SPIRITUAL HEALING.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 395, 2 January 1909, Page 11

SPIRITUAL HEALING.

PROPOSED CHURCH. COUNCIL FOR LONDON. A'meeting of clergy , and. laymen was held , recently at Sion College; Victoria; Embankment, with tho object of-promoting-the formation of^a..Central Church Council-in the dio-' ceso of ■ 'London -for : the consideration of questions connected with healing by spiritual means.' The Rev.! Prebendary Pennefather, who .presided, said thatigerieral'',iritercst"hadbeen roused -in the.matter by the report, of the Lambeth Conference.. •_ ■■ -Mr. J. M. Hiokson, of tho American Society of 'said that. societywas formed ■ riiore than three yearß ago, with. the objept of-reviving in .the Church the gift: of healing. The members of their society acted; through,: ■prayer, the..laying., on of. hands, and, when '. requested by,a atviioiiitingjjwhjch w.as • porfoimed'by a priest.' They.'were in.sympathy with j all kinds .of healing, which. they to. be a:- gift,of God, but :tliey. wished; for, a f more spiritual atmosphere round a patient.There was very.little .of-this:in hospitals, ..vrhioh : was largely the fault of the Church.:, .. :Th'e .Society of Emirianuel has grown up in connection, with: Emmanuel; Church, Boston,, the minister of whioh',''Dr.'.Samuel'-M'Coinb, came over to the recent Pan-Anglican Conference; to '.describe the lines on .which' he-and his coadjutors work. : A strict lino is drawn between; organic and . functional. diseases... Organic diseases are left ! primarily: or. entirely. ,to the treatment of. ; a .physician..•■ ■'It is only .in .the.xase,. of , fnnctional disorders,', diseases of. a nervous; origin,-•■■that moral- and: psychical methods of hsaling - are attempted. Both Dr. M'Oomb and his; associate'- at Emrnanuel Church, .Dr. Worce'ster,aro men .of' scientific attainments... They have a clinic in Boston', ; where every patient is first'- seen', by a ,qualified doctor. If .he says, the .disease is organic,':it' is treated exactly as at* any other hospital. ..If,: however, he diagnoses -tho idis-. order, as funrt'oral; lie sends the patient, with,his' .diagnosis/'to,.Dr. M'Comb of. Dr. Worcester. They attempt, to ' discover. what is . wrong with the mind—the subconscious per-, e'onality—of the patient, and; seek to quicken■his faith, to restore.'his :mental .tone and balanoe, .to exorcise the unhealthy thoughts that;have made, him ill, , and .to . educate his will and. powers of resistance. ;: At 'the same .time, he is. treated by the physician nor tho.:bodily. ailments that'accompany or have,;grown, 'out .of his sickness of ' Worry . about; business,, .for- instance,-, is a. commen. cause;. of - digestive, trouble; among, Americans,and the ..mental' healers seek ■ to get rid Of -tho;-,worry. ; Neurosis,; neiiras-; •oi6ua,-!.\bystem,,- insomnia','... ■ a .whole' string 'of other disorders, -in which there 'are .;n>enta! and moral factors, are similarly treated. -Medical men from all over the United States have sent hundreds, of Cases to-the .dinic,- wbich has .iipt,'yet been-in existence two yearti. The movement i? growing in . America, and recently . serinoris ! > wero preached in threo Episcopal churches in New ifork.'on the subject. ■ Dr. Worcester, one 'of tho, preachers, t'lon stated that twenty-seyen poor . consumptive patients were treated, last year at the. Boston • clinic, and everyone of themcured, arid; that : ; ,thei Tuberculosis Congress had awarded a gold medal to Emmanuel Church. ..- . The Rev. A. W. Robinson moved a resolutibn, in. favour of the formation.of a Central Church' Council, and'requesting the. Bishop of London to nominate tlio members. ', Tho Dean of. Westminster (Dr. Armitago Robinson) said- that ho was a believer in healing by.sDivme intervention, and, ho believed in tho miracles, worked at the shrine of St. Thomas a Beckot, but. he doubted,.:if, he threw the shrine .open noWj that similar results would follow. It was necessary to have some, test; of. the nature- of the cases dealt with, as had been. adopted- by ttlie Roman; Catholics at. Lourdes. , The resolution was adopted unanimously. 'In conversation with a . Daily News" representative; Mr. -- Rhodes> v secretary . of; the new Cburicil of Healing ; for the Diocese ,of London, said the society was based uuon the principle: laid down by the Lambetn Con-: Terence that the action of the mind or will can so influence the functions of the body as to bo an important factor in the healing : of diseases that are not organic. "The: clergyman," he proceeded, "in the exerciser of .-his ministrations, can so , compose and calm the mind of . tho patient, or uiipro'vo and strengthen his will, as to make the work of . the. medical, attendant .more simple and"successful. • ■ , , "You will see from this that the society , doe's riot claim to represent-anything that: was' not known before, and certainly does not' recognise'.-anything outside the ordinary processes .of' religion and .. medical - science. What 'we aim'to do is to bring-these: agencies into more helpful co-operation. - Our psychic powers ■ touch their highest point under the influence'of religion." ' .-l Asked why these forces should not also apply? in the case of organic disease, ■ Mr. Rhodes replied that he did not see'why theyshould not; "Wo have, no right to place a limit on- the action of mind in-any kind of disease.; Undoubtedly acts y of-' organic healing- have taken place at -Lburdos,.'Canterbury, tlie-shrine of Edmurid; the Confessor at Westminster, :'and other 'places. When you recognise '.the'' power of- -:individual;prayer and •, corporate -intercession you open out a wide'fiola'in therapeutios."-; •