faith healers
Prayer-based practitioners
Faith healers are people who claim to cure illness or injury through spiritual means—prayer, laying on of hands, divine intervention.
The practice spans religious traditions but is especially associated with charismatic Christianity.
Faith healers range from sincere believers to deliberate frauds; critics note that desperate sick people are vulnerable to exploitation.
The faith healer touched her forehead and declared her cancer gone.
Supernatural occurrence beyond explanation
- divine interventionGodly action in affairs
- supernaturalBeyond natural explanation
- wonderAmazement or curiosity
- providenceDivine protective care
revelation · remission · unexplained · mystical · transcendence · apparition · stigmata · Lourdes
Address to deity
- laying on of handsRitual healing through touch
- anointingCeremonial oil application
- blessingPrayer seeking divine favor
- exorcismRitual to expel demons
deliverance · revival · altar call · holy water · incantation · invocation · ceremony · crusade
Non-standard healing practices
- wellnessOverall state of health
- naturopathyAlternative healing using nature
- ayurvedaIndian traditional medicine system
- herbalismPlant-based healing tradition
reiki · integrative · mind-body · homeopathy · curandero · folk medicine · laying on of hands
Fake healer or fowl noise
- fraudIntentional criminal trickery
- impostorOne feigning another's identity
- phonyFraudulent person or thing
- shamFraudulent imitation
hoaxer · swindler · deceiver · mountebank · scammer · con artist · fake · pretender
Firmly held belief
- devotionDeep, loyal commitment
- pietySincere religious devotion
- spiritualityConnection to the sacred
- reverenceProfound admiring respect
worship · sanctity · veneration · religious · sacredness · orthodoxy · sectarianism · fundamentalism
Bogus methodology posing as factual
- quackeryFraudulent medical practice
- placeboInactive therapeutic substitute
- debunkingProving claims false
- evidenceFacts supporting truth
scrutiny · misinformation · anecdotal · testimonials · credibility · lawsuits · regulation · oversight
Indigenous spiritual healer
- pastorChristian congregation leader
- reverendWorthy of veneration
- evangelistZealous advocate or preacher
- ministerReligious leader or serve
preacher · prophet · medium · psychic · spiritualist · mystic · medicine man · witch doctor
miracle
Supernatural occurrence beyond explanation
- divine interventionGodly action in affairs
- supernaturalBeyond natural explanation
- wonderAmazement or curiosity
providence · revelation · remission · unexplained · mystical · transcendence · apparition · stigmata · Lourdes · shrine
prayer
Address to deity
- laying on of handsRitual healing through touch
- anointingCeremonial oil application
- blessingPrayer seeking divine favor
exorcism · deliverance · revival · altar call · holy water · incantation · invocation · ceremony · crusade · tent revival
alternative medicine
Non-standard healing practices
- wellnessOverall state of health
- naturopathyAlternative healing using nature
- ayurvedaIndian traditional medicine system
herbalism · reiki · integrative · mind-body · homeopathy · curandero · folk medicine · laying on of hands
quack
Fake healer or fowl noise
- fraudIntentional criminal trickery
- impostorOne feigning another's identity
- phonyFraudulent person or thing
sham · hoaxer · swindler · deceiver · mountebank · scammer · con artist · fake · pretender · huckster
conviction
Firmly held belief
- devotionDeep, loyal commitment
- pietySincere religious devotion
- spiritualityConnection to the sacred
reverence · worship · sanctity · veneration · religious · sacredness · orthodoxy · sectarianism · fundamentalism · charismatic
pseudoscience
Bogus methodology posing as factual
- quackeryFraudulent medical practice
- placeboInactive therapeutic substitute
- debunkingProving claims false
evidence · scrutiny · misinformation · anecdotal · testimonials · credibility · lawsuits · regulation · oversight · investigation
shaman
Indigenous spiritual healer
- pastorChristian congregation leader
- reverendWorthy of veneration
- evangelistZealous advocate or preacher
minister · preacher · prophet · medium · psychic · spiritualist · mystic · medicine man · witch doctor · kahuna
- Filipino religionpatron saints, novena, religious processions, friars, parish priests
- healersnurse, doctor, physician, surgeon, medic
- faith healinglaying on of hands, miracle cure, miracle cures, laying on hands, laying hands
- faith healthcarehospital chaplain, chaplaincy, spiritual care, Catholic hospitals, Baptist hospital
- ChristianityJesus, Bible, Christ, God, Jesus Christ
- Catholic figurescardinals, archbishops, abbots, bishops, friars
faith healersphysicians
Medical doctors collectively
medical doctors · surgeons · pharmacologists · oncologists · cardiologists
faith healersskeptics
Those who doubt claims
debunkers · rationalists · empiricists · materialists · secular humanists
faith, healer, faiths, faithful, faithfully, faithfulness, faithless, faithlessness, unfaithful