Who Healeth All Thy Diseases: Health, Healing, and Holiness in the Church of God Reformation Movement (Volume 1) (Pentecostal and Charismatic Studies, 1) - Softcover

Stephens, Michael S.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0810858401 ISBN 13: 9780810858404

Publisher: Scarecrow Press, 2008

Synopsis

Who Healeth All Thy Diseases is a history of divine healing and 19th-century health reform in the Church of God, one of the earliest and most influential pre-Pentecostal radical holiness movements. The Church of God taught that Wesleyan entire sanctification was creating a visible unity of saints that restored the New Testament church of the apostles.

As the movement grew and experimented with the implications of visible sainthood, physical healing―miraculous divine healing and the physical perfectionism of health reform―became integral to the life and theology of the Church of God, shaping everything from proof of membership and evidence of ministerial authority to childrearing practices and acceptable clothing styles. Physical healing manifested and embodied the movement's claim that God was healing the universal church (the Body of Christ) by cleansing individuals from the corruption of inbred sin. By 1902, the prevailing opinion in the Church said that divine healing was an essential aspect of the gospel, use of medicine was sinful, and every minister had to exhibit the gifts of healing.

In the early 20th century, the Church's theology and practices of healing became increasingly problematic. Tragic failures of divine healing, epidemics, medical advances, court trials, mandatory inoculations of schoolchildren, and general opprobrium combined to prevent a simplistic equation of the Church of God and the church of the apostles. By 1925, the Church had reversed its radical, anti-medicine doctrines. Church members continued to affirm that Jesus answered prayers for healing, but they no longer claimed to know exactly how he would answer prayers. With that loss of certainty, healing lost its power to serve as evidence of holiness and its central place in the history of the Church of God.

About this title

About the Author:

Michael S. Stephens is Adjunct Professor of Church History for the online campus of Asbury Theological Seminary.

Review:

Readers interested in divine healing, health reform, the Holiness movement, the Church of God reformation, Pentecostalism, and related issues will find Stephens' book a fascinating, well-researched volume and a good read. (H-Pentecostalism, July 2009)

The book is clearly and elegantly written. Chapter divisions and signposting of sections within chapters organize the material effectively.... Stephens has written a stupendous history, based on in-depth research and replete with analytical insights. This work ought to be read by scholars, students, and others interested in divine, medical, and alternative healing whether or not they are concerned with the Church of God, for this denomination offers a fascinating case study for asking broader questions. (Pneuma)

About this edition

• Publisher: Scarecrow Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0810858401
• ISBN 13: 9780810858404
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 248