His physical healings also incorporated spiritual healing, as may be seen in the close connection (or proximity) in the Gospels between healing and the forgiveness of sin or healing and exorcism. 

Third century Bible scholar Origen vigorously defended the historicity of these healing miracles as recorded in the Gospels against Greek philosophical critics like Celsus. In his defense of Jesus healing ministry, Origen argued that these healings beyond their historically reliability also demonstrated Jesus’ divine authority and power, and God’s love for humanity. 

Origen writes: 

 

They are many physiciansSee Mark 5:26. but my Lord and Savior is the chief physician. For inward desire, which cannot be cured by others, he cures. She could not be cured by any of the physicians,See Luke 8:43. but Jesus Christ himself cured her.Trigg, Origen. Routledge, 205. 

 

and 

 

And he [Christ] was the master physician who was able to cure every disease and every infirmity: and his disciples Peter and Paul, as well as the prophets, are physicians; and indeed all those who after the apostles were appointed in the Church, those to whom the science of healing wounds was committed—these God wished to be physicians of soul in His Church.Luke (Glen E.) Dysinger, Rev. O.S.B., The Relationship Between Psalmody and Prayer in the Writings of Evagrius Ponticus. Dissertation. St. Benet’s Hall Trinity Term, 1999, 96.

 

Origen first refers to Christ as chief physician because he can do what no other physician can do—heal inward desire. Other physicians can alleviate pain or offer natural remedies that heal certain physical maladies but it is only Christ who offers spiritual healing. Then, Origen refers to Christ as the master physician, to indicate that Christ extends and shares his healing authority with his successors, teaching them to be “spiritual physicians” like him—opening the eyes of the soul to God’s goodness and the blessed life available through Christ. 

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01.  Miraculous Healing

Sometime during his exile in the desert (between 356 and 358), Athanasius penned his biography on the Egyptian monk Anthony. Almost instantly Athanasius’s Life of Anthony became a bestseller. Throughout the work, he portrays Anthony as a coworker of Christ, who was mindful of the fact his ministry of healing was not his but Christ’s: 

 

A certain young girl from Busiris in Tripoli had a horrendous ailment. Every time her tears or any discharge from her nose or ears fell to the ground, they immediately turned into worms. What’s more, she was paralyzed and cross-eyed. 

The girl’s parents heard that monks sometimes went to Antony. Having faith in the Lord who had healed the woman suffering from hemorrhages,vi the mother and father asked if they could travel with the monks and bring their daughter to the beloved of God. The monks consented. 

Upon arriving, the parents with their daughter did not go up the mountain but stayed down below with Paphnutius, the monk and bishop who had been persecuted because he refused to renounce the faith. The monks went up and entered Antony’s hut. Just when the monks were about to tell the beloved of God about the young girl’s condition, Antony himself started talking about her ailment and how she had traveled with them. 

The monks asked, “Would you be willing to meet with her and her parents?” 

Surprisingly, Antony refused, saying, “Go away. If she’s not dead yet, she’s been healed. I’m just a pitiful sinner so why do her parents think I can do something? The miracle belongs to the Savior who shows mercy to those who call on him. The Lord has answered their prayers and in his loving kindness, has told me that their daughter will be cured right where she is.”Albert Haase, Athanasius: The Life of Anthony of Egypt (Classics in Spiritual Formation). (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2012).

 

Anthony sometimes referred to as a “physician given by God to Egypt,” extends Christ’s healing ministry into the world through intercessory prayer. Whereas Christ’s healings demonstrated his authority healings associated with Anthony serve as a witness to Christ’s continuing care for those who call on him. 

