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A Doctrine of Faith Healing?

James 5:13-16

"Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."

The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, Vol. 3, pg. 53: "The sick (James 5:14, literally, 'without strength,' and perhaps prostrate) patient is to call for the elders of the church who are to anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord and pray over him. Biblical anointing is symbolic of the Holy Spirit who administers the manifestation of gifts. There is no suggestion of medicinal use of the oil, since this might have been administered by anyone beside the elders. The use of oil symbolized sanctified commitment of the sick body to the operation of the Holy Spirit's ministry of quickening the mortal bodies of believers that they might be enabled and led to fulfill the ministry He has purposed for them as fellow heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:11-17). The promise of James 5 is that the anointing of oil 'and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up' (v. 15). Furthermore, believers are to confess their faults to one another that they may be healed, since 'the prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects' (v. 16). Thus it appears that the suggested procedure as related to the sick that are to call for the elders of the church is not the only circumstantial manner by which God heals. God also heals as believers pray for one another; but it is the elders and not so-called 'divine healers' that are to be sought when believers who are sick in body are hindered from gathering with the assembly."

The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, vol. 2, pg. 875: "(d) Jas. 5:13 ff. merits special mention. On the one hand, it is laid down that a Christian's whole life, the good times as well as the bad, should be lived in an atmosphere of prayer, i.e. that the Christian should lay before God everything that happens to him, so that each new experience is suffused with prayer. On the other hand, in cases of sickness, prayer is to be accompanied by the laying on of hands, anointing and confession of sins. Here the laying on of hands (implicit in the phrase 'let them pray over him') and the anointing with oil, being outward actions, are considered to be tangible, readily intelligible expressions of prayer for the benefit of the sick individual, while confession of sins is made in order to remove any hindrances to prayer."

The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, vol. 1, pg. 120: "3. Where anointing with oil is performed on sick persons (Mk. 6:13; Jas. 5:14), we are reminded of the anointing of the sick elsewhere in the ancient world. It may be that in the NT medicinal properties were attributed to the anointing, though these are not emphasized. Probably passages like Mk. 6:13 and Jas. 5:14 have their background rather in the practice of exorcism. Anointing is a symbolic act by which demons are cast out. The healings performed by the disciples or elders of the church were accompanied by anointing, and took place in the context of preaching and prayer. Healing, and therefore anointing also, came to be seen as a visible sign of the beginning of God's reign. The quasi-magical misunderstanding of anointing is, however, held firmly in check, especially in Jas. 5:13 ff., by the importance attached to accompanying prayer."

The New International Dictionary of the Bible, pg. 278:

"James urges that the church elders be called to pray for the sick. He also directs that they 'anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord’ (James 5:14). The latter has perhaps wrongfully been assumed to refer to a church ritual. Bauer's Greek lexicon states that the Greek verb 'aleipho,' used for 'anointing,' commonly referred to rubbing oil on the skin as a household remedy. It would seem to be James's meaning that the sick one is not only to be prayed for but the commonly accepted remedies are also to be applied as an indication of compassionate concern. Jesus' disciples made similar use of the application of oil to the sick (Mark 6:13)."

New Dictionary of Theology, pg. 288:

"In Jas. 5:14-16 the sick man is to call the elders who are to visit him, pray over him and anoint him with oil. This latter instruction may be interpreted ritually or medically. The verb used for anointing (aleipho) suggests a medical interpretation, otherwise the verb 'chrio' would have been used. James is saying that the elders should pray over him and carry out the prescribed medical treatment in the name of the Lord."

Tyndale New Testament Commentaries -- James, pg. 130:

"It is therefore more probable that the mention of oil in this passage is to be regarded as one of the accompaniments of that 'miraculous' healing which was no infrequent occurrence in the apostolic age, and is regarded in the New Testament as a supernatural sign vindicating the truth of the Christian gospel in the early days of its proclamation. Neither is it implied that oil is the necessary accompaniment of such cures, nor indeed that any such material medium at all must be used. The purpose of the use by the elders of oil in the name of the Lord, as they prayed over the sick man, was we may assume the same as the use by the apostles of the laying-on of hands. It helped in certain cases by the application of a substance that could be felt by the patient to reinforce the evidence of the ear that the Lord was being invoked by the prayer of faith to bestow upon him, if it should be His will, a miraculous cure. If this line of interpretation is right, it follows that this verse cannot be appealed to as evidence that the Lord has committed to His Church for all time the power of miraculous healing."

