JREF Swift Blog

Science Vs. Faith Healing

If you watch late night TV, you might see the likes of Peter Popoff or Benny Hinn "healing" people on the stage. They'll throw away their crutches, pill bottles, and glasses, and praise Jesus for healing them. You'll never see an amputee on the stage though, because apparently God hates amputees.

I doubt you'll ever see someone with a debilitating neurological disease such as the devastating Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as "Lou Gehrig's Disease." You see, you simply can't fake a cure for that.

But with science, you might be able to have an actual cure.

It's early yet, but this announcement in Science Daily gives hope that one day, we'll be able to treat diseases that seem impossible to overcome. Scientists are now able to make functioning neurons from non-embryonic stem cells. Forget the technicalities if you'd like... this is like unlocking the code to building new nerves, which could allow someone to regain the ability to walk and speak.

You see, science actually DOES things for us. It provides real results that we use (and take for granted) every day. Faith healing and other witch doctory simply provide the illusion of accomplishing something, much like a magic trick – but without the honesty of a professional magician.

So the next time someone asks you to put your faith in a "healer" rather than science, you can point them to this one accomplishment, and ask why if scientists can make progress against this dread disease, why faith healers can't.

And if they claim they can, there's a million dollars waiting for them if they prove it.