - sanctioned a sort of sacramental medium of cure to meet the needs of - a simple populace. - -It is possible, no doubt, to account for such cures on a purely -naturalistic hypothesis, such as that which Keim[29] accepts, viz. -that they were cases of faith-healing; a phenomenon which recurs in -connexion with nearly every form of religious belief, and in every -stage of social development. The influence of the spiritual imagination -on the bodily state is undeniable. Everyone knows something about the -phenomena of Lourdes and Bethshan, healing resorts which, theologically -speaking, lie at opposite poles. In a cruder form the same effects are -found in connexion with holy wells and relics of the saints.[30] We may -go back to the ancients and find wonderful cures reported in the pagan -world, from the shrines of Asclepius (the patron deity of physicians). -A blind man touches the altar of Aesculapides (as he was called at -Rome) on the island of the Tiber and receives his sight.[31] The -Emperors Hadrian and Vespasian used to touch for the ‘King’s evil.’[32] - - [29] See Bruce, _op. cit._ p. 275. - - [30] See chaps. xxvi. and xxxi. in Rev. Percy Dearmer’s _Body and - Soul_. - - [31] O. Weinreich, _Antike Heilungswunden_, p. 63. Scholars will - remember how Plutus recovered his sight by incubation in the temple - of Asclepius in Aristophanes’ play. - - [32] Weinreich, p. 75. - -But can anyone study the miracles of our Lord as a whole (for we must -not lose sight of those wrought upon inanimate nature) and feel that -they are sufficiently explained by a familiar truth in psychology, -viz. that the religious imagination is able to stimulate the bodily -forces, whatever may be the spiritual soil in which that imagination -is bred? Faith, or a conscious receptivity in the mind of the patient, -was a frequent factor in the healing process; 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 son. It is surely remarkable -that our Lord held Himself aloof from all those methods of cure which -might have suggested the enchanter and magician, particularly in the -case of demoniacs. The Jews, like other ancient nations, resorted to -the use of exorcism, incantation, and talismans, which owed their -potency to their effect on the imagination. Christ does not hypnotise -men or throw them into an ecstasy. Where faith is present, He gladly -works through it towards the salvation of the whole man. But often -there is a mere flicker of faith, a spark in the flax. In the sick -room, when the vital forces are enfeebled, the brain clouded, and the -spirits depressed by physical malady, it is a rare thing, surely, for -the flame of faith to burn brightly and the imagination to glow with -the consciousness of an unseen Presence. And the Church would have but -little encouragement to invoke for her own ministries the healing Power -of her Master, if it could only be enlisted on behalf of such patients -as already possessed ‘comfort and sure confidence in their Lord.’ -We believe that the Church has something less elusive to offer her -people in their hour of need: and we return to the records of Christ’s -miracles in order to discover it. - -(iv) The value of what is called ‘mental therapeutics’ is no longer -contested; it receives, and has received for some time, the careful -attention of the medical profession.[33] We approach the subject from -the religious standpoint, we base our study of it upon the teaching -and practice of Jesus Christ. Accordingly, we must discriminate -between psychic treatment and spiritual treatment. The former term, -if applicable to religious treatment, can also denote forms of mental -cure which are unconnected with religion, e.g. the use of hypnotism. -But Christ addresses Himself to the Spirit (πνευμα), that highest -element of our nature, through which the mystics hold that we have -kinship with God, and in unison with which the Holy Spirit attests -our Divine sonship. His miracles are works of _spiritual_ healing, -they are wrought for the whole man, not only for soul, and certainly -not only for body. Christ’s view of healing is relative to His view -of disease, His view of disease to His view of human nature. Had -he attached to bodily health the supreme importance which it is the -tendency of our day to assign to it, and regarded bodily pain as a -thing at all costs to be effaced, we must suppose that His whole -Life upon earth would have been devoted to the relief of sickness -and pain, and that the ‘Healing Ministry’ of His Church would have -been far more clearly defined. But no more does He abolish disease -than He abolishes pauperism. The tendency of His teaching is to -inculcate self-sufficingness (the αὐταρκεία, of St. Paul[34] and the -Greek philosophers) in the face of all temporary evils and ailments, -the conquest of things material by the spirit, its supremacy in the -hierarchy of human nature; in a word, the principle of inner control or -autonomy, as the birthright of the human spirit. In his great picture -of the Transfiguration, Raphael has caught this contrast between -the calm of the heavenly Mount above and the ineffective, agonised -distraction of suffering humanity here below, in the person of the -lunatic boy and his father. But that heavenly calm of spirit is not the -self-centred aloofness of the Stoic. The doctrine of the Incarnation -brings the Divine Saviour down to men, lifts man up to the peace of -heaven,[35] and at the same time bids him find that peace in fulfilling -the bodily duties of his corporate Church life. It will not admit of a -selfish quietism. But before this peace of God which Christ proclaims, -the worry and ‘fear-thought’ of our overstrung modern age, its neurotic -sensationalism and morbid self-analysis, would retire abashed. Christ -would teach us that human nature is itself only when it is itself in -its completeness, when the physical is truly the instrument of the -spiritual. There is no dualism, no schism in human nature as Divinely -planned. The voluptuary and the ascetic are both at fault, the former -more so because he sins against the higher self. Christ is the Saviour -of the whole man, and to the sick He restores ‘perfect soundness,’[36] -nor does He refuse to be called the Saviour of the body.[37] - - [33] See _British Medical Journal_, June 18, 1910.[**unmatched - footnote] - - [34] Philippians, iv. 11. - - [35] There is an adumbration of this in the four sublime truths of - Buddhism, which lead a man by the sacrifice of the lower self and the - helping of others to the final extinction of pain. Bishop Westcott’s - _Gospel of Life_, pp. 162, 163. Hardwick, _Christ and other Masters_, - p. 168. - - [36] Acts iii. 16: St. Peter and the lame man. - - [37] Eph. v. 23. - -(v) It is a significant fact that in the Gospels the word for ‘save’ -(σῴζειν) is applied to bodily as well as spiritual salvation; it -denotes ‘to restore to health or sanity.’[38] A protest may here be -entered against the very prevalent opinion that God sent sickness upon -man, by an Almighty fiat, in order to discipline him into patience -and other Christian virtues. Such a view, crudely stated, has led to -much perplexity and distress of faith, and it is not warranted by the -teaching of the New Testament. God can bring good out of evil, even -in its worst forms. But that is not to say that God by a deliberate -act designs and causes evil. More than once in the New Testament -sickness is attributed to Satanic agency, in the case of ‘the woman -which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years,’[39] and in that of -St. Paul’s ‘thorn in the flesh.’[40] Disease is a disturbance of the -balance of human powers, mental and bodily, a derangement of faculties -and functions. Consider the bearing of this upon life. Modern science -teaches us the doctrine of the persistence of matter; in Sir Oliver -Lodge’s words, ‘a really existing thing never perishes, but only -changes its form’--in the case of our complex human constitution, -that change of form is what we call death. It is vital force which -maintains that inner harmony which we call health: it is disease, an -accident, which impairs it. This derangement and discord is but one -instance of that general disturbance of the world’s harmony which sin -has introduced. Sometimes, as in the case of the impotent man of St. -John v., disease is the direct consequence of sinful conduct. It is -the work of the Son of Man to restore harmony and repair the breaches -in Nature’s order. And this His healing power on its spiritual, which -is its essential, side effects. Incidentally, miracles are ‘signs,’ -evidences of the Christian Revelation, but their primary character is -that of ‘mighty works’ (δυνάμεις), particular manifestations of that -Power (δύναμις) which resides in the Person of the Lord. As such they -impressed King Herod, though he attributed their authorship to the -Baptist risen from the dead.[41] - - [38] E.g. Mark v. 23, 28; vi. 56; James v. 15. - - [39] Luke xiii. 16. - - [40] 2 Cor. xii. 7. - - [41] Mark vi. 14. - -(vi) This Healing Power of Christ stands in closest relation to His -claim to be ‘the Life of them that believe and the Resurrection from -the dead.’ It flows from His Personality. Though that Personality is -veiled for us in profound mystery, we know that in It the Human will -and the Divine will are in perfect accord; and, therefore, it does not -surprise us that, while a place is found in the Saviour’s Life upon -earth for weariness and pain, none is found for sickness; for, in all -things, He conformed to the Will of God for man, which is health, not -sickness. Sickness is a violation of that normal condition which God -has appointed for man. When infection and disease entered into the -world, we must believe that they were part of that general imperfection -which God can only be said to will as a means to an end, or as a -passing stage in the evolution of good. God does not send sickness to -scourge us, but overrules it to purge us. In saying this, we need not -deny the possible place of death in a perfect cosmos; a death which -should have been the gradual ebbing of physical vitality, not its -sapping and undermining by the malignant forces of disease. We should -expect, then, that our Lord’s healing power would be the action of the -life-giving Spirit of God upon the spirit of man, from the very fact -that in Christ man was brought into living contact with God. - -Recent psychology, especially in the investigations of Professor W. -James and the late F. W. H. Myers, has thrown a new light upon those -recesses of human nature in which our religious experiences take place. -We have learned that there is a subconscious self, a submerged portion -of our faculties, which responds to spiritual impressions and accepts -those suggestions of a Higher Power, to which mind and intellect are -sometimes deaf, a ‘subliminal self,’[42] in which religious faith -and the inspirations of genius are alike rooted, and which is _en -rapport_ with another world than that of the senses. We are reminded of -Tennyson’s words: - - [42] I.e. a self beneath the margin of consciousness. Mr. Dearmer has - named it the ‘undermind.’ - - Moreover, something is or seems, - That touches me with mystic gleams, - Like glimpses of forgotten dreams-- - Of something felt, like something here; - Of something done, I know not where.[43] - - [43] _The Two Voices_ - -It is through that under-self that mental cures appear to operate.[44] - - [44] ‘If the grace of God miraculously operates, it probably operates - through the subliminal door.’--Professor James. - -The theory certainly contributes something to our problem, making it -conceivable, even to our finite intelligence, how the Divine Life of -Christ should enter into man, sick of body and sad of soul, and this -quite in the line of the order and natural law of God’s universe. -Christ is one with the Father; He came down from Heaven to do the will -of the Father; His works are done in the Father’s name (John x. 25). -The Father hath given the Son to have life in Himself (John v. 26). -The Divine Life is communicated to those who seek it in Christ. We -are not to restrict the thought of that Life to the immaterial part -of our nature; it is the more abundant life which floods the being of -him who ‘liveth unto God.’[45] We may not fathom its hidden processes: -like spiritual teaching, spiritual healing can come home only to the -‘spiritual men’ whose minds are ‘in tune with the Infinite.’[46] But -some desire for ‘more life and fuller’ is found in every man. Classical -scholars will remember the pathetic lines written by the statesman -Mæcenas in his last illness: - - [45] John x. 10; Rom. vi. 10. - - [46] 1 Cor. ii. 14, 15. - - Debilem facito manu, - Debilem pede, coxa ... - Vita dum superest, bene est.[47] - - [47] _Seneca_, Ep. 101: - - ‘What matters crippled hand and halting thigh? - So life be left the cripple, what care I?’ - - -In this universal fact of human nature, this desire to live, which -varies infinitely among men from the mere craving of animal existence -up to the desire for the life in God, we see man’s response to the -Giver of Life. - -The appeal of the Good Physician is to human nature, and ‘He knows -what is in man.’ He takes a natural emotion or faculty, vitalises -and invigorates it. We have had to keep the connexion of spiritual -health and physical health constantly before us. There is a parallelism -between them which is no mere analogy, but is a sort of pre-established -harmony; and therefore a wise interpretation of Scripture has seen in -the Miracle an ‘acted parable.’ Thus it is in regard to the ‘desire to -live’ which supports our bodily vitality. This categorical imperative -or instinctive ‘ought’ of health is a primary instinct. The ‘will to be -well’ corresponds with the ‘will to be good’ which is the basis of the -moral life. - -(2) Bearing these principles in mind, we must turn to a closer -examination of some of the miracles, with a view to some practical -conclusions in regard to the healing office of the Church of our own -day. - -(i) Has the age of miracles long ceased? It has long been assumed by -religious minds, as a kind of axiomatic truth, that this is so. They -have seen in the healing miracles of Christ the unique exercise of a -power specifically Divine, a power which was continued for a time, -with other extraordinary gifts, to the early Church for reasons which -no longer held good when once she had taken firm root in the world. -But we have already shown reasons for the opinion that, unique as -is our Lord’s Humanity, 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 will. ‘It behoved Him in all things -to be made like unto His brethren.’[48] And there is strong reason -to hold that the true believer will be permitted, in virtue of his -fellowship with Christ, to do ‘greater works’ than those which Christ -Himself wrought,[49] greater, that is to say, not in a material but a -spiritual way. That the works in question were wrought ‘in the spirit’ -is unquestioned. Consider what those ‘spiritual’ methods of the Great -Healer were. He wrought His mighty works in the Father’s name. Not only -does He lay down for others the principle of intercessory prayer, but -as Man He exercises it Himself. Of the demoniac boy He says: ‘This kind -goeth forth not but by prayer and fasting.’ St. Luke records the fact -that He made the importunity of the multitude, who sought His teaching -and healing grace, a fresh occasion for retirement and prayer.[50] The -same Gospel tells us of a night spent in prayer before the election -of the Twelve Apostles.[51] They received His commission to heal and -to teach on the succeeding day, which saw also the vast concourse of -people resorting to Him once more from all quarters. 