FAITH HEALING.

Hokitika Guardian, 23 May 1923, Page 4

FAITH HEALING.

THE HICKSON MISSION. [by TELEGRAPH—PER PRESS ASSOCIATION.] CHUISTCHUHCH, Mn.v 22. At tlio Anglican Church Congress l!iis afternoon tlio subject of spiritual healing was dealt with. In the course of tlio discussion, the Bishop of Goulburn said there were people who said that organic diseases were functional, and were not amenable to faith, or spiritual healing. He denounced that view emphatically, and said that if Christ himself came to Christchurch, he could not cure disease in the face of such antagonistic belief. , There were some who were helpful to the sick, because they had the power of relieving pain by their touch, and they were free to gain an honest livelihood by practising as masseurs, air James Hickson was one who had that power, and had consecrated it to Christ. The Hickson Mission, had taught people to recognise the reality of the presence, said the Bishop, and he went on to show how .strikingly this realisation 1 had been brought home to many. That was the all important thing, rather than the cures. He himself had been s.: struck by it that he had forgotten for days to ask about the cures. He had felt the presence, and ho considered it would bo an insult to go back and ask if “The Lord lmd brought off a

scoop!” In Australia people had attended the Cathedral to pray for their sick relatives and friends weeks before the mission lmd opened. They had been proving, instead of merely saving prayers. He t ited eases in which “incurables” had been benefited by the power of the pravers of the community, without the aid of the mission at all, and no cue bad been more gratified than .Mr Hickson.