faith healing
Spiritual medical alternative
Faith healing is the practice of treating illness or injury through spiritual means—typically prayer, religious ritual, or the intervention of a healer believed to channel divine power—rather than conventional medicine.
Practitioners and believers hold that God or a higher power can cure physical ailments directly.
The term often carries skeptical connotations, as claims of miraculous cures are difficult to verify and reliance on faith healing instead of medical treatment has sometimes resulted in preventable deaths.
Address to deity
- anointingCeremonial oil application
- intercessionActing on another's behalf
- supplicationHumble plea for help
- clergyOrdained religious officials collectively
minister · pastor · evangelist · revivalist · tent revival · charismatic · blessing · deliverance
Inactive therapeutic substitute
- psychosomaticMind-induced bodily illness
- suggestionIdea proposed for consideration
- spontaneous remissionHealing without medical intervention
- confirmation biasPreferring belief-supporting information
false hope · medical neglect · quackery · charlatan · fraud · debunked · unproven · anecdotal
Mutually supplying lacks
- integrativeCombining into a whole
- holisticAddressing interconnected wholes
- wellnessOverall state of health
- reikiJapanese energy healing
mind-body · shaman · curandero · folk medicine · laying on of hands · channeling · aura
One who works regularly
- sessionScheduled time for activity
- serviceAid or maintenance
- crusadeZealous effort for change
- ceremonyFormal event marking occasions
ritual · anointing oil · prayer cloth · touch · invocation · incantation · crowd · audience
Seemingly impossible yet real
- cureTreatment that heals
- recoveryRegaining what was lost
- remissionTemporary disease absence
- supernaturalBeyond natural explanation
unexplained · spontaneous · divine intervention · wonder · testimony · phenomenon · transformation · restoration
prayer
Address to deity
- anointingCeremonial oil application
- intercessionActing on another's behalf
- supplicationHumble plea for help
clergy · minister · pastor · evangelist · revivalist · tent revival · charismatic · blessing · deliverance · exorcism
placebo
Inactive therapeutic substitute
- psychosomaticMind-induced bodily illness
- suggestionIdea proposed for consideration
- spontaneous remissionHealing without medical intervention
confirmation bias · false hope · medical neglect · quackery · charlatan · fraud · debunked · unproven · anecdotal · misdiagnosis
complementary
Mutually supplying lacks
- integrativeCombining into a whole
- holisticAddressing interconnected wholes
- wellnessOverall state of health
reiki · mind-body · shaman · curandero · folk medicine · laying on of hands · channeling · aura
practitioner
One who works regularly
ceremony · ritual · anointing oil · prayer cloth · touch · invocation · incantation · crowd · audience · stage
miraculous
Seemingly impossible yet real
supernatural · unexplained · spontaneous · divine intervention · wonder · testimony · phenomenon · transformation · restoration · touched
- faith healinglaying on of hands, miracle cure, miracle cures, laying on hands, laying hands
- folk healingherbal remedies, spiritual cleansing, incantations, plant medicine, herbal baths
- healing prayerslaying on of hands, holy oil
- Modern ChristianityVatican II, ecumenism, evangelicalism, liberation theology, Billy Graham
- Religious Debatespredestination, trinity, transubstantiation, original sin, justification
- Supernatural FaithHoly Spirit, divine revelation, prophets, visions, spiritual gifts
faith healingevidence-based medicine
Clinical care guided by research
empiricism · scientific method · medical science · clinical trials · evidence-based practice
faith healingevidence-based medicine
Clinical care guided by research
surgery · pharmacotherapy · drug treatment · clinical medicine · medical treatment
faith healingmedical technology
Devices for healthcare delivery
surgical intervention · medical devices · antibiotics · vaccines · anesthesia
faith, belief, heal, believe, healing, faithful, beliefs, believing, believer