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 meditation, and that He exercised His own life-giving powers in -accordance with that Will. - - [48] Heb. ii. 17. - - [49] John xiv. 12. - - [50] Luke v. 15, 16. - - [51] Luke vi. 12. - -Health in itself is an ideal, the perfect harmony of all the elements, -the spiritual and the material, which constitutes a man. One of the -greatest living authorities writes: ‘Health, like every other such -name, is to be used in a relative sense; absolute health is an ideal -conception.’[52] This being so, it is apparent to any religious mind -that the true concept of the well-being, physical and even mental, of -any person is only to be found in the Mind of God. And that is only an -abstract way of saying that, if we follow Christ’s example, we shall -seek to enter into His fellowship with the Father. In that Divine -fellowship we shall be able to pray for the true health and recovery -of our sick people. ‘The prayer of faith shall save the sick,’ for -faith implies a whole-hearted acceptance of the Will of God for the -uncertain future. This gives a man the tranquillity of soul which is no -less needed for prayer than for action. Such an one possesses his own -soul. Our Lord promises to those, who ‘have faith and doubt not,’[53] -that they shall ‘remove mountains,’ a hyperbolic expression, but yet -one which seems to claim a certain power of acting upon inanimate -nature.[54] Such a power need not carry with it a positive breach of -cosmic law. It is impossible for any really reverent mind to wish, even -in the supposed interest of his dearest friend, to bend the Will of -God to his own desire. Such a rash prayer involves the fatal flaw of -that ‘doubting mind’ which is forbidden us, the mind ‘divided’ between -God and self. The spirit which unites us to God, that unfathomed inner -self, desires the universal good. - - [52] Professor Clifford Allbutt, _System of Medicine_, vol. i., - Intro. p. 22. - - [53] Matt. xxi. 21. Cp. James i. 6: ‘Nothing doubting.’ - - [54] See Dr. Sanday, _Life of Christ in Recent Research_, pp. 223, - 224. - - Our wills are ours, we know not how: - Our wills are ours, to make them Thine. - -God wills the true health and salvation of each human soul, as He alone -can view it, in its relation both to the vast whole of immaterial being -and to the order of the material universe. ‘His will He knoweth which -way to accomplish.’ Prayer is the act of resignation of our individual -desires and thoughts into His all-wise hands. Prayer universalises -a personal longing; and so wonderful is the magic of true prayer, -fetching up from the deep of our being suggestions, inspirations, -forces unperceived by man, that it can never fail to induce a sense of -calm, the most favourable for a physical recovery; and many a time it -has effectuated that recovery itself. Science may teach the ‘reflex -action of prayer’; religion will always find authentic answers to -prayer. - -Prayer is the spiritual instrument on which our Lord in His Human -Nature relies, and on which He encourages His Church to rely--‘a mighty -engine of achievement.’[55] His method was grounded in prayer, the -prayer of that Divine fellowship, which is His, as it cannot belong -to any of the sons of men, and yet in Him, ‘in the Name of Christ,’ -the Church must still expect to accomplish the miracles of faith, in -proportion to the degree of her own spirituality. Who, indeed, would -have looked for miracles of healing in the English Church of the -eighteenth century, unless it were among the non-jurors, who actually -revived the apostolic rite of unction,[56] and the pious followers of -John Wesley?[57] - - [55] Sir Oliver Lodge. - - [56] The Rev. P. Dearmer, _Body and Soul_, p. 289 sq. - - [57] _Ib._ 362, 363. - -(ii) But that spiritual power, thus resident in the Healer, has to -communicate itself to the subjects of His grace; subjects they must be -rather than objects. And His first purpose is to excite the dormant -energies of life and action. He does it as a wise physician will do -it, by concentrating the patient’s mind upon Himself.[58] This is done -by a question, or other means, adapted, with His profound insight into -character, to the individual case. In the case of the deaf man who had -an impediment, He effected this by isolating him,[59] and then using -physical means (with finger and saliva). Exactly parallel is the case -of the blind man, which, like the former, is recorded by St. Mark -alone.[60] He asks blind Bartimæus, ‘What wilt thou that I should do -unto thee?’[61] And this is one of several cases in which the sovereign -faculty of will leaps forth, and the confession of faith attends -it.[62] In the cure of the lame man by St. Peter (in Acts iii. 4, 5) -this concentration of the thought of the patient upon the healer is -reciprocal (ἀτενίσας ... ἐπει̑χεν). - - [58] ‘When the eye of the patient meets the eye of the physician, the - cure begins if it is likely to take place.’--Dr. A. T. Schofield, - cited by Dr. Worcester in _Religion and Medicine_, p. 50. - - [59] Mark vii. 33. - - [60] _Ib._ viii. 23. - - [61] Luke xviii. 41. - - [62] John v. 6, 8. - -The tonic influence of a healthy personality upon the hysterical, -neurotic, and mentally diseased, not to speak of minds depressed in -a normal way, is familiar to everyone. In Dinah Morris’s visit of -comfort to the widowed Lisbeth, we have a sample of that subtlest -perception and ‘subduing influence of the spirit’ which we may call -inspiration.[63] In the New Testament it appears at its highest in -treatment of those strong cases of dual personality, mental disorder, -or hysteria, which we know as demoniacal possession. We cannot here -discuss the question, whether the sufferer was the victim of the lower -elements in his own nature or of a malignant outside influence (known -in the language of the day as a ‘demon’). On the other hand, it has -to be remembered that the Jews personified ordinary diseases; and our -Lord conformed to popular ideas when ‘He rebuked the fever’ of Simon’s -wife’s mother, unless we hold that the evangelist has coloured the -record of His action by his own mentality.[64] On the other hand, we -know little as yet of the psychological problems of civilised humanity -and less of those of half-civilised or uncivilised peoples, such as -the Galileans of our Lord’s day. But if we should allow that the demon -was merely the sufferer’s lower ego, the marvel of the cure is not -lessened. There is a great power of evil in the world; and the lower -self was entirely dominated by it until Christ emancipated the man by -His sovereign demand upon his spirit. Inner harmony was restored. They -find the man ‘sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right -mind.’ The bodily and the mental well-being are combined in the cure. -The sufferer’s enfeebled will is braced up to respond to the Will of -the Healer, that ease shall expel disease. Within the man’s being, as -truly as without it, ‘imperavit ventis, et facta est tranquillitas -magna.’[65] - - [63] G. Eliot, _Adam Bede_, chap. x. - - [64] Luke iv. 39: _ib._ viii. 24 raises a parallel question. - - [65] Matt. viii. 26. - -(iii) An analysis of the miracles of Christ indicates His attitude -towards the material and outward means, on which the physician still so -largely relies. The letter of King Abgarus to our Lord (preserved by -Eusebius), genuine or not, indicates, we may believe, the feature in -His treatment which most impressed the men of His day. ‘The story hath -reached my ears of Thee and Thy healings as wrought by Thee without -drugs and simples.’ Though this was so, He did not eschew the use of -material and visible signs, such as clay and saliva, which were adapted -to convey to sick folk that ‘mental suggestion’ of returning health, -which was His constant method of healing. In the following miracles -the use of such material means is recorded: the case of the deaf man -with an impediment (Mark vii. 33), of the blind man at Bethsaida (Mark -viii. 24), of the man blind from his birth (John ix. 6), who also was -sent to wash in the pool of Siloam. Of the Apostles, on their first -mission, it is said that they anointed with oil many that were sick, -and healed them (Mark vi. 13). Probably this element, which was in -frequent medicinal use, was in their hands ceremonial, a symbol of that -healing power of their Master which they were allowed in His name to -exercise. He Himself is found, in the great majority of instances, to -rely on the touch of the hand alone.[66] He knew that it spoke to the -heart of a Divine effluence of power as well as a human sympathy. In -one of the frescoes of the Creation, on the roof of the Sistine Chapel, -Michelangelo has pictured the form of the first man, perfect as a -statue, but lifeless until the Finger of God quickens it with a touch. -And, after all, a universal instinct associates ideas of sympathy and -positive relief with the movement of the hand. Thus in the Greek myth, -the distracted Io is comforted by the prophecy of Prometheus that the -God would restore her by his touch.[67] - - [66] Thus Luke iv. 40; Mark i. 41, vi. 5; Matt. ix. 29; Luke xiii. - 13. Mr. Dearmer gives a careful ‘Table of the healing works of - Christ,’ _Body and Soul_, chap. xiii. - - [67] _Aesch._, Pr. V. 848, 849. - -(iv) The healing of the nobleman’s son, of the centurion’s slave, -and that of the Syrophœnician woman’s daughter stand by themselves -as instances of ‘absent treatment.’ The strong impression wrought -in the mind of the father, the master, the mother, respectively, is -conveyed by a sort of telepathy to the mind of the patient. ‘Why -herein,’ surely, 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 possessed, 2000 years ago, a knowledge of the mysterious -processes of human nature which modern science is only now beginning -to divine. It is in that fact that the ‘glory’ (Luke xiii. 17; John -xi. 40), the ‘wonder’ (Matt. xxi. 15), the ‘strangeness’ (Luke v. 26) -of the miracles of Christ consist. They are ‘works of power,’[68] -‘outcomings of that mighty power of God which was inherent in -Christ,’[69] and which He exerted within a region of human nature then -unexplored. We cannot ponder too deeply on that great saying of St. -Augustine, ‘Portentum fit non contra naturam, sed contra quam est nota -natura.’[70] Who shall attempt to lay down the laws which govern the -operation of the spiritual upon the material? and still more to delimit -the powers of the Personality and Will of Him, in whose name Apostles, -Saints of the Church, and humble Christians unrecorded in history have -wrought cures, which only a purblind scepticism can gainsay? - - [68] Matt. xi. 20; Luke xxiv. 19; Acts ii. 22, &c. - - [69] Abp. Trench, _Synonyms of New Testament_ (Art. xci.). - - [70] _De Civitate Dei_, xxi. 8; quoted by Dr. Sanday, _Life of - Christ, &c._, viii., adding, ‘miracle is not really a breach of the - order of nature; it is only an apparent breach of laws that we know, - in obedience to other and higher laws that we do not know.’ - - - - -THE PRINCIPLES OF MODERN CHRISTIAN HEALING - -BY - -W. YORKE FAUSSET, M.A. - -VICAR OF CHEDDAR AND PREBENDARY OF WELLS - - - - -THE PRINCIPLES OF MODERN CHRISTIAN HEALING - -BY W. YORKE FAUSSET, M.A. - - -The psychologists teach us that a man’s ‘self’ is a larger thing than -the ‘me’ which, we might say, a child has in view when it puts out a -hand to get a sweetmeat for itself. As Professor W. James says, ‘The -old saying that the human person is composed of three parts--soul, -body, and clothes--is more than a joke’; and he goes on to include -in that self the man’s immediate family, his home, the property he -has collected.[71] And then we think of Aristotle’s definition of man -as a ‘political’ or social animal--the social self with its wider or -narrower reach--for ‘properly speaking a man has as many social selves -as there are individuals who recognise him.’ - - [71] _Text Book of Psychology_, pp. 177, 178. - -(i) All this has an important bearing on the subject of health and -disease. We are all influenced by our environment for better or worse. -The material and visible conditions of life, our home, our friends and -associates, our country, our daily occupations, contribute to make us -what we are. Life is defined by Herbert Spencer as ‘the continuous -adjustment of internal relations.’ It may be difficult or even -impossible to attain to the stable equilibrium of perfect goodness, -perfect health, perfect happiness; and, in fact, neither science nor -religion encourage us to expect such a consummation within the limits -of this earthly existence. - -But there may be a ‘continuous adjustment’; 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 whole. We have to elevate the conditions of human -existence. The individual has not only to adapt himself to his -environment, in the temper of _laisser faire_, but to adapt it to -the satisfaction of his highest good. ‘Great religious consciences -have taken their post, confronting society, as representing in -themselves truth and right, because behind them was God, while behind -existing societies there is only man, nature, and circumstances. Far -from consenting to identify himself with the social conscience, the -religious conscience disposes man to oppose the rights of God to those -of Cæsar, the dignity of the human person to public constraint.’[72] In -the language of religion, ‘No man hath seen God at any time: if we love -one another, God dwelleth in us, and His love is perfected in us.’ That -is the ideal of the Christian Society, the Body of Christ, actuated -by the great principles of faith, hope, and love. And much might have -been said of the duty of a Christian State to secure to all its members -the elementary conditions of a healthy, useful citizenship. Most of -our disease is a disgrace to our Christian civilisation, because it is -preventable. The ancient poet rightly associates the spectres of Care, -Hunger, and Fear with the grim forms of Disease at the portals of his -Inferno: - - [72] Emile Boutroux, _Science et Religion_, p. 206. - - Vestibulum ante ipsum primisque in faucibus Orci - Luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae: - Pallentis qua habitant Morbi, tristisque Senectus, - Et Metus et malesuada Fames, ac turpis Egestas.[73] - - [73] Virg. _Æneid_, vi. 273 sq. ‘Right in front of the doorway and - in the entry of the jaws of hell Grief and avenging Cares have made - their bed; there dwell wan Sickness and gloomy Eld, and Fear, and - ill-counselling Hunger, and loathly Want.’--J. W. Mackail. - -(ii) But the problem of the prevention of sickness scarcely concerns us -here, though it requires a passing reference. It has been sufficiently -shown that you cannot isolate the individual from the society in -which he moves; that were to make him an unreal abstraction. The -Church has never committed that mistake in her dealing with the sick. -When we pray, in the Office for the Visitation of the Sick, that God -would ‘preserve and continue this sick member in the unity of the -Church,’ the prayer breathes the very spirit of ancient piety. It is -an unspeakable help, in dealing with a sick man, to be able to appeal -to his own conscious and sincere membership in the Body of Christ. The -Visitation Office is ‘peculiarly a ministration for those who have been -trained beforehand in the fulness of Church life and privileges.’[74] -Herein, as often, the Prayer-book sets up an ideal standard. But, -however far our actual practice falls short of it, we must work towards -it. It is said of St. Francis of Assisi that, ‘in each one, with whom -he had to deal, he saw a possible Christ.’ A bold saying, had it not -been that the Master Himself had anticipated it.