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"IHMEIDEN AIKA ON OHI

Matti Miettinen julkaisi vuonna 1980 Kirkon tutkimuskeskuksen julkaisusarjassa väitöskirjan "Uskonnolliset ihmeparantumiset lääketieteellis-psykologisesta näkökulmasta". Tämä arvioitava pieni kirjanen on sen jälkiselitysteksti, ei-tieteellinen kansanpainos.

Miettisen tutkimuksen virikkeenä oli Niilo Yli-Vainion vuonna 1977 alkanut toiminta. Yhteistyössä Yli-Vainion kanssa jaettiin vuonna 1980 kyselylomakkeita 2000 kpl, joista 744 palautettiin. Seurannassa karsiutui määrä 611 henkilöön, jotka ilmoittivat 1403 sairautta, oiretta ja vaivaa, joiden kohdalla myönteisiä kokemuksia kertyi 829, pettymyksiä 574. Tutkijan oman arvion mukaan *ei ainoakaan elimellinen sairaus parantunut, ja mielenterveyden häiriöissä oli joitakin yksittäisiä enemmän tai vähemmän ohimeneviä myönteisiä vaikutuksia*, joista valtaosan kohdalla on aiheellista nähdä ne pelkästään tunnelmointiefekteinä. *Kokonaisuutena ei tullut esiin mitään tavanomaisesta ennusteesta poikkeavaa." *

"Simson työryhmineen julkaisi vuonna 1977 raportin usean tunnetun amerikkalaisen parantajaevankelistan (kuuluisin lienee Kathryn Kuhlman) toiminnasta: *350 parantuneeksi ilmoitetusta henkilöstä oli parantunut 5, ja näillä parantuneilla oli ollut vaivoinaan erilaisia hermostollisia häiriöitä.* Lourdesin 2.5 miljoonasta ilmoitetusta parantumisesta ihmeeksi julistetut 64 parantumista sopivat hyvin sattumahaarukan sisään - olipa osa sitten sattumia tai ei. *Samaan ihmeparantumisen kannalta aika masentavaan suuntaan viittaavat hiukankaan kontrolloidut tutkimukset." *

Critical studies are illuminating. Dr. William A. Nolen, in his book Healing: A Doctor in Search of a Miracle (1974), followed up on several reported cases of healing from a Kathryn Kuhlman service but found no miracles-only remissions, psychosomatic diseases, and other explanations, including the power of suggestion.

More recently a study was conducted following a Benny Hinn crusade in Portland, Oregon, where seventy-six miracles were alleged. For an HBO television special, A Question of Miracles (Thomas 2001), Benny Hinn Ministries was asked to supply the names of as many of these as possible for investigation. After thirteen weeks, just five names were provided. Each case was followed for one year.

The first involved a grandmother who stated she had had "seven broken vertebras" but that the Lord had healed her at the evening service in Portland. In fact, x-rays afterward revealed otherwise, although the woman felt her pain had lessened.

The second case was that of a man who had suffered a logging accident ten years previously. He demonstrated improved mobility at the crusade, but his condition afterward deteriorated and "movement became so painful he could no longer dress himself." Yet he remained convinced he was healed and refused the medication and surgery his doctors insisted was necessary.

The next individual was a lady who, for fifty years, had only "thirty percent of her hearing" as claimed at the Portland crusade. However, her physician stated, "I do not think this was a miracle in any sense." He reported that the woman had had only a "very mild hearing loss" just two years before and that she had made "a normal recovery."

The fourth case was that of a girl who had not been "getting enough oxygen" but who claimed to have been healed at Hinn's service. In fact, since the crusade she "continued to suffer breathlessness," yet her mother was so convinced that a miracle had occurred that she did not continue to have her daughter seek medical care.

Finally, there was what the crusade billed as "a walking dead woman." She had had cancer throughout both lungs, but her doctors were now "overwhelmed" that she was "still alive and still breathing." Actually, her oncologist rejected all such claims, saying the woman had an "unpredictable form of cancer that was stable at the time of the crusade." Tragically, her condition subsequently deteriorated and she died just nine months afterward.

What Harm?
As these cases demonstrate, there is a danger that people who believe themselves cured will forsake medical assistance that could bring them relief or even save their lives. Dr. Nolen (1974, 97-99) relates the tragic case of Mrs. Helen Sullivan who suffered from cancer that had spread to her vertebrae. Kathryn Kuhlman had her get out of her wheelchair, remove her back brace, and run across the stage repeatedly. The crowd applauded what they thought was a miracle, but the antics cost Mrs. Sullivan a collapsed vertebra. Four months after her "cure," she died.

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