PRESENTED BY OLAYINKA RABIU RELIGION AND DIVINE HEALING

The topic of my research project is religion and divine healing. According to Dictionary.com, Religion is defined as “a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects, e.g. the Christian religion; the Buddhist religion. Whereas Divine healing involves a supernatural act which resolves a physical, emotional or spiritual problem (Dictionary.com). In a Christian context, which is my project focus, the supernatural element is God, many times through the agency of the Holy Spirit, who according their faith intercede for them in the time of their tribulations. INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION

The rationale behind this topic is the story of the American couple; Herbert and Catherine Schaible, who belong a fundamentalist Christian church that believes in faith healing. They lost their 8-month-old son, Brandon, after he suffered from diarrhoea and breathing problems. The Christian couple, who were sentenced on the 19 th February 2014 for the killing of their second child, because they refused to seek medical health when the boy was ill due to their religious beliefs which compel them to abstain from using medications.

From time to time, I hear stories about some groups of Christians who object to taking medicine when they are unwell. They strongly believe in healing through prayers and perceive their predicament as a test of faith. However the news about the couple in America who killed their son due to their religious objection to medicine actually triggered my interest to find out why some Christians were against having medical treatments when they needed it most. AIMS

For this reason, I have chosen to investigate whether the Bible states that the use of medicine is forbidden and should be replaced with prayers of healing, or if it is scriptural to supplement medical treatment with prayers without thinking that it is an act of disobedient to their faith. I hope at the end of this investigation, it would be able to understand the truth of this topic.

In the course of my research, I identified some limitations which may influence the outcome or the interpretation of my findings. These are: The amount of time available to carry out the research is minimum which as a result disallowed me to spend enough time in gathering information on the topic. Another constraint is the sample size and accessibility. Although I had access to some of Christians, but I would have preferred to have more to avoid having a bias outcomes. The Christians groups available in conducting the research was limited and has impacted my findings.. LIMITATIONS

 Primary method: Face to face conversation telephone conversations  Reasons for using the above source are – *It is a good source of first-hand information which has allowed me ask prepared questions and likewise questions which came up from the conversations. *The source expose me to the past and the present of the subject matter and gave me a glimpse of history that is not available in textbooks e.g. about my interviewee *The source gave the opportunity to employ my critical thinking and my analysis skills as information were unedited. RESEARCH METHODS

 Secondary sources – Textbooks, Online blogs, Articles  Reason for using the above source was because information were accessible and available at no cost

Because I was able to interview two different groups of Christian faith, I deduced two different findings from my research. Findings from the group of Christians who disagree with medications usage They derived their strength and faith about divine healing from some Bible verses, such as book of Psalm 107, verses which say “they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He sent forth his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave”. FINDINGS

They believed that wanted them to only call on Him when they are in any form of trouble. I discover that due to many promises like this in the Bible, these Christian groups refused to compromise their fait, as they strongly believe that He is capable to deliver them from the diseases. Findings from the group of Christians who agree with medications usage. The believe that there was no disobedient to the Bible by taking medication or seeking for medical health; going by what the Bible says in the book of Mathew 9 verse 12; 2 “When he heard it, he said those who are well have no need of physician, but those who are sick”.

Taking my finding into consideration, I arrived at some factors which influence or manipulate the believe of some Christians, including the couple who sadly lost their son for the barbaric reason. They are: The influence of family upbringing on the Christians’ children who were raised with such beliefs, hardly depart from it and sadly pass it down to their own children. CONCLUSION

The influence of religion leaders has blindfolded many Christians from following the truth, as some of these leaders has contaminated the mind of the follower with wrong doctrines. The misinterpretation of the Bible is when the word is given a wrongful meaning in order to suit the individual desires. Extremism affected some Christians to believe they are regions than other by being extreme in their undertakings

Bibliography The yoke breaker by Pastor A Daniel The Holy Bible Webliography Time.com/8750/faith-healing-parent-jail-after-second- childs-death REFERENCES