[75] In the Christian -view of things, the sick and suffering, whatever their religious -attainments and professions may have been, have a clear claim upon the -other members of the One Body. Christian faith can only heighten human -sympathy. - - [74] Dean Savage, _Pastoral Visitation_, p. 76. - - [75] Matt. xxv. 35, 36. - -And in the New Testament there are not wanting indications that the -faith of friends has a vicarious efficacy. In such faith the force of -suggestion is at work, but it is a collective suggestion. There is -the typical case of the four friends, who were not to be put off by -the crush at the doors, but resolutely stripped the roofing in order -to lower the paralytic, as he lay on his pallet, into the Saviour’s -immediate presence. Such unconventional faith was irresistible. ‘When -Jesus saw their faith, He said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy -sins be forgiven thee.’[76] The bodily cure soon followed. The fact -is, that such faith diffuses a spiritual atmosphere; it is contagious -and works from mind to mind. ‘Our bodies isolate us, our spirits unite -us.’[77] - - [76] Mark ii. 5. Cp. T. T. Carter, _Holy Eucharist_, pp. 150, 151, - especially the words, ‘To lean one’s own failing faith on the more - trustful, assured faith and convictions of others. So that the same - spirit may communicate itself to the sad and darkened soul by a - mutually organic sympathy.’ - - [77] Sir Oliver Lodge, _Man and the Universe_, p. 47. - -Similarly, in the raising of Jairus’s daughter an emphasis is laid on -the necessity of a sympathetic atmosphere: first, by the fact that only -three, the elect among the chosen Twelve, SS. Peter, James and John, -were allowed to attend their Lord; secondly, by the exclusion of all -others in the house, except the father and mother of the child. The -professional mourners and musicians were turned out--not merely because -they ‘insulted the dumbness of sincere sorrow and the patient majesty -of death’ (Farrar), but because they diffused, as their behaviour soon -showed (κατεγέλων αὐτου̑), an atmosphere of unbelief. The Lord wishes -to remove all antagonistic and disturbing human presences and to speak -Himself in power to the innermost soul of the departed maiden. On the -other hand, if the air was charged with unbelief, if those He wished -to help were without faith, as was the case in His own village of -Nazareth, ‘He could there do no mighty work.’[78] - - [78] Mark vi. 5. - -We trace the same principle in His dealing with those whom He had -healed. Sometimes He bids them ‘go and tell their friends how great -things God has done for them,’ as when he refused to keep the Gadarene -demoniac by His side. At another time he bids them tell no man of -the cure which had been wrought. This difference of treatment can be -explained most simply, 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 health, in another case He knew that this was not -so. So it was in the case of the leper of St. Mark i. 44. And, again, -this difference of treatment may have been ‘grounded,’ as Archbishop -Trench says, ‘on the different moral conditions of the persons healed.’ -It is so still, for human nature remains constant to certain broad -types. Some overwrought people require the absolute isolation of a -‘rest cure’; others, who are moody and self-centred, can only rally -their disused powers in contact with invigorating companionship. -They are the unhappy victims of that numbness of spirit of which R. -L. Stevenson writes so pathetically in his essay entitled ‘Ordered -South.’[79] - - [79] Cp. the medieval complaint of ‘accidie.’ - -(iii) This brings us naturally to consider the special value which -Christ attaches in His teaching to a corporate act of prayer. For this -is the meaning of the words ‘If any two of you shall agree on earth -as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them -of my Father which is in Heaven; for where two or three are gathered -together in My Name, there am I in the midst of them.’ And this it -is which has moulded the form of the Lord’s Prayer, and that of the -great Sacrament of Unity, our highest act of intercession. Thus our -Lord enjoined upon His disciples the duty and the efficacy of combined -spiritual effort.[80] There is a power intensive, as well as extensive, -in collective prayer. In this, as well as in other activities of -the spirit, the total effect gained is larger than the sum total of -units of effort. There is a sort of analogy here with the force of -collective suggestion, which we have been considering above: but we -must not expect to find a complete philosophical explanation of any -great spiritual principle. Our personal experience verifies the value -of corporate prayer. If it were not so, religion would be an individual -matter alone; it would lack its most universal expression, that of -common worship. It is because the Church in our country lost for a long -period her corporate consciousness, at least in a large degree, that -she lost sight of the power of corporate intercession for the sick -members of the Body of Christ. (Of the faithful departed we may not -here speak.) But her formulas and liturgy have been a standing witness -against such obliviousness, with which the Church of to-day can hardly -be taxed, and those who profess their belief in the Communion of -Saints find in such intercession its most practical expression. - - [80] Bertroux, _op. cit._ p. 189: ‘une volonté collective est sans - rapport avec la somme algébrique des volontés individuelles.’ - -Consider the bearing of all this on our highest act of worship, the -Holy Communion. 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 persons, who had -been given up by medical science. There is nothing in this that need -surprise the Christian believer, nothing that is really repugnant -to the findings of modern science. The Apostle Paul, writing to the -Corinthians about the profanation of the Lord’s Supper, attributes to -this cause certain physical consequences incurred by the offenders. -‘For this cause many among you are weak and sickly, and not a few -sleep.’[81] There is a natural and proper antipathy in many minds to -the idea that the Sacramental Elements operate as a charm. Such an -idea would be irrational and superstitious, and we are not intended -to conceive of a vindication of the sanctity of the Lord’s Supper by -material and simply magical penalties. The offence of the Corinthians -was the irreverence of ‘not discerning (or discriminating) the Body,’ -and Apostolic teaching plainly implies that a spiritual offence of -itself acts upon the bodily organism, by a mysterious law of the Divine -government.[82] (Here again we must not say that God sent the disease.) -Surely, then, it may be argued, per contra, that a reverent reception -of the Eucharist makes for health and life, 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 Christ. This line -of argument may be illustrated by the words of the late F. W. H. Myers: -‘To keep our chemical energy at work, we live in a warm environment and -from time to time take food. By analogy, in order to keep the spiritual -energy at work, we should live in a spiritual environment, and possibly -from time to time absorb some special influx of spiritual life.’[83] It -remains only to add that the words of administration in our Communion -Office embody the truth for which we are pleading. ‘The Body of our -Lord Jesus Christ, which was given for thee, preserve thy body and soul -unto everlasting life.’ - - [81] 1 Cor. xi. 30. - - [82] In the _Cambridge Bible_, note _ad locum_, Dr. Lias says we can - well understand how a crime against His Body and Blood would deprive - any Christian, who committed it, of His presence, and predispose it - to sickness and even death. - - [83] _Human Personality_, i. 218; quoted by Dearmer, _Body and Soul_, - p. 123. - -(iv) The charisma, or gift, of healing, is named by St. Paul among the -spiritual gifts of the Apostolic Church,[84] and is associated in one -place with the working of miracles (‘powers’).[85] We have endeavoured -to show that it was not intended as a transient but a permanent -endowment of the Church. But, in the degree in which the Church -corporate falls short in spirituality, her spiritual powers wane. The -Encyclical Letter and Report of the recent Lambeth Conference mark a -step in advance, though it may not be a long step, towards the revival -of this healing agency of the Church. The Committee appointed to report -on this particular subject was of opinion ‘that the prayers for the -restoration of health, which it recommends, may be fitly accompanied by -the apostolic act of the Laying-on-of-Hands.’[86] We may be disposed -to regret that this primitive rite is not mentioned in Resolution 35, -which recommends ‘the 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 Sick.’ Desiring, as we do, to follow ‘the example’ of our -Lord Himself and not merely of ‘His Holy Apostles,’[87] we may most -reasonably ask for authority to administer the blessing through one of -the outward signs which He employed. A ceremony, duly authorised by -the Church, would have much value, as regulating and controlling the -impulse to invoke the healing ‘charisma,’ which at present is often -bestowed and received through ‘spiritual healers’ who lack the full -official sanction of the Church. - - [84] 1 Cor. xii. 9, 30. - - [85] _Ibid._ 29. - - [86] Report (1908), No. VII. iv. p. 137. - - [87] Order of Confirmation, first Collect, Mark vi. 5. - -(v) There is another Ministry of Healing, which the Divine Love has -provided for the weary body and the careworn mind, which contributes -its own part to the restoration of the sick. It is the silent ministry -of Nature. Within the ailing body she exerts her healing power; the -doctor’s best ally, on the physical side, is the _vis medicatrix -naturae_, that strange recuperative power which resides in organisms, -and offers a standing resistance to the inroads of disease and age.[88] -And then outside there are the soothing influences of the world of -Nature, which steals into the troubled spirit to bring the calm which -Wordsworth, in his poem on ‘An Evening by the Sea,’ likened to the -hush of worship: - - [88] Cp. Sir James Paget’s words: ‘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 live.’--_Life_, p. 295. - - The holy time is quiet as a nun - Breathless with adoration. - -Hebrew literature shows little trace, even indirectly, of that sympathy -with Nature, which is the best contribution of what is called ‘natural -religion’ to the inheritance of the human spirit, except when Nature is -regarded in her grander and more awe-inspiring aspects, those of the -thunder-cloud, the whirlwind, the raging fire, the roaring sea. Yet it -is not altogether fanciful to find, in our Lord’s habit of retirement -to the mountain’s side for prayer, His invitation to the disciples to -come apart by themselves to rest awhile in a ‘desert place,’[89] His -choice of the evening hour, at the setting of the sun, for performing -His works of mercy, some sanction for that modern sense of the Divine -beauty and mystery of Nature in her quiet aspects.[90] - - [89] Mark vi. 31. - - [90] Compare also the nature-parables. - -We must believe that Christ Himself was susceptible in a singular -degree to those natural influences. After the intense spiritual strain -of the Temptation, ‘angels came and ministered to Him.’ A great -modern artist, M. Tissot, pictures the scene as only the imaginative -symbolism of genius would have done. The Saviour lies at full length, -utterly exhausted, with every muscle, as it were, relaxed, and through -the twilight appear myriads of outstretched angel-hands, reviving -the Sacred Body with the touch of spirit-life. Here we have, as in a -figure, the expression of the unseen forces of Nature, ministering to -the Will of the God of Nature, on behalf of the heirs of salvation and -of Him who is the author of our salvation and the Prince of Life. - -There is no rule absolute about the influence of familiar scenes and -old associations upon the weary or ailing spirit. For some people the -cure lies in surroundings as novel and unfamiliar as possible. 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 affection, -for in that case they would vary directly, whereas they have been known -to vary inversely, with nearness of blood relationship. The quick -intuition of sympathy can judge of the environment best adapted to the -patient’s individual need. 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 another. The more we can bring of -the ‘mind of Christ’ into the tender care of the sick, the more right -we shall have to expect that the power of His name will bless our -efforts. - -(vi) Again, our Lord’s attention to details, i.e. the material -conditions of health, calls for notice. We have referred to His -provision of rest for His tired followers. We find Him giving -directions, after the recall of Jairus’s daughter to life, that food -should be given to her. ‘Life restored by miracle must be supported -by ordinary means.’[91] The familiar routine of healthy life is to -be resumed as soon as possible. Lazarus is to be loosed from his -cerements, when the awe of the bystanders blind them to the practical -and obvious. And quite in line with this is Christ’s readiness to -conform, in His dealings with men, to the existing social and religious -system. It was so notably in the case of the leper, who was bidden, -after his cure, to go and show himself to the priest and to make -the customary offerings.[92] At the pool of Bethesda Christ helps -the impotent man, who has no friend to help him. He leaves the rest -of the multitude to the natural operation of the waters.[93] It was -a different matter when, as in the case of the Rabbinical rule of -Sabbath observance, the conventional practice was inimical to the -freedom of the spirit. Our Lord will never allow the spiritual and -essential in things to be overlaid by the material and accidental. -Traditionalism was then broken through. The principle, that we must -render to Cæsar the things that are Cæsar’s and to God the things that -are God’s, manifests itself in various ways, and this is one of them. -But, on the whole, Christianity knows no revolutionary breaches in the -established social order, as the history of its attitude towards the -institution of slavery shows. Men were encouraged to work out their own -salvation under existing political and social conditions. - - [91] Dr. Swete on Mark v. 43. - - [92] Mark i. 44. - - [93] John v. 2. - -This spirit of conformity to the existing order in all lawful things, -and especially our Lord’s attitude towards priestly ceremonial, in the -case of the leper, throws a good deal of light upon the relation which -should subsist between the clergyman and the doctor in the treatment -of sickness. The Christian doctor will gladly subscribe to the words -of the favourite physician of Louis XIV, Ambroise Paré, ‘I treated the -wound, God healed it.’ Reverently and thoughtfully he will acknowledge -the power of prayer and the tranquillising influences of the spirit, -and will yield to the Church, acting by her representative duly -accredited and trained, her proper part in the work of restoration. The -parish priest will freely allow that the doctor and the nurse, with -all the appliances of modern medical science, provide the largest part -of the environment and conditions indispensable to recovery; 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 -aid.[94] - - [94] In Acts xxviii. 9, 10, there is an implication of co-operation - between St. Paul and St. Luke the physician; see _Religion and - Medicine_, pp. 365, 366; the language is technical. - -Finally, 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 ebb. ‘Medicorum optimus dignus est -Gehenna,’ said the Rabbis of the later Judaism.