LEADER 03957nam 2200601Ia 450 001 9910465500103321 005 20200520144314.0 010 $a0-674-06486-0 010 $a0-674-06971-4 024 7 $a10.4159/harvard.9780674064867 035 $a(CKB)2560000000082513 035 $a(OCoLC)794003572 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebrary10593874 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000693771 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11431984 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000693771 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10669815 035 $a(PQKB)10721200 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC3301122 035 $a(DE-B1597)178160 035 $a(OCoLC)840441379 035 $a(DE-B1597)9780674064867 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL3301122 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10593874 035 $a(EXLCZ)992560000000082513 100 $a20111013d2012 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurcn||||||||| 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 10$aTesting prayer$b[electronic resource] $escience and healing /$fCandy Gunther Brown 210 $aCambridge, MA $cHarvard University Press$d2012 215 $a1 online resource (385 p.) 300 $aBibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph 311 $a0-674-06467-4 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references and index. 327 $t Frontmatter -- $tContents -- $tAbbreviations -- $tIntroduction -- $tCHAPTER 1. From Toronto Blessing to Global Awakening -- $tCHAPTER 2. Why Are Biomedical Tests of Prayer Controversial? -- $tCHAPTER 3. Are Healing Claims Documented? -- $tCHAPTER 4. How Do Sufferers Perceive Healing Prayer? -- $tCHAPTER 5. Can Health Outcomes of Prayer Be Measured? -- $tCHAPTER 6. Do Healing Experiences Produce Lasting Effects? -- $tConclusion -- $tAppendix -- $tNotes -- $tAcknowledgments -- $tIndex 330 $aWhen sickness strikes, people around the world pray for healing. Many of the faithful claim that prayer has cured them of blindness, deafness, and metastasized cancers, and some believe they have been resurrected from the dead. Can, and should, science test such claims? A number of scientists say no, concerned that empirical studies of prayer will be misused to advance religious agendas. And some religious practitioners agree with this restraint, worrying that scientific testing could undermine faith. In Candy Gunther Brown's view, science cannot prove prayer's healing power, but what scientists can and should do is study prayer's measurable effects on health. If prayer produces benefits, even indirectly (and findings suggest that it does), then more careful attention to prayer practices could impact global health, particularly in places without access to conventional medicine.Drawing on data from Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians, Brown reverses a number of stereotypes about believers in faith-healing. Among them is the idea that poorer, less educated people are more likely to believe in the healing power of prayer and therefore less likely to see doctors. Brown finds instead that people across socioeconomic backgrounds use prayer alongside conventional medicine rather than as a substitute. Dissecting medical records from before and after prayer, surveys of prayer recipients, prospective clinical trials, and multiyear follow-up observations and interviews, she shows that the widespread perception of prayer's healing power has demonstrable social effects, and that in some cases those effects produce improvements in health that can be scientifically verified. 606 $aSpiritual healing$xPentecostal churches 606 $aToronto blessing 608 $aElectronic books. 615 0$aSpiritual healing$xPentecostal churches. 615 0$aToronto blessing. 676 $a234/.131 700 $aBrown$b Candy Gunther$0968332 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910465500103321 996 $aTesting prayer$92467543 997 $aUNINA