Which of these viewpoints is correct? We cannot be sure. We may have a preference but are we entitled to insist upon its acceptance as the only Biblical and, therefore, valid interpretation? Perhaps all of them are acceptable, depending on the request for healing in question. "Today we speak of 'spiritual' and 'medical' work as two distinct missionary channels. It is very doubtful if the early Church made such a distinction, the more so as they saw disease as one manifestation of Satan's power, though not necessarily to be connected directly with sin on the part of the individual." (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries -- Mark, pg. 109)

But all of this is to miss the point: the topic of James 5:13-18 is prayer. James is saying that Christians should make prayer a habit in all

circumstances, good or bad, and that our emotional or physical condition should have no bearing on our faithfulness in this area. He offers a spectrum of examples; it ranges from those who are experiencing troubles such as illness to those who are bursting with happiness. His intention is to demonstrate the relevance of God to our lives and to commend prayer to all believers as a vehicle for appropriating His assistance at all times and under every condition.

James understood our frailty in the practice of our faith. When things are going well we tend to overlook or forget prayer; when problems arise we usually attempt to handle them ourselves; and we generally ignore the problems of others almost entirely. Such behavior leaves God out of our lives and James declares the error of this practice. His message agrees with other New Testament writers --- we should allow God to be active in our lives by being in regular communion with Him.

The conclusion that there is no intention to propound a doctrine of faith healing is supported by both the brevity of this passage and its absence elsewhere in Scripture. There is, of course, a reference to healing, both physical and spiritual. We must be careful to avoid the temptation to ferret out some ironclad formula regarding either. The one who is sick is instructed to call the elders for prayer. The fact that the prayer is to be offered in faith helps explain why the elders are to be called. The implicit assumption is that their prayer will be heard by God --- not because they are elders, however. Rather, it is because they are Christians; that is, righteous men, believers in Christ. It is not their office that gives them status with God; it is their faith. Such faith is presumed to be genuine because it has been tested by the congregation which selected them. "The description of the elders' prayer in this verse as the prayer of faith does not differentiate it in any way from other kinds of prayer, for there can be no Christian prayer at all without faith; nor does it imply that, if only there is a sufficient degree of faith, prayer will be answered. Rather would it appear to draw attention to the great truth, so much emphasized in this section, that in no circumstances of life is faith impossible; and therefore there is no situation in which Christians cannot resort to prayer. All prayer, however, is subject to the reservation 'Thy will be done'; but, provided that this limiting condition is always in the mind of him who prays, Jesus has promised ‘All things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive¹ (Mt. 21:22)." (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries — James, pg. 132) That explains why verse sixteen refers to the "righteous" rather than to the elders. Indeed, we are told to "pray for each other." Any Christian's prayer, therefore, has value to the one who is sick --- provided, of course, that both have confessed any sin that might stand between them or between them and God.

Another question raised in this passage concerns the use of oil. As the above quotations demonstrate there are varying positions, any one of which may be supported by an appeal to scholarship. No doubt an experiential base also exists in the minds of some regarding the continued use of oil. Stated briefly our primary choices are:

1. Its original use was medicinal and because of the advances in medicine that we enjoy it is no longer needed.

2. Its original use was spiritual and miraculous and was available only to the apostolic church of the first century.

3. Its original use was spiritual although not miraculous and, a) should be continued as a sign of the working of the Holy Spirit in the life of the

modern church, b) should be discontinued because the modern church receives its instructions concerning the Holy Spirit from the written Word of God which was unavailable to Christians of an earlier era; hence, we no longer need a physical prop to be assured of the presence and power of the Spirit in our lives.

Paul instructs us as follows: "'Everything is permissible¹ --- but not everything is beneficial. 'Everything is permissible' --- but not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others. So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God --- even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved. Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ." (1 Cor. 10:23,24,31-33; 11:1) What was Paul's response to his physical problem? "...there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'" (2 Cor. 12:7-9) And what did he recommend for Timothy, who was also troubled? "Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses." (1 Tim. 5:23) Paul also refers to leaving Trophimus sick in Miletus. (2 Tim. 4:20)

In light of the disagreement among scholars and failing to find a compelling Scriptural mandate concerning a doctrine of faith healing, it seems prudent to allow for a divergence of views to coexist while recognizing the possible validity of those which differ from our own.