An Orthodox Service

At St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, headquarters of the International Order of St. Luke the Physician, Father Roy Hendricks conducts two healing services for the order every Thursday. These services are so low-key and so close to orthodox in nature, in contrast to those held by TV preachers, that the New York Times told readers that the procedure at St. Stephen’s “exudes a well-bred approach that would shock Oral Roberts out of his snap-on microphone.” Though St. Stephen’s has been offering this ministry since 1942, the Order of St. Luke the Physician was founded in 1947 and is now represented in 87 countries. At St. Stephen’s, they claim cures for afflictions from clubfoot to glaucoma. Unlike many other claimants, they say that some of their cures are instantaneous and that others take many months, unlike those related in the Bible. In December 1986, I wrote St. Stephen’s requesting an account of these cures, particularly of the clubfoot case. I have received no response. If that cure did take place, this would be the first such recorded example in history. I find it strange that the order does not wish to share this miracle with my readers. Today’s practitioners of faith-healing, graduated from the small churches and the tent shows, have taken to television and high tech to reach and influence much wider audiences than ever before were possible. Television, much more than radio, has provided them with a means of almost equaling the impact of in-person contact with victims of this particular flummery. Evangelist Rex Humbard, a close friend of Oral Roberts who began television broadcasting early in 1952 in Akron, Ohio, is largely responsible for the television format now employed by faith-healers. Roberts, inspired by Humbard’s success, followed him onto the television screen in 1955 after an earlier, abortive attempt at the medium. Today, it is estimated that televangelists are seen by tens of millions of Americans weekly.

It’s Magic

Reduced to its basics, faith-healing today—as it always has been—is simply “magic.” Though the preachers vehemently deny any connection with the practice, their activities meet all the requirements for the definition. All of the elements are present, and the intent is identical. Webster’s Third New International Dictionary defines “magic” asthe use of means (such as ceremonies, charms, spells) that are believed to have supernatural powers to cause a supernatural being to produce or prevent a particular result (as rain, death, healing) considered not obtainable by natural means ...

And the second edition of that dictionary comments:Magic is not clearly differentiated from science by primitive peoples. It is a part of most primitive religions.

David Alexander, a prominent investigator of paranormal claims and a valued colleague of mine, has observed:Take these evangelists away from their silk suits, well-coiffed hair and fancy limousines and put them in animal skins with a few rattles and beads. You’ve got a Cro-Magnon shaman, complete and ready to go to work.

Professor Morton Smith of Columbia University, long concerned with the role of magic in history, has pointed out that early Christians were actually violating the law of their time:If the Christians were an innocent sect practicing pure benevolence, why did the Romans make such strenuous efforts to stamp them out? It was because the Christians engaged in magical practices, and magic was a criminal act.