[95] In nothing has -human knowledge made more astonishing strides than in medical and in -surgical discovery; and, 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 Church, the opposite extreme is to be avoided, and it is -well to acknowledge thankfully that ‘discoveries in the region of -medicine and surgery come to man through Him who is the Light and the -Life, the Divine Word.’[96] - - [95] See Dr. Swete on Mark v. 26; also Luke iv. 23; contrast Ecclus. - xxxviii. sq. - - [96] _Lambeth Conference Report_, 1908 (vii. iii.). - -(vii) In a previous chapter we dwelt at some length on the Gospel -conception of salvation (as illustrated by the words σῴζειν ὁλοκληρία), -as a just equipoise of spiritual, mental, and physical faculties and -functions. Two remarks may find a place here. The first is, that too -much stress may be laid upon the distinction between functional and -organic complaints. There are modern critics who wish to eliminate -the miraculous from the Gospel narrative, and deal with the sacred -text accordingly. For example, Professor Bousset says, in his vivid -way, ‘The community of the faithful drew the simple human picture of -Jesus on the golden background of the marvellous. But the picture can -be detached from that background with comparative ease.’ In cases -which are not to be explained simply by psychology, ‘the historically -intelligible is still close below the surface, and appears as soon as -we remove a few additions which are due to modern tradition.’ We have -to regard certain narratives as ‘legendary accretions (_Wucherungen_).’ - -If we cannot accept that position, 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 treatment. Nor is it open to us to limit the efficacy -of prayer to the stimulation of function and the treatment of nervous -disorders. And as, with the progress of medical science, the sphere of -the organic is continually growing at the expense of the functional, -the ultimate effect of such a concession on the side of religion would -be to limit her action to a negligible minority of cases. How would -a place be found for the healing of Malchus’s ear, if the organic be -excluded? But the Church believes that Christ is the Saviour of the -body and that the Holy Spirit is, as an early Father says, ‘given that -He may dwell in our bodies and sanctify them, that in so doing He may -bring them to eternity and to the resurrection of immortality, while He -accustoms them in Himself to be conjoined with heavenly powers and to -be associated with the Divine eternity of the Spirit.’[97] - - [97] _Novatian de Trinitate_, xxix. - -A second remark is this. Whatever is allowed for the moulding force of -environment, Christ plainly teaches that man is never the mere creature -of circumstances. Christ is no fatalist philosopher. It is only the -evil that man deliberately assimilates which defiles him. ‘There is -nothing from without a man that entering into him can defile him’--a -parabolic saying which has a deep meaning. As it is with sin, so it is -with disease. Wilful sin is lawlessness in the spiritual being; disease -is disorder in the material being. Much remains yet to be done, which -lies well within the range of the free human will, to combat this -lawless disorder in the life of body and soul. We believe that the -spirit can impose its own order and law and harmony upon the material -elements of our bodily frame. This creed may be an ideal, but it is -the only really inspiring ideal; for beyond it lies the hope of final -perfection. Therefore, with faith and courage, let us press forward. - - Neither mourn if human creeds be lower than the heart’s desire! - Thro’ the gates that bar the distance comes a gleam of what is higher.[98] - - [98] Tennyson, _Faith_. - - - - -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 England, and of the Churches in communion -with her, towards psychic healing: but it may be advisable to remove -at the outset one or two misconceptions. With the theory and practice -of the Church in this country before the Reformation I am not now -concerned. It did not differ essentially from that of the Churches on -the Continent. But it should be noticed that a large number of centres -for psychic healing, spiritual hospitals, if one may use the term, -were removed by the destruction of shrines. In the medieval Church the -healer, with his specific charisma, was generally one who was reputed a -saint; and usually he healed more people after his death than before. -The curious in this matter may consult the evidence gathered in Dr. -Abbott’s ‘St. Thomas of Canterbury,’ and I think an unprejudiced reader -will gather from that book conclusions somewhat different from those -expected by the author. - -After the Reformation what signs are there of psychic healing -encouraged and sanctioned by the Church? We are compelled to answer -that, in spite of great need, there is very little evidence of an -intelligent effort at mental therapeutics. ‘In spite of great need,’ -I say; for this country and Scotland were affected most terribly by -the disgraceful witch mania which raged over Europe, especially in the -Protestant countries. There was ample material for the quiet, consoling -influence of psychic healing; but alas! the unfortunate ‘witches’ -were left to the mercy of scared judges and malicious finders, to the -horrors of the trial by floating, or the ordeal of the secret mark. The -Church was, apparently, bigoted and powerless. - -Yet the existence of an official power, inherent in the Body and acting -normally through the Ministers of the Church, was recognised officially -in the Canons of 1603–4, which, of course, are still of authority. In -the 72nd Canon we read: - -‘No Minister or Ministers shall, without the Licence and direction of -the Bishop of the diocese first obtained and had under his hand and -seal, appoint or keep any solemn Fasts.... Neither shall any Minister -... presume to appoint or hold any meetings for sermons ... nor, -without such licence, to attempt upon any pretence whatsoever either of -possession or obsession, by fasting and prayer, to cast out any Devil -or Devils, under pain of the imputation of imposture or cosenage, and -deposition from the ministry.’ - -It is evident from this that, however little it was used, the -Episcopate was regarded as possessing the power to licence exorcisers -who might deal with diseases that we should call mental. - -There is one other piece of evidence--practical this time--that the -healing power of the Church was not entirely forgotten or neglected. -Up to the time of the Hanoverian dynasty, the Kings of England touched -for scrofula, popularly known, from this method of cure, as ‘The -King’s evil.’ The most celebrated patient I can call to mind is Dr. -Johnson. It may be objected that this practice was not the work of the -Church’s ministry; but it must be remembered that most Canonists regard -the King of England as _mixta persona_ (that is, semi-clerical) by -virtue of his Coronation; and also the position given the Sovereign as -‘Supreme Governor’ of the Church would appear to invest him with an -ecclesiastical status.[99] - - [99] With touching for scrofula may be compared the blessing of - ‘cramp-rings.’ The Sovereign of England used, on Good Friday, to - bless rings which afterwards were distributed to sufferers from cramp - or epilepsy. The last monarch to do this was Mary Tudor. - -I admit, however, as must all candid persons, that on the whole the -Church has grossly neglected all forms of psychic healing; and so -welcome the more gladly the definite stand taken in the Lambeth Report, -1908. - -That Report is the unanimous act, not merely of the Church of England, -but of those numerous bodies in communion with her: on the committee -which drew up the report were bishops from America, India, Scotland, -Central Africa, New Zealand, and England--a fact that can vouch for the -significance of the Report’s admissions and contentions. 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 Healing. - -The Report opens with a statement that is refreshing in its admission -of ignorance after the ready words of many sciolists and ‘quack’ -healers. - -‘Your Committee, which has had under consideration “Ministries of -Healing,” has felt itself at a disadvantage in discussing phenomena -which only in recent times have been the subject of scientific -investigation. 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 “Mental Suggestion,” and the range of “Subliminal -Consciousness,” or to attempt to forecast the possibilities of “Mental” -or “Spiritual Healing.”’ - -While, however, displaying this diffidence in dealing with the -scientific side of their subject, the Committee is quite definite about -the spiritual aspect of pain, sickness, and suffering. - -‘The Committee believes that Christ still fulfils in Christian -experience His power to give life, and to give it more abundantly; and -that the faith, which realises His Presence, is capable of creating -a heightened vitality of spirit, which strengthens and sustains the -health of the body. The Committee believes that sickness and disease -are in one aspect a breach in the harmony of the Divine purpose, not -only analogous to, but sometimes at least caused by, want of moral -harmony with the Divine Will; and that this restoration of harmony in -mind and will often brings with it the restoration of the harmony of -the body. It believes that sickness has too often exclusively been -regarded as a cross to be borne with passive resignation, whereas it -should have been regarded rather as a weakness to be overcome by the -power of the Spirit.’ - -Then the Committee considers briefly the ‘Mental Healing’ movement -outside the Church, and concludes the first part of their Report with a -very necessary warning ‘against the peril of being thoughtlessly drawn -into alliance, in the desire for health, with any who, under whatever -attractive name, are in antagonism with the Christian faith upon any -such subject as the Incarnation, the Resurrection, the reality of Sin, -and the use of the Holy Sacraments.’ - -In the second part it discusses ‘Spiritual Healing’ in the Church, and -makes the following statement: - -‘The Committee would not wish to say a word in disparagement or -discouragement of those who may be pioneers in a new branch of service, -but it believes it would for the present be unwise to depart from an -attitude of watchfulness and reserve; 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 “Gifts of -Healing.”’ - -In the third part is a most welcome recognition of the position in the -Church of that profession which the Evangelist of the Nativity followed. - -‘The Committee believes that medical science is the handmaid of God -and His Church, and should be fully recognised as the ordinary means -appointed by Almighty God for the care and healing of the human body. -The Committee believes that discoveries in the region of medicine and -surgery come to man through Him who is the Light and the Life, the -Divine Word.’ - -Then we have a brief recommendation that there should be an ‘addition -to the office for the Visitation of the Sick of more hopeful and less -ambiguous petitions for the restoration of health, always subject -to the Will of God ...; and that these petitions be used in close -connection with prayer for pardon and peace.’ And these prayers ‘may be -fitly accompanied by the Apostolic act of the Laying on of Hands.’ - -In the final paragraph the Committee considers the suggestion ‘that -these prayers should be accompanied by the anointing of the sufferer -with oil,’ and after a brief historical _résumé_, concludes: - -‘In view of this evidence and the conditions prevailing in the Church -at the present time, the Committee is not prepared to recommend the -restoration of the unction of the sick, but it does not wish to go so -far as to advise the prohibition of its use, if it be earnestly desired -by the sick person. In all such cases the parish priest should seek the -counsel of the Bishop of the diocese. Care must be taken that no return -be made to the later custom of anointing as a preparation for death.’ - -With unction I do not propose to deal here. The question is really -theological; and the discussion as to its revival does not come within -the scope of this book. It may be said, however, that the problem will -probably solve itself in the near future, as in many missionary and -colonial dioceses, and in not a few English ones, the oil is blessed -by the Bishop, and may always be had by any parish priest whose sick -people desire this ancient rite. - -With one exception, to which I shall return later, the Report may be -commended as a courageous, if rather jejune, effort to keep abreast -of modern psychology and its more practical manifestations. Let me -indicate briefly the encouraging signs in the Report. - -(1) We have the definite confession that our present visitation -service is not all that can be desired. That we should use more -definite prayers for the recovery of the sick. - -(2) The Report lays emphasis on the important truth that there must be -no banishing of the doctor. Enormous harm has been done by the crude -dualism of ‘Christian Science’--a theory which, if logically applied, -would prevent persons renewing the tissues of their body by food, or -removing dirt by soap and water. A doctor’s medicine is just as much a -prayer, a spiritual thing, when it is properly used, as any formula of -consolation inculcated by folk in ‘tune with the infinite,’ or people -who indulge in ‘higher thought.’ - -(3) The Report guards--though perhaps not quite strongly -enough--against the modern tendency to lay too much stress on mere -bodily health. As Christians and men of sense, we can have nothing to -do with a mode of thought that, by exaggerating the value of physical -well-being, would cheerfully have condemned to some lethal chamber an -Erasmus, a Coleridge, a Stevenson, or a Beardsley. - -Now in these three matters the Report does seem to represent the real -central body of opinion in the Church of England. No living man, -perhaps, better expresses the view of the ‘man in the pew’ than the -Bishop of London, and he has been one of the first to recognise the -reality of the need for a greater recognition of the place of psychic -healing. Here is what Dr. Ingram said in his sermon on St. Luke’s Day, -1909: - -‘We have on the one side those who really seem to have forgotten the -message of the Gospel of the body, who practically in their teaching -and even in their own belief simply think of the Gospel as addressed to -the soul. They seem to have forgotten that, in our own Holy Communion -Service, we pray that our sinful bodies may be made clean by His -Body, and some of St. Paul’s most stirring passages are about the -body. “Glorify God in your body.” 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 all. While on the other hand--and it is -so very characteristic of the history of the Church that this should -happen--outside the Church, with great exaggeration--and with, in my -opinion, much false teaching--people are calling the attention of the -Church to a forgotten truth. Yes--but with two very grave mistakes. -First, they ignore the learning and teaching which God has given us -through medical study and investigation about His laws and about His -will, and still more they ignore those blessed means of grace which -Christ Himself has laid down as the means of our communion with His -life.’ - -Or again, in a diocesan letter of May last year the Bishop of -Winchester (who was Chairman of the Lambeth Committee) emphasises the -right of medical science, of healing, and of nursing, to their due -place in the Church’s spiritual life, to a part in her prayers and -thanksgivings. - -‘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 -healing, of conflict with disease, and of the alleviation of suffering -carried on by the medical and nursing profession. The Divine blessing -vouchsafed in modern times, through the progress of knowledge and the -advancement of skill, have only in too small a degree been allowed to -enter into the prayers and thanksgivings of the Christian Church. It is -right that, with greater faith and a larger intelligence, the Church of -Christ should acknowledge that the gifts of healing and the discoveries -of science come from the Spirit of God, and should seek more -systematically to include this and kindred subjects in intercession and -praise.’ - -Not only, however, do we find the Bishops laying stress on the Church’s -duty in the matter of healing; but we also find eminent physicians, -who are also Churchmen, welcoming the priest in the sick room. In a -remarkable article contributed to the _Guardian_, Sir Dyce Duckworth -wrote: - -‘Next, 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 employed. We should -look to a higher Power than that of man to aid us at the bedside, and -as thoughtful physicians we do seek these means to aid us. - -‘Mental healing has a recognised and long-acknowledged basis of truth -and fact, and may be employed by honourable and skilled doctors who -have the gift and power to use it. I do not regard it as a fitting -duty for the “priests of the soul,” but one to be employed in its -appropriate place, as it becomes better understood in the course of -time as a part of legitimate ordinary treatment. I see no objection to -the practice of unction and laying-on of hands by Christian ministers -for those who desire it, but I regard this as an additional means of -help, a solemn form of assurance and comfort, together with prayerful -ministration, in conjunction with, and as a reinforcement of, the -best skill of legitimate medicine. To replace the latter by the -former I regard as a withholding of God’s gifts to man and therefore -unjustifiable. 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 dispensation, and that they were not limited in form and -exclusiveness to the age in which they were first somewhat crudely -manifested.’ - -We may welcome particularly Sir Dyce Duckworth’s emphatic pronouncement -about prayer. After all the basis of psychic healing is, and always -has been, prayer--whether the means used is oil, or water, or the -relics or even the shadow of holy men, as reported in the Acts of the -Apostles. The motive power that makes any of these means availing is -simply prayer. Prayer, whether spoken, desired, or acted, is the vital -force that gives the psychic movement all its validity. In insisting -on the importance and reality of prayer we have the support of such a -psychologist as Professor James, who writes: ‘As regards prayers for -the sick, if any medical fact can be considered to stand firm, it is -that in certain environments prayer may contribute to recovery and -should be encouraged as a therapeutic measure.’ - -And if the doctor is willing to recognise the great value of prayer, -the divine should not be backward in welcoming the doctor; nor should -he regard the medical man and the philosopher with suspicion if -they lay stress chiefly on the ‘reflex’ value of prayer; regard its -subjective effects, rather than investigate its real or objective power. - -Once more let me quote the Bishop of London: - -‘If I was ill, I would send for the best doctor, and get my parish -priest to come and pray by my side, believing that the double work of -Jesus Christ is shared by two great professions. It would be bad for -either to be banished from the sick room.’[100] - - [100] Answer to a questioner. Lent Mission, 1910. - -That is the position on which we should lay stress. The future, I am -sure, lies with those who are willing to accept the religion of the -Incarnation and all that it signifies; the men who proclaim joyfully -and unwaveringly that Spirit has dwelt in flesh, but who also never -hesitate to assert that it is real Flesh in which the Spirit dwelt. -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 -fees: 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-tube. 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 priest; we must take care that no -headstrong divines, in their new zeal for psychic healing, disparage or -despise the profession of St. Luke. - - - - -THE EUCHARIST AND BODILY -WELL-BEING - -BY - -ARTHUR W. ROBINSON, D.D. - -VICAR OF ALL HALLOWS BARKING, EXAMINING CHAPLAIN TO THE -BISHOP OF LONDON, AND RURAL DEAN OF THE -EAST CITY OF LONDON - - - - -THE EUCHARIST AND BODILY WELL-BEING - -BY ARTHUR W. ROBINSON, D.D. - - -The editor of this volume thinks that it should include a paper upon -the relation of the Eucharist to bodily well-being, and he has asked me -to deal with the question. I am fully aware of the difficulty of doing -so, and shall be well content if what I am able to say should lead -others to feel, as I do, that the subject is one which deserves much -reverent and careful attention. Perhaps that is all that any of us who -are taking part in the production of this book can hope to achieve. Our -desire is to be allowed to prepare the way for the clearer and stronger -action of the future. Little by little we are coming to see that the -scope of Christianity is bigger and more comprehensive than has for -some time been supposed. We can trace the steps by which religion and -its benefits had got to be looked upon as chiefly, if not exclusively, -concerned with individuals and their souls. And we can recognise that -there have been, and are, 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 room. - -To begin with, there has been the revival of the Corporate aspect of -the faith, with an insistence upon the truth that the fullest life -is only to be realised through fellowship. Very slowly we have been -learning that we are not meant to be perfected as individuals, but -as parts of a whole of which Christ is the head and we are all of us -members. Already this sense of a corporate ideal has made a great -difference to our thoughts about the Church and the Sacraments, and has -begun to work a change in our beliefs as to the importance of unity and -the possibilities of spiritual power. And now it looks as if we are -being called to a yet farther enlargement of our conceptions and hopes. -To-day we are bidden to add to our knowledge in another direction. -This time it is the Corporal aspect of the Christian message which is -coming into view. We are to learn that our religion is not only for us -all as a whole, but that it has to do with the whole of each of us. -In other words it is good for the body as well as for the soul. In -some degree, no doubt, we have been accustomed to admit that the fact -of the Incarnation is a witness to the dignity of our bodies, and a -pledge of their ultimate glorification; but the admission has too often -lacked the full force of a living conviction. At the present moment, -however, many influences are combining in a remarkable way to send us -‘back 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 souls. 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 them. - -Now, plainly such lines of thought must sooner or later converge upon -the Eucharist. We may confidently assert that if the fuller life, -corporate or corporal, is to be realised and manifested by us, 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 members. - -Let us, then, approach the consideration of the mystery patiently, and -make a serious effort to grasp what we can of its meaning in right -perspective and due proportion. 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 services. - - * * * * * - -Briefly, we may say that the Eucharist is designed to fulfil a -threefold purpose for us. In the first place, it is a SIGN OF -PROFESSION. Sacraments are ‘not only badges or tokens of Christian -men’s profession’ (Art. xxv.); but this they most certainly are. Again -and again our Lord laid stress upon the duty and necessity of an open -acknowledgment of discipleship. From the earliest times the Sacrament -of His Body and Blood has been regarded as the oath and pledge of a -Christian’s loyalty. We may be sure that Christ meant it to be this. -Perhaps it is not altogether without significance that while the -ancient allegory of the Old Testament had made the test of obedience, -‘Thou shalt not eat’; in the sacred symbolism of the New Covenant it -became, ‘Do this,’ ‘Take eat.’ Through the Eucharist we declare our -readiness to be known as members of the Christian fellowship, and our -determination to be the true followers of Christ. That is its first and -simplest and most obvious signification. - -Then further the Eucharist is AN ACT OF WORSHIP. It has a Godward -aspect, as well as a bearing towards the Church and the world. The -original institution had for its background the slaying of the lambs -and the pouring out of the blood of the Passover sacrifices. This, -said our Lord, is My way of celebrating the redemption, not merely of -a nation, but of a world. ‘This is My Blood of the Covenant, which is -shed for many.’ And accordingly whenever we solemnly repeat His words -and His acts, we do it in a Consecration Prayer addressed not to man -but to God. It has been thus that from the beginning the Church has -made the ‘perpetual memory,’ setting forth the finished sacrifice of -the Cross as the one and only ground and hope of man’s salvation. It is -thus that we draw nigh by the ‘new and living way which He has prepared -for us’ until we find ourselves amid all the company of heaven, nay -more, suppliants before the very throne of God, humbly but confidently -asking for the grace to help us in our earthly need. The prayer is -freely granted. The very offerings we present are blessed and returned -for our enrichment. - -And so, finally, the Eucharist is a MEANS OF GRACE. The Altar becomes -a Table, and the Sacrifice ends in a Feast. We are bidden, not only -to ‘do this,’ but to ‘eat’ and ‘drink’ the Body and Blood. Here it is -that we reach the most mysterious aspect of all. Christ died and rose -again for us that we might live by Him. In this holiest fellowship -He fulfils His promise to be with us; in this highest worship we are -made partakers of His very self. How the blessing is bestowed we are -unable to explain. The explanations that have been attempted are not -really explanations, for they are not themselves intelligible. But we -can do better than explain. We can accept the fact, and look to prove -it in experience. That is the way of our English Church teaching. -‘The benefit is great,’ we are assured, ‘if with a true penitent -heart and lively faith we receive this Holy Sacrament, for then we -spiritually eat the Flesh of Christ and drink His Blood.’ ‘The Body -and Blood of Christ are verily and indeed’--not merely metaphorically -and symbolically--‘taken and received by the faithful.’ So it has been -believed since the foundation of the Church. ‘The doctrine of the -reality of the gift bestowed in the Holy Communion is universal in -the writings of the early Christians.’[101] And so it will be to the -end, when the holy feast is to be royally ‘fulfilled in the kingdom of -God.’[102] - - [101] Archbishop Temple, Primary Charge. - - [102] St. Luke xxii. 16. - -It is in connexion with this third aspect of the Eucharist that we are -to attempt some further inquiry. Granted that ‘the benefit is great,’ -of what does it consist? When we meet together in the gladness of loyal -fellowship to ‘lift up our hearts’ through the worship which unites us -to the Great High Priest within the veil; when we receive, as from His -hands, the more than tokens of our participation in His present life -and coming triumph; when after meekly kneeling for the benediction of -the heavenly peace, we rise and go our way--what thoughts may we dare -to cherish with regard to the blessing that has been granted to us? - -Shall we answer that the gain must be of a spiritual character, that -what we have received is ‘the strengthening and refreshing of our -souls,’ that this is what is intended when the Eucharist is spoken of -as a ‘means of grace’? Assuredly we shall be right to answer thus. We -cannot insist upon it too strongly, or claim it too confidently. We may -not feel at the moment that we are stronger and more able for our life -and duty; but then we do not always feel the benefit of physical food -and medicine the moment they have been taken. The gain may not appear -for hours or even days, when perhaps we have ceased to think of the -source from which it came. Strangely enough, too, the immediate effect -of a medicine may be to bring out the mischief, and to make us imagine -that we are the worse for it rather than the better; and, as we know, -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 Communion. In spite of it all, faith takes and gives humble thanks -for the blessing which has been received. - -But, when we say that the blessing is of a spiritual nature, does that -mean that its effects are therefore limited to the spiritual sphere? -Can we think that they could be so limited? Is not the spiritual the -dominant factor in all our life, and must not the quickening and -gladdening of our spirits be felt, sooner or later, through every -department of our being? - -Is it not true that the mind is profoundly influenced by the state of -the spirit; that, when the soul is at peace and in harmony with God’s -will, light shines as it were from within upon the hardest and most -perplexing problems around us? 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 Communion. -So, too, one of the most brilliant of our living teachers, speaking -of what he owed to the school chapel at Eton, has said, ‘There I -mercifully gained the habit of constant Communion; 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 mind.’[103] - - [103] Canon Scott Holland, _Commonwealth_, March 1908. - -If the mind may be helped through blessing received by the spirit, why -not the body also? We are realising more and more forcibly every year -how intimate is the connexion between mental action and the physical -organism. The two are so linked that every change in the one would -seem to be accompanied by a change in the other. Moreover, we are -assured by recent psychology that there are regions within us which lie -outside--above and below--the levels of our ordinary consciousness; and -that influences exerted in these regions are determining causes, not -merely of mental, but of bodily states. The close connexion between -the spiritual and the physical is clearly insisted upon in the New -Testament teaching. Our Lord showed plainly that the problem of bodily -disease was not to be treated apart from the more baffling needs of the -soul. In unhesitating terms He traced the miseries of morbid physical -conditions to moral wrongdoing and the presence of spiritual forces of -evil. The great word ‘Salvation’ strictly interpreted meant health; and -it was applied to both body and soul. It is no small part of Christ’s -redemption to ‘quicken your mortal bodies through His Spirit that -dwelleth in you.’[104] - - [104] Romans viii. 2. - -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 it, and -might be taken to imply that it too is to be partaker of the benefit. -And when St. Paul declares that to receive ‘unworthily’ is to be in -danger of bodily sickness and even of death,[105] we can scarcely avoid -the inference that for the worthy recipient there might be expected -some corresponding advantage of quickened health and physical vitality. - - [105] 1 Cor. xi. 30. - - * * * * * - -If we ask what the thoughts of early Christianity were in regard -to this matter, we need remain in no uncertainty as to the reply. -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 Apostles. At first it was with reluctance that they -committed their most sacred formularies to writing. Even as late as -the time of Athanasius the precise nature of the liturgy was kept as a -secret, to be revealed only to those who would be certain to regard it -with reverence and understanding. ‘It is not permitted,’ he wrote, ‘to -describe the mysteries to those who are not initiated.’