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02.  Becoming Aware of the Need for Healing

At the council of Constantinople (360), Gregory of Nyssa had the opportunity to learn from Basil of Ancyra, a skilled physician. Basil of Ancyra’s instruction on the best medical practices of his day later were absorbed into Gregory’s spiritual theology and used frequently to illustrate points of spiritual formation in his preaching. As an example, 

 

If a person suffers from a significant head or back trauma, it is not necessarily a good sign that he cannot feel the prick of a pin on his extremities. But if, through the best medical care available, the patient’s toes and feet again experience the pain of the needle prick, it is a source of encouragement for both the doctors and the patient because they know it is a good sign for someone on the road to recovery. 

This analogy is consistent with what Paul says about those who have lost touch with God and no longer can think straight because they’ve become so disconnected from a life of virtue that they are no longer aware of the impact of their actions. But then, like a physician administering a series of remedial treatments, Jesus the Word dispenses warnings of future judgment that pierce the heart with fear of potential consequences. This fear is stoked by hearing biblical imagery associated with future separation from God: unending anguish, ravenous flames, gnashing of teeth, unbounded grief and the isolation of deep darkness. These treatments of “reality” are administered in just the right dose to reduce the swelling and numbness caused by the damage of distorted desires. The patent now aware of the pain of regret caused by a life lived without God may be said to be blessed because of the suffering that returned him to health.Michael Glerup, Gregory of Nyssa: Sermon on the Beatitudes (Classics in Spiritual Formation). (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2012).

 

Awakening to the fact you have a problem is the first step toward healing of the spirit. The suffering produced from this realization is therapeutic. It awakens the spiritually ill to their previously unknown predicament. This knowledge made available in Christ heals the deep marks on the heart that leave a person callous to the voice of God. 

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03.  Spiritual Healing

Cyprian of Carthage born into a wealthy pagan family converted to Christianity as an adult. Not long after his conversion he was elected to be the bishop of the great African city of Carthage. Before his execution by the Roman authorities in September 258, Cyprian authored a number of important theological treatises and pastoral letters. In previous selection by Gregory, Christ provides a spiritual remedy to those separated from God. In this selection, Cyprian reminds his listeners that Christ provided spiritual disciplines like confession and works of mercy as a means to heal wounds incurred after conversion. 

 

Therefore let us acknowledge, dear brothers and sisters, the healing gift of divine compassion, and since none of us can be without some wounds in our conscience, let us care for our wounds with spiritual healing. Let no one flatter themselves that their heart is so pure and spotless that they can rely on their innocence and think that they have no need of medicine. For it is written: “Who shall boast of a pure heart or claim that he is free of sins?” And again in his epistle John sets it down and says: “If we say we have no sin then we are deceiving ourselves and are not in possession of the truth.” But if no one can be without sin and whoever says that they are blameless is either proud or stupid, then how necessary and plentiful is the compassion of God who, in recognizing that those who have been healed are still not immune from wounds, created saving remedies that would allow these wounds to be healed and cured! 

 

Meditation and reflection on scripture—particularly the Psalms—were considered important in the healing process. Athanasius describes the Psalms as a “medicine cabinet for the healing of the soul.” He argues that the Spirit-inspired Book of Psalms acts like a mirror to our soul. The psalms not only reflect the various internal dispositions of the soul, they also provide a model or pattern for the healing of these dispositions. Through grace the words of the psalmist become our words. Nicetas, the fourth century bishop of Remesiana (now in Serbia), also argued for the medicinal benefits of the psalms: 

 

Is there anything in the psalms of David that is not useful for the edification and consolation of the human race, no matter what is a person’s sex or age? In the psalms an infant receives milk; a child gives praise; an adolescent finds something to correct in his or her ways; young people have a path to follow; the elderly have something for which to pray . . . the poor, someone to look out for them; strangers, a defender. Kings and judges hear what they are to fear. The psalms comfort the sad, restrain the happy, calm the angry, revive the poor, and reproach the rich so that they might see themselves as they truly are. The psalms are a fitting medicine for all who receive them. The psalms do not look down upon the sinner but in a healthy way offer a remedy through tearful penance.Lawrence J. Johnson, Worship in the Early Church: An Anthology of the Early Church (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2009), 3:206.

