Holy Statistics! A Clinical Study of Divine Healing

This article intrigued me. Why would a group of doctors try to run a clinical study on the health benefits of prayer?

I have downloaded the actual study article as published in the American Heart Journal (AHJ). This is not readily available (sort of a Regular Guy exclusive, if you will), but I encourage you to peruse the original source material at your leisure. The AHJ has also written an editorial about this study with some background and foundational arguments.

Clinically studying the effects of intercessory prayer on patients with medical needs seems, perhaps, presumptuous. I suppose that it is trying too hard to put a box around a God whose limits are boundless. Is this study really expecting to answer questions of faith by scientific methods? It seems that we are better letting our personal experience and spiritual principles lead rather than using a sampling of scientific inquiry to govern our belief in divine healing.

Please feel free to comment with your take on this. I would love to hear everyone’s thoughts.

~RG

The Quiz

Others have taken it, so I suppose it's my turn.

4 (or 5) Jobs I Have Had:
Theater Set Designer/Builder: USC’s School of Theater
Cast Member: “Honey, I Shrunk the Audience” at Disneyland, California
Carpenter: High-End Custom Homes in Napa Valley, California
Computer Class Instructor: Inner-City After-School Program at Arizona Science Center
Jet Engine Designer/Analyst: Current Job

4 Movies I Can Watch Again and Again:
Braveheart
Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back
Snatch
A Few Good Men

4 TV Shows I Can’t Get Enough of:
CSI
Amazing Race
Extreme Engineering
House

4 Places I Have Visited on Vacation:
Ireland/England
Alaska
Hawaii
New Zealand

4 Favorite Meals:
My wife’s spaghetti
Stuffed chicken
Breakfast
Peanut butter and honey

4 Websites that I Visit Daily:
Praying Mantis
Rotten Tomatoes
Toothpaste for Dinner
Fox News

4 Places I Would Rather Be:
Snuggled with my wife on the couch on a rainy afternoon
Delphi Lodge, Wren’s Cottage, Co. Galway
At the movies
Worshipping with fellow believers

4 Blogs I Would Like to See Post The Quiz:
PM
LC
SA
TPFD

~RG