Miracle Healing in Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life of Jesus of Nazareth. It has 2.38 billion followers and is the world’s largest religion. The faith is centered on the life of Jesus and evangelism.

Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and that he has authority to perform miracles. They also believe that the Holy Spirit empowers believers to do miracles. These include healings, and discernment of spirits.

Healings occurred frequently in the gospels. Many people in need of healing were sent to shrines of martyrs. However, the church limited prayer for healing. Some believed that sickness and disease were demonic and caused by sin. Others claimed that they were free from sickness or disease after becoming a Christian.

During the apostolic era, the church was growing rapidly. New converts fanned out across the globe. Every generation, between five and thirty million new followers joined the faith. This accelerated in the fourth century.

New converts were attracted by the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Gifts included healings. The infilling of the Holy Spirit enabled believers to release themselves from the pollution of sin.

The Church Growth movement urged missionaries to acquire a deep cultural knowledge of “unreached people’s groups” in order to “sow the Word”. Missionaries hoped that this knowledge would help them to reap a harvest.

The charismatic third wave grew out of this movement. It crossed the divides between Pentecostalism and mainstream evangelicalism. It was developed by a core group of evangelicals, including Charles Kraft, George Otis, and Ted Haggard.