A Question of Healing - Paul Shields
The Bible appears to teach that suffering is inevitable; but should enduring chronic sickness be considered an essential part of such suffering? And while God may use it as a punishment to unbelievers and the willfully disobedient, does He send it upon Christians, or should we consider it as being primarily from a diabolical source? Is there a tension between receiving divine healing by faith and relying on medical and surgical means? Is there a reason to expect that healing should occur in a miraculous and instantaneous fashion through a spoken word or a touch, in a similar manner to the healing accounts recorded in the New Testament?
A Question of Healing attempts an answer to these fundamental questions about suffering and healing before examining how this theology in turn dictates the practices of those churches and organisations that are engaged in the Christian healing ministry depending upon their beliefs.
Paul Shields then goes on to identify some hindrances to healing by addressing further questions such as, What are the issues that limit the success of our healing ministries? How does the attitude of a sick individual hinder or prevent a healing taking place? Is it usually God’s will to bring healing or not?
The book includes a number of personal testimonies of healing that illustrate the theological arguments being made and also seeks to answers questions such as:
Was Jesus ever sick? Did Jesus pray for the sick or simply deal with the disease? Does God deal with injuries differently than sicknesses and diseases?