[106] Not until -this discipline of secrecy was gradually abandoned, as Christianity -came to be accepted throughout the empire, were the actual forms of -service allowed to become public property. From these we are able to -gather much as to the place which the Eucharist held in the life of -the Church, and as to the hopes that were centred in it. These hopes, -without question, were primarily of a spiritual sort. Intercession was -offered with a fulness and intensity which witness to a wonderful power -of sustained devotion and a boundless range of sympathy. There were -many and various prayers for the peace and perfecting of the Church -and the enlightenment of the world, for the spread of true knowledge, -for the sanctification of all estates of believers, and above all, and -most of all, for the exaltation and glory of God in earth as in heaven. -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 material, between the blessing of the soul and -the good to be desired for the body. If they made intercession for the -Church that it might be ‘kept sheltered from storms’ and be ‘preserved -founded upon the rock until the consummation of the world,’ and were -careful to remember the higher needs of all classes of Christian -people, they were quick to add, ‘Let us pray for our brethren exercised -by sickness, that the Lord may deliver them from every disease and from -every infirmity, and may restore them whole to His Holy Church.’[107] -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 ‘faith, and -watchfulness, and healing, and sober-mindedness, and sanctification, -and renovation of soul and body and spirit.’[108] When they had -partaken of the elements they implored that these might ‘not be unto -condemnation but to salvation, for the benefit of soul and body.’[109] - - [106] _Apol. contra Arianos_, ii. - - [107] Clementine Liturgy. - - [108] Liturgy of St. Mark. - - [109] Clementine Liturgy. - -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 Serapion, which dates from 350 A.D. The work consists of thirty -prayers such as a bishop would be likely to use.[110] Of these the -first six and the last twelve have to do with the celebration of the -Eucharist; the remainder relate to Baptism, Confirmation, Ordination, -and Burial. - - [110] A translation, with notes, has been edited by the Bishop of - Salisbury in a small volume issued by the S.P.C.K. (Early Church - Classics). The Greek text will be found in an article by the Rev. F. - E. Brightman, _Journal of Theological Studies_, October 1899. - -‘Life is a remarkable note of the collection,’ and it is life in -the fullest sense of the word. A few quotations will indicate this, -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 -Eucharist. In the opening Offertory prayer we find the words, ‘We -beseech Thee, make us living men.’ At the invocation of the Word upon -the elements, ‘Make all who communicate to receive a medicine of life -for the healing of any sickness.’ In ‘the prayer for those who have -suffered,’ ‘Grant health and soundness, and cheerfulness and all -advancement of soul and body.’ And in the final Benediction, ‘Let the -communion of the Body and Blood go with this people. Let their bodies -be living bodies, and their souls be clean souls.’ Provision is also -made for special prayer for the sick, and for the blessings of oils -and waters for their benefit, and in these connexions we find such -expressions as the following: ‘Be propitious, Master; assist and heal -all that are sick. Rebuke the sicknesses.’ ‘Grant them to be counted -worthy of health.’ ‘Make them to have perfect health of body and soul.’ -‘Grant healing power upon these creatures that every power and every -evil spirit and every sickness may depart.’ - -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 devotion. The physical is never allowed to usurp the first -place. But it is never forgotten. 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 constitution, to ‘spirit and soul and -body.’[111] - - [111] These references to the Liturgies might be supplemented by - quotations from the patristic writings, e.g. those of Irenæus, - Tertullian, Cyril of Jerusalem, and Gregory of Nyssa. The last named - went so far as to make Baptism with faith to be the salvation of the - soul, and the partaking of the Eucharist the salvation of the body. - See Bishop Gore, _The Body of Christ_, p. 69; and Bethune Baker, - _Introduction to the History of Christian Doctrine_, pp. 399, 412. - -In the light of our increasing knowledge of psychological processes, -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 times; and we are doing our best, by careful investigation and -analysis, to separate the well-authenticated cases from those for which -the evidence is not satisfactory. 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 history. In Mr. Percy Dearmer’s -volume entitled ‘Body and Soul’ a large number of testimonies have been -collected relating to such experiences at various times throughout the -Christian centuries. Thus the passage from St. Augustine is quoted, -in which he said that in his days miracles were still being wrought, -‘partly by the sacraments,’ and partly through other instrumentalities. -And instances of such miracles are described as they were recorded of -Bernard, and Francis, and Catherine of Siena; of Philip Neri, Fox, -Wesley, Cardinal Hohenlohe, Pastor Blumhardt, Father John of Cronstadt, -and many more. At least two cases are given in which the benefit was -definitely connected with the reception of Holy Communion.[112] - - [112] pp. 370, 381. Compare also the witness of St. Thomas à Kempis - in regard to the power of this Sacrament. ‘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’ (vires sibi praestitas sentiat ampliores). _De Imit._ iv. 1. - - * * * * * - -It remains now to ask how far we English Church people have any -guidance to which we can appeal in our liturgical forms. 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 -days. And yet the allusions are more frequent than many imagine. At -the outset of Morning and Evening Prayer we are reminded that we have -met ‘to ask those things which are requisite and necessary as well -for the body as the soul.’ Over and over we repeat the clause in the -Lord’s Prayer--‘Give us this day our daily bread.’ In the Creed we -joyfully attest our belief in the ‘resurrection of the body.’ In the -Litany we pray to be delivered from ‘plague and pestilence.’ A special -intercession is appointed for use ‘in the time of common plague or -sickness,’ as well as the more general one for all who are ‘any ways -afflicted, or distressed, in mind, body, or estate,’ with a particular -remembrance of ‘those for whom our prayers are desired.’ In the -Collects, which were intended primarily for use at the Eucharist, we -find petitions for help in ‘our infirmities,’ for defence from ‘all -adversities which may happen to the body,’ for preservation ‘both in -body and soul,’ and for readiness of ‘body’ to do the Divine will. -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 Incarnation. - -When we say the prayer for the whole Church, we humbly beseech God -‘to comfort and succour all those who in this transitory life are -in trouble, sorrow, need, sickness, or any other adversity.’ In the -Prayer of Humble Access there are petitions, first to be met with in -the earliest form of the English service (1548), which sound like an -echo from the already quoted Prayer-book of Serapion, ‘that our sinful -bodies may be made clean by His Body, and our souls washed through -His most precious Blood.’ Even more intentionally significant are the -words of administration appointed to be addressed to every communicant, -‘The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve thy body and soul unto -everlasting life’; ‘The Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve thy -body and soul unto everlasting life.’ These references to the ‘body’ -appear to have been deliberately introduced into our service. In the -Latin form the celebrant had said, ‘custodiat animam meam in vitam -aeternam.’[113] And as the body has its place of privilege, so also -it has a share of the corresponding responsibility. In the Prayer of -Oblation ‘we offer and present our souls and bodies to be a reasonable, -holy, and lively sacrifice.’ Finally, among the Collects suggested to -be said after the Offertory, and at other times ‘as occasion shall -serve,’ the foremost place is given to two which are closely connected -with the thought of bodily welfare. The first, ‘Assist us mercifully, -O Lord,’ was a prayer used in medieval times for persons who had gone -on a pilgrimage to seek physical as well as spiritual blessings; the -second is for the sanctification and governance of ‘both our hearts -and bodies,’ that we may be ‘preserved in body and soul, through our -Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.’ - - [113] It would seem that the fuller form, ‘corpus et animum meam,’ - was used by the priest at his own communion in the Mozarabic rite; - and that a similar form was prescribed in the Cologne use of the - fourteenth century for communicating the people. (Daniel, _Codex - Liturgicus_, i. pp. 105, 147.) Otherwise the rule was as stated - above. It is interesting to note, however, that the words ‘corpus - et’ were very generally employed in administering _to the sick_ in - medieval England (see the _York Manual_, Surtees, lxiii. pp. 51, 52). - -So then, in our Prayer-book, as in the older service books, the benefit -of the body is closely associated with the gain which is sought for the -soul. The physical effect is regarded as dependent upon the spiritual -gift. As the Bishop of Birmingham has put it, ‘though in the Holy -Communion the body is sanctified through the sanctification of our -spirit, and transformed and endowed, in subtle and secret ways which -pass our comprehension, with capacity for the life immortal; yet it is -through the spirit and not directly.’[114] The blessing begins with the -spirit, but it certainly does not end there. - - [114] _Body of Christ_, p. 64. - - * * * * * - -This sketch of a great subject, imperfect as it has been, 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 minds. A friend -who had been spending a good deal of time on ‘cures’ on the continent -as well as in this country, 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 getting. That is an idea -which accords with the temper of the first Christians, and is certainly -encouraged by a careful study of our own Prayer-book. We dare not -assert that all ‘the ills that flesh is heir to’ would disappear before -a quickened vitality of soul, and the mental soundness which might -follow from this; but we can well believe that the tendency of true -religion is all in the direction of physical health. Indeed, 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 gladness. We -have amongst us those who are fully conscious that they have owed much -bodily strength to prayers and to sacraments. And there are medical men -who would not hesitate to give their confirmatory testimony from what -they have seen in their experiences of the sick. - -Sometimes we hear of small attendance at the weekly or daily Eucharist. -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 Church. 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 life. We might be helped to do this if, like the first -Christians, we accustomed ourselves to look to our Communions not only -for the blessing that they can bring to our souls, but for the lesser, -and yet not less real, blessing which we may find in them for the -sanctification and preservation of our bodies. - - - - -PRAYER AND MENTAL HEALING - -BY - -ARTHUR CHANDLER, D.D. - -BISHOP OF BLOEMFONTEIN - - - - -PRAYER AND MENTAL HEALING - -BY THE BISHOP OF BLOEMFONTEIN - - -This paper is concerned with Mental Healing; its object is to suggest, -in a tentative way, how Mental Healing may be effected by Mental -Prayer. But, in order to do this, it is necessary (at the risk of -repeating what may have been written by others) to refer to certain -premises leading up to the conclusion which I wish to draw. - -(1) In the first place it is coming to be recognised that -‘consciousness’ must be understood in a far wider and more general -sense than we have been accustomed to associate with it. Alongside of -the active work of the intellect with which, e.g., we study mathematics -or pursue our profession, there is a large, dreamy, half-conscious -tract of mind, not sharpened to a single point, like the active -intellect, but consisting in a multiplicity of mind-centres (mental -ganglia, as we might call them) diffused throughout the body. We knew -before that our body was a microcosm or an epitome of the world in -which it was found, and now we are learning that the same is true of -our minds. Primitive kinds of consciousness have been carried up with -us in our ascent from lower grades of being, and survive, dormant but -real, over against the intellect which is the palmary achievement of -our race. This residual consciousness (the consciousness which exists -outside of the rational intellect) consists largely of instincts and -capacities which regulate the lives of other animals, and which were -employed by man in his primitive state, but for which he has no use in -his present-day existence; modes of receptivity and reaction, which -were natural to him in his dreamy childhood, but which are discarded by -him in the aggressive, self-assertive, wide-awake condition in which -he now lives. Mr. Myers, in his ‘Human Personality,’ gives a very -attractive and convincing account of this inheritance from our ‘lowly -ancestors.’ But probably we have to go deeper still to account for -parts of the consciousness which we thus inherit. The rooted attachment -to home, and the blind tenacity with which, in the teeth of reason, -men cling to life, exhibit a more primitive mode of consciousness than -that of animal life. Here we will quote some very suggestive words of -Professor Stewart: - -‘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 sprung, when life was still as sound asleep -as death, and there was no time yet. That we should fall for a while, -now and then, from our waking, time-marking life, into the timeless -slumber of this primeval life is easy to understand; for the principle -solely operative in that primeval life is indeed the fundamental -principle of our nature, being that “vegetative part of the soul” which -made from the first, and still silently makes, the assumption on which -our rational life of conduct and science rests--the assumption that -life is worth living. When to the “vegetative” the “sensitive” soul -is first added, the Imperative (Live thy Life) is obeyed by creatures -which, experiencing only isolated feelings, and retaining no traces of -them in memory, still live a timeless life, without sense of past or -future, and consequently without sense of selfhood. Then, with memory, -there comes, in the higher animals, some dim sense of a self dating -back and prospecting forward. Time begins to be.’ - -This, then, is our starting point; that besides the single, supreme, -rational activity, which we call intellect, there exist in us other -forms of consciousness similar to those which accompany the growth -of the plant or the life of the animal; and that this residual -consciousness, however much we may discard or disown it, continues to -live and work, and does things which the proud intellect is unable -to do. On the other hand, we must not forget that these forms of -feeling and instinct, of perception and reaction, which we regard as -our heritage from lower grades of life, are enormously modified by -their juxtaposition with a rational intellect. The unity of nature -which comprehends both the intellect and them, makes itself felt; -this lower form of mentality is still the mentality of a rational -being; and the general position may be described by saying that there -exists a decentralised consciousness, diffused through the organism, -‘irrational, but capable of sharing in reason, and of listening to -it,’ as Aristotle would say, and manifesting itself in a power of -receiving impressions, manipulating them, and reacting upon them, which -in our present state of ignorance we describe by the convenient word -‘abnormal.’ - -(2) Because the residual consciousness is thus diffused throughout the -body, it can exercise control over the various parts of the body, just -as the central intellect exercises control over the body as a whole. -As the reason can set the body in motion by commands issued through -the brain and travelling down the motor nerves, so the departmental -consciousness can initiate changes and disturbances in the various -nerve centres with which it is associated. This, we take it, is what -happens in all cases of mental healing. The phenomenon is physical -as well as psychical; it consists not merely in the inhibition of -the feeling of pain, but in such a modification of the nerve tissues -as removes the cause of the pain. A real cure is effected, and it -is effected by the action of the residual consciousness upon that -particular part of the organism. - -(3) This decentralised, residual consciousness can work best when -the rational intellect is quiescent--when, we may say, the central -office is closed. At such times man ceases for the time to be an -argumentative, striving creature; the placid, vegetative, ruminative -life, the life of growth and instinct, asserts itself; submerged modes -of consciousness begin to stir and act, like fairies dancing when the -sun has set. - -And as sleep is the typically quiescent state, it will be specially in -sleep, natural or induced, that these lower modes of consciousness will -exhibit their activity. - -(4) In order that they may act, a ‘cue’ or suggestion of some sort must -be given to them. The most marked characteristic of this residual -consciousness is its receptivity. It executes, but cannot originate. -It can retain in the memory the whole of a long poem which it has -heard, and it can solve a problem by right adjustment of its elements; -but in each case the facts must be given to it in order that it may -deal with them. In itself it is dreamy and desultory; if it is to work -efficiently, it must be stimulated and concentrated by the transmission -to it of a clear and forcible suggestion. - -(5) On the other hand, although it must take its orders from the -reason, it is only natural that one residual consciousness should -be more _en rapport_, feel more at home, with another residual -consciousness. The reason is like a parent or schoolmaster, and these -consciousnesses are like children. They receive their directions from -above, but are far more at home with each other, canvassing their -instructions, and sometimes parodying and making fun of them, as -children do with the admonitions of their elders. In matter of fact -there is often something freakish and elfish about this consciousness, -it reminds one of the submerged spirit of Dionysus reasserting itself -in Denys l’Auxerrois as described by Mr. Pater. - -(6) Now, if one residual consciousness can be brought into a -relationship of definite and serious purpose with another residual -consciousness, the influence thus exerted will be stronger than any -which can be exerted directly by the reason itself. To revert to our -former illustrations, 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 himself. - -(7) The reason of man, then, may be well able to convey clear -instructions to his own residual consciousness, and send it to -associate with, and work upon, some other residual consciousness. And -if the instructions conveyed, and the work done, concern the curing of -some ailment, a case of mental healing will be the result. - -Let A be the healer and B the patient; let _a_ and _b_ represent -the residual consciousness of each of them; further, let A^1 be the -rational intellect of A, and B^2 the seat of B’s disease. In that case -the following diagram will illustrate the process: - -[Illustration] - -That is, A concentrates his intellect (A^1) on transmitting a message -to his own submerged consciousness (_a_); this submerged consciousness -works upon B’s submerged consciousness and stimulates it to curative -action on the seat of B’s disease. Further, the best time for _a_ to -thus work upon _b_ will be when A and B are both asleep. A will have -concentrated the reason on the idea of helping B just before going to -sleep. Mr. Hudson, in his ‘Psychic Phenomena,’ gives many illustrations -of cures thus effected. - -(8) 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 insight; -and if he is a humble man, he will recognise his own weakness and -ignorance. In proportion, then, to his affection for B, he wants to -bring to bear on B a stronger force and a higher wisdom than his own. A -few exceptionally strong and wise people may bring help, of themselves, -to their friends in the manner described in the last section; but the -majority, being conscious of their own limitations, will turn elsewhere -for succour, i.e. will pray. - -(9) In very many cases prayer is a definite petition to God, that -God will Himself act directly on our friend by bestowing a definite -blessing on him, e.g. recovery from a specific ailment. But that is not -quite the highest or the best kind of prayer. God loves to act through -us; Christ sends out his disciples, that through them He may continue -to do His gracious works. We can combine a humble reliance on God with -the offer of ourselves as His instruments, if our prayer conforms to -that Prayer of Quiet or Silence of which mystical writers tell us. -Then, instead of ourselves acting directly on our friend, and instead -of asking God to act directly upon him, we shall just concentrate our -attention upon God with special intention for our friend. We shall hope -that a Divine response from God will, during our sleep perhaps, enter -our own subconscious self (which we have, through the concentration of -our attention, made receptive of such responses) and through us work -upon that of our friend. In such a case the diagram will be as follows: - -[Illustration] - -We may add that this Prayer of Silence not only renders us receptive -of Divine influences, which may then through us be transmitted -to our friend; also it embodies the true attitude of humility in -relation to God. We know not what we should pray for as we ought. -We are not to dictate to God what blessing He is to send. We simply -bring our friend’s evil case before Him in the very act of our own -loving concentration upon Him, and offer ourselves as the agents for -the transmission of that blessing, whatever it may be, which He in -His wisdom may will to send. By a strong act of sympathy we identify -ourselves with our friend, and trust God to provide the right remedy. -‘Have mercy upon _me_,’ said the woman in the Gospel, ‘my daughter is -grievously vexed with a devil.’ - -If we can combine this living sympathy for our friend with a humble -trust in God’s power and wisdom, and further offer ourselves as the -instrument through which God may act, we shall be practising the -highest and purest form of intercession within our reach. And this form -of intercession may be offered in a silent act of Contemplation, in -which distracting thoughts are set aside, the favourable attitude of -receptivity is attained, and a loving and concentrated appeal is made -to the love of God. It may, perhaps, encourage us to engage in this -highest form of prayer, if we recognise that it has this intercessory -side. An objection is sometimes brought against the practice of -Contemplation as described by spiritual writers, on the ground that -it is self-centred and selfish. There is never much force in such an -objection, 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 himself; he is diffusing an atmosphere of God’s -presence, with the blessings that flow from it. - -When, however, Contemplation is practised with definite intercessory -intention, its beneficence is clearly and unmistakably emphasised. - -(10) It is well to dwell a little more on the quality of humility which -should characterise all such prayers. We have no right to dictate to -God what His answer shall be. We have no right to assume that it must -be His will to remove all pain and suffering. Any such assumption leads -logically to conclusions which those who make it might not be prepared -to accept. If pain and suffering are contrary to God’s will, and God -is omnipotent, it follows that there can be no such thing as pain and -suffering; and as pain and suffering are located in the body, it will -further be concluded that there is no such thing as a body; and here at -once we have Christian Science in a nutshell. - -We may try to escape from this conclusion by distinguishing an absolute -and a contingent will of God, and arguing that pain, as such, is -contrary, but under certain circumstances is not contrary, to the -will of God. But this really abandons the whole position, since we do -not know whether the case of our friend is covered by the ‘certain -circumstances’ or not, and therefore are unable to dogmatise as to -God’s will in the matter. No one in his senses imagines that God wills -pain for the sake of pain. Everyone would agree that, if sin had not -come into the world, there would be no occasion for pain. But then sin -has come into the world; the only condition of man with which we are -acquainted is his fallen condition; in that fallen condition sin and -suffering are mingled inextricably to a degree which utterly condemns -dictation or dogmatism on our part. Ignorant people like ourselves -must, then, be humble in our prayers. We bring our friend’s illness -before God; ‘Lord, he whom Thou lovest is sick’; often God’s love may -be shown in the removal of the suffering; sometimes in the provision of -grace sufficient to enable the sufferer to rejoice in his infirmities. - -(11) What has been said in this paper is liable to an easy and -obvious criticism. It will be said that the whole thing consists of -guesses; and further, that these guesses are incapable of scientific -verification. I cheerfully accept both statements, and am not -particularly affected by either. All increase of knowledge has been -made through guesses, and in the case of an intricate subject like -that before us, we must be content to go on guessing for a long time. -Further, there may be verification which would not conform to the -more rigorous methods, but which would be sufficient for practical -purposes. If we find that such prayer as I have described is followed -by relief, either physical or spiritual, to him for whom we pray; and -if this sequence occurs again and again under different conditions, the -cumulative weight of such experience will justify a humble belief that -God is indeed using us as vehicles of His grace and love. - -(12) Finally, I should like to add a few words as to the general -attitude which, it seems to me, we should adopt with regard to facts -of mental healing. I have assumed that we are face to face with -certain psychical facts which for the first time are winning general -recognition of their authenticity. That is, we are witnessing the -birth and development of a special branch of psychology. The whole -inquiry into the phenomena of the subconscious, or subliminal, or -subjective, or residual consciousness (whatever we choose to call it) -is a psychological inquiry. It is for the psychologist to investigate -the relation in which such phenomena stand to the normal working of the -mind; and it is for the psychologist and physiologist together to probe -the method by which subconscious mentality affects the diseased tissue, -and in many cases effects a cure. The facts are becoming patent to all; -the causes are a subject matter for science. Where, then, does religion -come in? I answer that whilst the forces at work are psychical, and the -inquiry into their mode of operation is scientific, they can be best -put in motion by religion. - -Some such demarcation of spheres seems to me to be essential. It would -be fatal to assume that all manifestation of subconscious activity is -supernatural; that all mental healing is necessarily spiritual healing. -The facts postulate neither a special spiritual gift, nor a special -theory of the universe (such as that of Christian Science) to account -for them. They are, we repeat, psychical facts, and come under the -domain of psychology. - -Further, as I have suggested above, religion is not the only motive -power by which they can be roused to action. A rigorous process of -attention and concentration of the mind, which has been rendered -quiescent by the elimination of other thoughts and ideas, seems to be -the condition under which the healer acts successfully; and such a -process is not confined to the sphere of religion. - -But, on the other hand, we Christians possess two great qualifications -in this matter. First, in the higher forms of prayer we have ready to -our hand a peculiarly effective method of concentration and attention; -and, secondly, through the use of this method, we can link our own -action with the action of God, correcting our ignorance by the wisdom -of God, and supplementing our weakness by the power of God. - - * * * * * - -NOTE.