CHRIST JESUS healed the sick. The Gospels record many instances of his power to liberate the diseased; and the Master expected those who understood his doctrine to follow in his footsteps, doing the same healing works as he had done, yes, and on an even greater scale. His words to Philip on that memorable occasion when he comforted his disciples were, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father." And when his disciples departed on their first missionary effort Luke says that "he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick."
It is impossible to shut one's eyes to the fact that spiritual healing was an integral part of the ministry of Jesus and his disciples. Further, this healing was practiced for many years, probably between two and three centuries, by the Christian church. Why did it cease? Why did Christians stop practicing it? What happened to put an end to what undoubtedly was one of the most benign features of the early Christian church? The power to heal disease was not a thing of chance; it was a divine impartation. The loss of the power to heal disease did not happen by chance; it resulted from disregard or ignorance of the essential teaching of Jesus, from disobedience to his inspired commands.
In her wonderful sermon "Christian Healing" (p. 3) Mrs. Eddy gives the explanation. She says, "In proportion as the personal and material element stole into religion, it lost Christianity and the power to heal; and the qualities of God as a person, instead of the divine Principle that begets the quality, engrossed the attention of the ages." The understanding of God as infinite, as infinite Person, became obscured; materiality crept in, displacing spirituality, and healing practically ceased. The vision of God as infinite had become blurred through finite beliefs concerning Him, and prayers for the recovery of the sick were apparently uttered in vain.