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04.  Physical Healing

Basil of Caesarea, the benefactor of the ancient equivalent of an “Ivy League” education and the religious instruction of the leading ascetics and monastic communities in Egypt and Syria, was an outspoken advocate for the importance of the practice of medicine. Basil reasons that science and technological innovation were given to human beings by God to compensate for deficiencies in human nature. For example, because humans require clothing for survival in cold weather, Basil contends that the manufacturing processes used in the making of clothes are to be seen as a gift from God for human benefit. Likewise, 

 

Medicine is a gift from God even if some people do not make the right use of it. Granted, it would be stupid to put all hope of a cure in the hands of doctors, yet there are people who stubbornly refuse their help altogether. Not infrequently, illness is an opportunity to correct one’s faults. Their correction, though, is an image and symbol of the improvements due to the soul. We ought not to reject medical skill en bloc but we ought not to trust ourselves completely to it either. Just as we till the ground but at the same time ask God to make it fertile, just as we leave the guidance of the ship to the steersman at the same time pray God to save us from the perils of the sea, so we ought to go to the doctor for help without abandoning our faith in the most high. (Longer Rules, 55.)Thomas Spidlik, Drinking from the Hidden: A Patristic Breviary: Ancient Wisdom for Today’s World (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistern Publications, 1993), 71.

 

Basil recognized that medical knowledge and technologies were a gift from God for our benefit. Neither the denial of medical treatment for religious reasons nor the denial of the divine role in the healing process is sufficiently Christian. 

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05.  Anointing the Sick with Oil

Anointing the sick with oil was an accepted practice in the church since the apostolic period. The apostle James wrote: “ Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up” (James 5:14–15, NRSVUExi). In the practice of the anointing of the sick with oil we see the biblical concern for the healing of the whole person—body and soul. Standard prayers were developed for this practice and incorporated into the church’s worship. The following prayer is attributed to Seraphon, the disciple of Anthony and fourth century bishop of Thmuis (Upper Nile region of Egypt), 

 

Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, you possess all authority and power; you are the savior of all people. We pray that you send down from heaven the healing power of the only-Begotten upon this oil. May those who are anointed by or who receive these your creatures be freed from every disease and every sickness. May it be a remedy against every demon. May it expel every unclean spirit. May it cast out every wicked spirit. May it drive away every fever, trembling, and infirmity. May it bring about grace and the forgiveness of sins. May it be a medicine of life and of salvation for the health and wholeness of soul, body, and spirit, bringing about perfect health. Lord, may every diabolical power, every demon, every snare of the adversary, every plague, every scourge, every pain, every labor or blow or shaking or shadow fear your name, which we now invoke, and the name of the only-Begotten. May they depart, inwardly and outwardly, from these your servants so that “his name may be glorified,” he who for us was crucified and rose again, he who took our infirmities and bore our diseases, yes Jesus Christ who is coming to judge the living and the dead. Through him to you be glory and power in the Holy Spirit now and forever and ever. Amen.Johnson, 4:401.

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06.  Conclusion

In Christian communities, healings were accepted and expected outworking of God’s loving kindness and functioned as a precursor to the perfect health anticipated in the life to come. After the apostolic period, the gift of healing continued in the Christian community through the intercessory prayer of the ascetic saints and the ministry of the church elders. Spiritual disciplines—meditation on the psalms, confession, and works of mercy—available to all members of the community were helpful in the healing of emotional and spiritual wounds occurred after conversion.For clarity: God is the one who heals. Spiritual disciplines, like medicine, are a gift from God compassionately provided for our benefit. Eventually the ministry of healing became more and more associated with the ordained ministry of the church: through preaching or proclamation (awakening the individual to the need for healing), through the anointing of oil or the Eucharist by means of prayer (invocation), and through church sponsored hospitals managed by local bishops.