--In this article I have dealt with healing as exercised on the -ills of another, not on one’s own ills; and the prayer associated with -such healing has therefore been presented as intercessory prayer. -But of course the troubles which we have in view may be our own. In -such a case the method will be much the same as that sketched above; -relief may be effected subconsciously through the medium of prayer. -But the procedure is now much simpler. Instead of sending out our -subconsciousness (the phraseology is necessarily materialistic and -fearfully inadequate) to work on that of another, we merely commission -it to work on the seat of our own malady. The method now becomes one -of auto-suggestion, i.e. the healing suggestion is made by us to -ourselves. We know the power of this process in the moral sphere; we -know how, by fixing our minds on lofty and ennobling ideas, we can -break the power of temptation, not by a frontal attack, but by getting -round it and above it to a higher level of life and thought. This, -in fact, is the main purpose and effect of meditation as ordinarily -practised. The scope of meditations only have to be slightly extended -in order to apply to our physical as well as our moral troubles. But, -although this method of healing becomes simpler in procedure, because -applied to ourselves, yet for the same success it demands still greater -humility and purity of intention. If, when we pray for others, 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 suffering, -it is still harder for us to recognise this in our own case. To meet -this difficulty, it will be well that prayer for our own relief should -be as much as possible silent prayer. We shall concentrate our -attention on God’s love and power, as revealed in Christ, just spread -out our trouble before Him, and resolve to trust Him to the uttermost. -The suggestion thus conveyed to our own subconscious life will be -charged with God’s grace; if physical healing results, the restored -health will be transformed by dedication to God’s service; if the -relief takes the form of strength to endure, it will be none the less -relief, lifting us above the level of self-pity into tranquil communion -with Christ crucified, and may be none the less an instrument in God’s -hands for the doing of His blessed will. - - - - -THE METAPHYSICS OF CHRISTIAN SCIENCE - -BY - -M. CARTA STURGE - - - - -THE METAPHYSICS OF CHRISTIAN SCIENCE - -BY M. CARTA STURGE - - -In attempting to criticise the Metaphysics of Christian Science, as put -forth in the book which claims to be the authority for its doctrine, -‘Science and Health, with Key to the Scriptures,’ one is tempted to -quote the famous chapter on ‘Snakes in Iceland,’ which runs ‘There are -no snakes in Iceland,’ and to say at the outset that Christian Science -has no Metaphysics. Since, however, it claims to explain the Universe, -and to give a theory of such metaphysical subjects as Matter and -Spirit, as well as of Unity and Reality, it may be well to examine its -statements on these abstruse matters to see if they can justly claim -to have value as Metaphysics, to search the island, as it were, before -pronouncing that there are no snakes in it. - -Undoubtedly Christian Science owes a good deal of its attractiveness -to its teaching of a sort of popular Idealism. It was put forth at -a time when a great wave of Materialism had overspread the Christian -world, not owing only to discoveries in Natural Science, which seemed -in the first flush of their triumph, before they had been adjusted with -other fields of thought, to destroy all belief in Spirit, but owing -also to the fact that Religion had been for so long established and, -apparently, firmly seated upon a secure spiritual foundation, that it -had been loosely taught as to its fundamental basis. So little had its -relation with physical things been explained that the spiritual and -physical aspects of the Universe had become, as it were, separated -in thought and shut up respectively in watertight compartments. The -result was that in the popular mind the two worlds, the spiritual and -the physical, stood in a merely artificial relation with each other, -connected, as it were, by unmeaning hooks, instead of standing in an -intimate organic relation, so close that no true statement regarding -the one could possibly stand in collision with the truth of the other. - -In consequence of this merely artificial relation of the two in the -popular mind, at the first breath of the new scientific announcements -the two worlds in the minds of only too many fell apart, and the -spiritual world floated away, if one may say so, to nowhere, whilst the -physical, with all its limitations, its ruthless laws, its indifference -to the individual, its total disregard of pain, and its insurmountable -barriers, reigned alone. Materialism had triumphed with its apparently -hard-and-fast solidity; whilst the ideals of Poetry, the truths hinted -at by Art, the revelations of the prophet, the dreams of the young and -the visions of the old, and our intuitions of unseen realities which -cannot be uttered, were consigned by many, supposed to be wise, to the -region of illusions, the realm of nothingness, and Man seemed indeed to -be nothing more than a creature helplessly subject to circumstance, the -sport of every wind, and entirely beyond the region of hope wherever -physical aid failed. - -It was in the midst of a state of things something like this that -Christian Science came with its contrary announcement that all is -Spirit, and this given forth with the energy and freshness which always -accompanies the discovery of a new aspect of truth, or, as in this -instance, the rediscovery of a world-old truth which had been for a -time despised or forgotten. And with it came a message of hope, the -assurance that we are not the creatures of mere circumstance, that we -are not limited to physical life, nor altogether tied down by its -limitations, that things are not as hard and fast as they seem, and -that in the power of Spirit we can throw down many a barrier and rise -above circumstances. Most welcome teaching, and yet to those of us -accustomed to singing, on the third evening of the month, ‘With the -help of my God I shall leap over the wall,’ it seems strange that it -should appear quite so new! However, as before said, Materialism had -darkened much of this old truth and somewhat blinded our eyes. Whether, -therefore, it seems new or old to us, we can only welcome a powerful -reassertion of Idealism, of the supremacy of Spirit, provided it come -with good credentials, and be so stated as to appeal to the best and -sanest part of ourselves, and with the breadth and depth of treatment -that so wonderful a truth calls for. Unfortunately, it is here that -Christian Science fails us. It is a cheap, too much ready-made Idealism -that is put before us, and one that rather appeals to our less sane -moments than to our more brilliantly illuminated ones. - -Idealism, by reason of its very greatness, by its perception of things -that lie outside our senses, by its apprehension of infinities far -beyond our grasp, has many and great difficulties to encounter as -soon as, leaving the inspired region of Poetry, and of prophetic -vision, it tries to present itself as rational to our intellect, and as -conformable with our knowledge of physical things. Had the foundress -of Christian Science confined herself to the uninquiring assertions of -Seership, and left the explanation of Spiritual truths (of which no one -can deny that she caught some luminous glimpses) to minds equipped with -the necessary knowledge and training, Christian Science would have been -shorn of much of its incoherence and false teaching, and perhaps have -proved itself a real ally to Christianity. - -But the foundress was not content with the rôle of giving forth such -insight as she may have had as a Seer. She tries to explain it, and -the consequence is such a tangle of incoherent, inconsistent, confused -statements, contradictory to each other, as has, perhaps, never -seriously been given to the world before. And where, occasionally, the -statements, at least as to their wording, are clear and unmistakable in -their meaning, so far from clearing away the difficulties of Idealism, -they add much to the obscurity, and leave the subject in a position -likely to act in the long run in favour of Materialism rather than in -the direction intended. - -We will take an instance. Mrs. Eddy lays great stress on the Oneness of -the Universe. Here we shall few of us quarrel with her, for Unity is -the root-idea of Thought, whether scientific or philosophic, or even -that of mere common-sense, since it is only by Unity that one thing -can be seen in relation to another. The Unity is, however, difficult -of apprehension, since it is essentially an idea--although none the -less real for that--being, from the physical point of view, never seen -or apprehended as a material thing. Therefore it is non-material, -something spiritual or mental to be realised by insight other than that -of the senses. Mrs. Eddy has this insight, and has it very strongly. - -Idealism, however, is no sooner arrived at than it presents us with a -very hard knot to untie, and it is here that we shall see how far Mrs. -Eddy can give us any adequate metaphysical solution. - -She realises, like much greater thinkers, how hard it is to understand -how our material world can be contained in a spiritual idea, and that -Matter and Mind are of difficult reconciliation, although, if we grant -they both exist, they are so obviously related that they must be -reconcilable within a Unity somehow. This reconciliation has cost much -thought for thousands of years on the part of the deepest thinkers, -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 away, to deny it existence, and so to attain a cheap -conception of unity by pronouncing either matter or mind to be a mere -illusion. The Materialist tries cancelling Mind. Mrs. Eddy throws out -Matter and with it our entire physical world, not only the objects -in it, but all mental conceptions in regard to it, such as the Laws -of Nature, and all possible theories as to its being a manifestation -of Mind. All our conceptions of its laws are errors conceived by the -intellect, she teaches,[115] which is itself non-existent. In fact, the -world only _is_ because we falsely think it is. We have only to unthink -it, and it will disappear. Spirit is One, and therefore the many -objects of the world cannot be included in it; and only Spirit is real, -therefore the material world cannot be real. Such is her argument, and -she cannot allow that Matter may be a manifestation of Mind or created -by Mind, or have any relation with it of whatever sort. ‘Spirit and -Matter no more commingle,’ she says, ‘than light or darkness,’ and she -asserts that ‘Science reveals nothing in Spirit out of which to create -Matter.’ - - [115] For proofs of my assertions regarding the teachings of _Science - and Health_, I must refer the reader to my book _The Truth and Error - of Christian Science_. - -We have here attained, if we have attained it, Oneness at the expense -of the Many. It is One simply by means of containing nothing, and, 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 dead, empty One, -misnamed Unity because there is nothing to unite. The worship of such a -Oneness, it has well been said, would be the worship of the None. Such -an One would be all-exclusive instead of all-inclusive, and be gained -by the annihilation of everything, instead of by the inclusion of all -within Itself as the vital expression of Itself. - -In yet another way Mrs. Eddy’s statements concerning Unity contradict -themselves. We have seen that in her conception of Unity the whole -world, as we know it, has to be evaporated, as it were, into -nothingness, and it has been roundly denied that Spirit had anything to -do with its creation. Yet the world has to be accounted for, and in the -sequel we find that, according to ‘Science and Health,’ it _has_ been -created--but by whom or what? - -It has been created by the mind of Man, by his thinking power, but not, -as we shall find if we read the book carefully, by that part of man’s -mind that is real, but by that part of it which is constantly asserted -to be unreal, to be, in fact, as much nothing as the world itself is -nothing. This part of Man, which is over and over again affirmed to be -nothing, is the Mortal Mind, and is endowed with the most tremendous -creative powers; for by its thought, its false thought, which is again -nothing, it has created for itself a world of objects, and objects -connected with each other, not in a state of chaos, as one would expect -in a world created by false thought, but objects connected with each -other in a marvellously ordered sequence, 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 (although -in Mrs. Eddy’s view his own creation), and yet, in their ordered -complexity, so simple that they are reducible to a few heads. Such is -the wonderful world created by the Mortal Mind, and with which God, as -All-in-All, has nothing to do! Thus we have two Creators, two unrelated -worlds, and we are landed in a Duality which is absolutely opposed to, -and inconsistent with, the Oneness on which Mrs. Eddy lays so much -emphasis, and which consequently disappears. - -All the rest of Mrs. Eddy’s so-called metaphysical ideas, her teaching -on Reality, on the nature of Man, on what constitutes truth and what -error, and so on, are equally contradictory, 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 discussion. - -We welcome, as we have said, so emphatic an announcement of Idealism, -and of the truth of the supremacy of Spirit, but must deeply regret -that the Idealism is of so poor and thin a character, and the idea -of Spirit and of the Eternal Unity so deplorably impoverished. For, -indeed, thus presented, they could not long hold their own, and would -soon give place again to the darkness of Materialism. - -However, rather than criticise, let us welcome the recall to Idealism, -to the recognition of Spirit as the supreme reality in which all -physical laws find their truth, and, by a careful study and meditation -upon the length and breadth and depth of these great ideas, as set -forth in Christianity and all that led up to it, endeavour to do our -little part towards a better understanding of these things, and thus in -practice we shall indeed find that many a seeming solid barrier can be -overleapt, the crooked made straight and rough places plain. - - - PRINTED BY - SPOTTISWOODE AND CO. LTD., COLCHESTER - LONDON AND ETON - - - - -RELIGION AND MEDICINE. - -By SAMUEL MCCOMB, M.A. (Oxon.), D.D. (Glasgow), ELWOOD WORCESTER, D.D., -Ph.D., and ISIDOR H. CORIAT, M.D. - -With a Preface by SOMERSET E. PENNEFATHER, M.A., D.D., Vicar of -Kensington and Prebendary of St. Paul’s. - -Crown 8vo. 6_s._ net. - -This book sets forth in clear and non-technical language the -principles, and the methods by which these principles have been -applied, that underlie the notable experiment in practical Christianity -known as the Emmanuel Movement. The fundamental conception of the work -is that a great number of disorders, half nervous and half moral, which -are widely prevalent in American and English society, can be alleviated -and cured by means which are psychological and religious. The book -illustrates how an alliance between the highest neurological science of -our time and the Christian religion in its primitive and simplest form, -as modern Biblical scholarship has disclosed it, 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-day. - -The work is written by two scholars trained in scientific theology, and -a physician of high reputation as an expert in psychological medicine. - -_The Church Times_ says:--‘Dr. McComb’s lecture, reported in our -columns last week, has been speedily followed by the appearance of a -book, in which he and two of his colleagues give a complete account -of the work of healing undertaken at Emmanuel Church, Boston. This -seems to justify our suggestion that the limitations accepted were -designed mainly with a view to the friendly co-operation of the medical -profession. Another reason for limitation is neatly expressed:-- - -‘“In the treatment of functional nervous disorders, we make free use -of moral and psychical agencies, 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 instrumentalities.” - -‘There speaks sanctified common sense, in exact agreement with -the dictum of St. Thomas Aquinas that miracles are not to be -multiplied _praeter necessitatem_. There is also a recognition of -what is presumably true, that miraculous healing--for we prefer the -old-fashioned term--is not an easy way of escape from doctors’ bills, -but a process far more difficult, and involving far more expenditure -of mind and will, than the use of drugs or splints. When this is -understood, some prejudices will disappear. Meanwhile, the three -doctors--one of medicine and two of divinity--should have a respectful -hearing for their record of work done.’ - - -THE HEALING MINISTRY OF THE CHURCH. - -By Rev. SAMUEL MCCOMB, D.D. - -Crown 8vo. 32 pp. sewed, 6_d._ net. - -This little book is published under the direction of the Emmanuel -Committee for Great Britain, 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 mental, moral and spiritual, -and only secondarily physical, but which, nevertheless, defy the utmost -efforts to console or to relieve. - - -PSYCHIC HEALING: - -An Account of the Work of the Church and Medical Union. - -Crown 8vo. sewed, 6_d._ net. - -No one will deny that psychic healing is a question of paramount -interest at the present time. It is an everyday topic of conversation -in the market place, the workshop, and in the schools. 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