faith-healer
Cures through prayer
A faith-healer is someone who claims to cure illness or disability through spiritual means—prayer, laying on of hands, or divine intervention—rather than medicine.
The practice is associated with certain Christian traditions and televangelism: The faith-healer touched her forehead and declared her cancer gone.
The term often carries skepticism about whether such healings are genuine.
Faker claiming false expertise
- quackFake healer or fowl noise
- fraudIntentional criminal trickery
- impostorOne feigning another's identity
- swindlerPerson who deceives for money
hoaxer · faker · con-artist · mountebank · snake-oil · sham · debunker · pseudoscience
Indigenous spiritual healer
Ceremonial oil application
- prayerAddress to deity
- incantationSpoken magical formula
- revivalReturn after decline
- congregationAssembled group of worshippers
testimony · pilgrimage · shrine · relic · blessing · invocation · intercession · supplication
Supernatural occurrence beyond explanation
- salvationDeliverance from harm
- redemptionRecovery or moral restoration
- evangelistZealous advocate or preacher
- pastorChristian congregation leader
reverend · ministry · gospel · scripture · anoint · charismatic · apostolic · prophet
charlatan
Faker claiming false expertise
- quackFake healer or fowl noise
- fraudIntentional criminal trickery
- impostorOne feigning another's identity
swindler · hoaxer · faker · con-artist · mountebank · snake-oil · sham · debunker · pseudoscience · placebo
shaman
Indigenous spiritual healer
anointing
Ceremonial oil application
- prayerAddress to deity
- incantationSpoken magical formula
- revivalReturn after decline
congregation · testimony · pilgrimage · shrine · relic · blessing · invocation · intercession · supplication · deliverance
miracle
Supernatural occurrence beyond explanation
- salvationDeliverance from harm
- redemptionRecovery or moral restoration
- evangelistZealous advocate or preacher
pastor · reverend · ministry · gospel · scripture · anoint · charismatic · apostolic · prophet · congregation
terminal
At the endpoint
- incurableCannot be healed
- disabilityImpairment affecting life activities
- paralysisLoss of muscle function
blindness · cancer · tumor · afflicted · desperate · remission · recovery · cure · wheelchair · crutches
faith-healerphysician
Licensed medical doctor
medical doctor · surgeon · scientist · clinician · oncologist
faith-healerskeptic
One who doubts claims
materialist · rationalist · debunker · empiricist · atheist
faith, health, healing, confidence, faithful, unfaithful, healer, fidelity, faithfulness