How God Works by David DeSteno

Author:David DeSteno
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 2021-09-14T00:00:00+00:00

Take Your Medicine

Prevention is a great strategy, but it can’t completely protect us from injury and disease. When those challenges arise, religious rituals take on a therapeutic role, either by attempting to cure a person of a specific ailment or at least to reduce the pain it causes.

Healing rituals can be separated into two types: passive and active. As the name suggests, passive rituals don’t require much of the sufferers. They just need to accept the healing power coming from others. Active rituals take the opposite approach. While a priest, shaman, or elder might be present to guide the rite, people hoping to be cured can’t just sit quietly. They must actively engage in the process for it to work. Both types of rituals can be quite effective, but they rely on different mechanisms.

Let’s start with the passive type. Across religions, many healing rites make use of touch and prayer, or what’s known as a laying on of hands. In Christianity, where this practice is most developed, the power to heal is believed to be one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Those who possess this rare gift—and exactly who that is and whether it can include laypeople vary by denomination—are thought to be capable of curing physical and mental illnesses. At the start of these rituals, the healer prays for the power to channel God’s healing energy. Next, they approach the sufferer and lay their hands upon the head or other afflicted areas. But while this core part of the ritual is constant, the context in which it occurs can take one of two forms.

In the traditional form, the entire ritual occurs quietly. A priest, minister, or other authorized member of the laity meets and prays with a person in need of healing. The healer then solemnly lays their hands upon the sufferer’s head while continuing to pray. For example, in the Roman Catholic rite known as the anointing of the sick, a priest lays his hands on an ill person using oleum infirmorum—a sacred oil that traditionally consisted of pure olive oil that had been blessed. As the priest gently applies oil to the sufferer’s forehead, he quietly intones, “Through this holy anointing, may the Lord in His love and mercy help you with the grace of the Holy Spirit.” Next, massaging the oil into the sufferer’s hand, he says “May the Lord who frees you from sin, save you and raise you up.” In the past, this rite was often used only for people on their deathbeds, where it was known as the sacrament of extreme unction. Today, though, it’s also used to give strength and fortitude to anyone combating an illness. In this case, the “raise you up” part of the ritual’s last line refers to getting up from a bed or wheelchair, not a raising up to heaven after death.

The second way to conduct this ritual isn’t nearly as quiet or solemn. Charismatic and Pentecostal Christians worship God differently than do their more traditional brethren.

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