Pentecostal Faith Healings Can Be Deadly
I read an article in which a father was convicted of second-degree reckless homicide of his young daughter, Madeline. The child’s mother has already been convicted and is awaiting sentencing which will take place at the same time the father is sentenced. To summarize, the young girl was sick with undiagnosed diabetes. The parents contend that they believed she had the flu, yet Madeline couldn’t walk, talk, eat or drink. The prosecution contends that her parents should have taken her to the doctor. What happened is that the parents are Pentecostal and were having a prayer vigil over the child who lay on the floor unconscious with what the parents contend was the flu. They were relying on God to heal their child.
First, I am NOT saying that God does not heal. However, the Pentecostal interpretation of various verses in the bible is that people WILL be healed. This simply is not true (I think I will do another blog post on those verses). The father stated during trial “God promises in the Bible to heal.” Madeline “died on the floor of the family’s rural Weston home as people surrounded her and prayed. Someone called 911 when she stopped breathing.”
Several years ago, I read a case where a child was a known diabetic and was on insulin. The parents, also Pentecostal, decided to heal their child. They withheld the lifesaving insulin while, as in Madeline’s case, a prayer vigil was held. Obviously, he became sicker finally slipping into a coma and, as in Madeline’s case, stopped breathing and needlessly died. They were rightfully convicted. In the same above article, it cites an Oregon jury convicting a man of ONLY a misdemeanor criminal mistreatment for the death of his 15 month old daughter who died of pneumonia and a blood infection in March of 2008. Instead of seeking medical attention for his baby, he also had a prayer vigil.
Pentecostalism is a dangerous practice for it misleads and wrongly teaches that God WILL heal if one has enough faith. The young boy who died after his parents took away his life saving insulin were accused of not having enough faith. In other words, fellow Pentecostals claimed that the child’s death was due to the parent’s lack of faith. God can heal and He sometimes does heal. He has NOT promised to heal physical ailments. God HAS promised to heal spiritual sickness: By His stripes we a healed is an oft quoted verse within the Pentecostal and Charismatic teachings in support of God’s promise to heal physical ailments. The verse states:
But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. (Isa 53:5 ESV)
In reading this verse alone, the verse does not say a word about physical ailments but speaks about transgressions. The whole chapter of Isaiah 53 speaks about mankind’s sin. The last two verses of this chapter makes clear the purpose of this chapter.
Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors. (Isa 53:11-12 ESV)
In reading any book, anything can be taken out of context if not read in light of the topic. Healing scriptures have been picked out of context by the Pentecostal and Charismatic folks and used as though it is a guarantee that God is making to those that simply possess the requisite faith. This is a very dangerous practice for it is misleading, in error and cannot be relied upon since God never made such promises. The damage this false teaching generates is immense. Fortunately the vast majority of people do not pay with their lives or with the lives of their children.
I am reminded of the following fictional and illustrative story on faith. A couple caught in a huge rain storm were relying on God to save them from the flood that was overtaking them. A car stopped and the occupants of the car shout “get in.” The couple replied with “no thanks, we’re waiting on God.” The water continues to rise so they move up to the second floor and a raft stops and an offer for a ride is given. Again, they reply “no thanks, we’re waiting on God.” Now standing on the roof with the water still rising, they send the rescue helicopter away with the same reply “no thanks, we’re waiting on God.” They drown and find themselves before God and ask Him “Why didn’t you save us?” God replies “I sent you a car, boat and a helicopter. Why didn’t you get in?”
“Doctors testified that Madeline would have had a good chance of survival if she had received medical care, including insulin and fluids, before she stopped breathing.”
Madeline’s mother and father have now been convicted of second-degree reckless homicide and can face up to 25 years in prison. Their other children will be without parents and minus a sister. My hope is that they will receive the maximum sentence for the needless death of their little girl. There was no need for her to lay on the floor while people she loved and should have protected her stood around while she was unconscious withholding lifesaving treatment for a very treatable condition. If people want to rely on a faith healing, they should not use the lives of their children – let them use their own lives as a guinea pig. The little children should not pay the price with their lives. If adults want to play and gamble with their lives, that is their choice. Or perhaps they should now have a prayer vigil to raise her from the dead. That’s also in the bible, it happened but it is the same with healing, it is not a promise that if the requisite faith exists, it will happen.
Faith is not an excuse for foolish, stupid and ignorant behavior that costs the lives of the innocent.
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