This page in brief

We all hear stories of healing miracles from time to time, but rarely do we see any real evidence. So when a medical doctor obtains the case histories, reviews the evidence, and has his conclusions checked by specialists, we have our evidence. Check out what he found.

The doctor and the investigation

Dr H Richard Casdorph is an experienced doctor and medical researcher. His CV shows he has published more than eighty research papers in a career that has spanned almost 6 decades, and has earned the respect of his fellow doctors.

casdorph

In the mid 70s he undertook a research project with a difference. He interviewed ten people who claimed to have been miraculously healed of serious conditions. He examined all the case histories – X-rays, medical reports, etc – and also submitted them to medical specialists for review.

In all ten cases, the evidence showed that an unusual healing had taken place after the patient received prayer for healing. The cases were written up in a book, The Miracles, which includes some of the X-rays.

These were the cases ….. or jump straight to what we can learn.

Lisa Larios

Lisa was diagnosed with cancer of the hip when she was 12, and was unable to walk unaided. Her family decided chemotherapy was too traumatic and called it off after one dose. The family were Catholic, though not very religious, and a family friend invited the family to a christian healing meeting conducted by ‘healing evangelist’ Kathryn Kuhlman. The friend fasted and prayed for a week beforehand.

During the service, Lisa felt a warm feeling in her stomach, and Kathryn Kuhlman said someone in her section of the auditorium was being healed from cancer and should stand up. Lisa, against her mother’s wishes, stood up and was able to walk without pain for the first time since the problem had appeared. Lisa was X-rayed several times after that, and it became clear that something strange had indeed occurred. Further X-rays (reproduced in the book) were taken and reviewed by several doctors, and these showed that Lisa’s hip had been fully restored and the cancer was gone.

Elfrieda Stauffer

Elfrieda was ‘critically ill’ with chronic rheumatoid arthritis, and unable to walk or dress herself, when she was taken to a healing meeting by her husband. She had avoided going because “she did not believe in that kind of thing”, but after much prayer by her husband and urging by some friends, she agreed to go. During the meeting she felt that parts of her body that had been in extreme pain were becoming pain-free, and she was able to move them. Dr Casdorph points out that gradual spontaneous remissions can occur with this disease, but “she emerged from this severe disability to complete normalcy within a matter of seconds or minutes. This is not spontaneous remission.”

Marie Rosenberger

In 1970, at age 44, Marie started suffering from severe headaches. She underwent brain surgery, and a tumour was removed, but the surgeons could not remove it all, and the biopsy showed is was malignant. The tumour began to grow back, and Marie was not expected to live. The family decided to spend an evening praying for her healing and her husband stayed up all night. He had a vision of the tumour being healed, but Marie seemed little improved when she woke. However she stopped taking her medication, and continued to improve, as visits to her neurosurgeon confirmed, with some amazement, until she was healed. The book discusses the medical documentation and reproduces arteriograms.

Marion Burgio

When multiple sclerosis first affected Marion in 1958, she was pregnant and not yet 30. She felt numbness in her hands, kept falling over, and generally started losing coordination. But it was not diagnosed for four years, by which time she was deteriorating steadily. Ten years later, she had bad headaches, a deformed forearm, was incontinent, had a marked loss of hearing and vision and was unable to eat or even hold her head up. A friend visited regularly to pray for her and invited her to a Kathryn Kuhlman healing meeting.

Marion at first refused to go, but eventually was taken in a wheelchair. She can’t remember exactly what happened, but during the service she found herself standing up, with her back and limbs straight for the first time in years. She began to walk immediately, and later her surprised doctor found she had been healed of all symptoms, including the deformities. She and her husband became strong believers in Jesus.

Marvin Bird

Arteriosclerotic heart disease was (and I assume still is) the most common cause of death in the western world. Marvin Bird had his first heart attack at age 46, and over the next 16 years was hospitalised 17 times because of his heart condition. One artery was completely blocked and the others were half blocked (as shown in angiograms reproduced in the book), but he declined a coronary artery bypass because, at age 60, he didn’t think he would survive surgery. He attended a healing meeting even though he wasn’t then a believer, and an assistant, believing he had been healed, invited him to stand up. He couldn’t previously do this on his own, but now was able to. Doctors later confirmed he was fully healed, and Marvin started to attend church and believe in Jesus.

Ray Jackson

In 1972, Ray Jackson had a kidney removed in the Duke University Medical Center because of cancer. He recovered well, but two years later doctors had to remove a finger because they found cancer had spread there. Shortly after they found cancer in his spine, pelvis, breastbone and leg, and this time surgery was out of the question. (Two bone scans are reproduced in the book.) He was booked in for radiation treatment, but advised he could expect to live no more than a year.

Many friends were praying for his healing, and before he began the radiation treatment, he woke in the night to hear a voice tell him he would be healed. The next day he attended a ‘Kathryn Kuhlman miracle service’, during which the pain disappeared instantly. Tests the next day still showed the lesions, but subsequent tests showed that healthy new bone had filled in where the lesions had been. This case is notable because of the wealth of medical detail available from Duke to confirm the healing.

Pearl Bryant

Pearl was a doctor of speech therapy who had suffered from a range of medical problems – arthritis, kidney, gall bladder and liver problems – for most of her life. By the time she was in her sixties she had to wear long-leg braces whenever she was out of bed because of weak knees and many falls. Other physical problems (fainting, headaches, nausea and digestrive problems) also worsened at this time. A devout christian, she began praying for healing in her late seventies, then finally managed to get to a healing meeting. During the meeting she felt an unusual ‘grinding’ sensation in her body, beginning with her left hip and gradually moving around her whole body and ending in her neck. She couldn’t take the leg braces off in public to test her healing, but next morning she was able to walk unaided and regained full movement. She was fully healed.

Anne Soults

Over just a few weeks, Anne began to have serious problems reading, speaking and remembering. A series of brain scans (some of which are reproduced in the book) and visits to different specialists revealed she had a lesion that was increasing in size, consistent with a tumour. However following prayer from a prayer group and at a healing service, further scans showed no evidence of an abnormality. Dr Casdorph comments: “This lady’s brain abnormality was well documented by the standard diagnostic techniques and she was seen by many specialists.”

Paul Trousdale

Paul, a successful businessman, was admitted to hospital with severe gastrointestinal bleeding after fainting several times. He required many blood transfusions over several days. He had only recently begun to attend church, and his minister visited one morning and prayed for him. The minister said that he had been healed, but doctors would not release him from hospital until his condition was re-tested. All tests showed the bleeding had ceased and there were no abnormalities. Paul’s condition before and after were “well documented by medical records”.

Delores Winder

Delores had severe spinal problems and pain for years, necessitating four spinal fusions and two cordotomies (a procedure that disables part of the spinal cord to reduce pain but results in no feeling in the legs). For fourteen years she wore a body cast and neck brace to relieve the pain and enable her to walk. At the end of this time, the doctors told her there was little they could do for her, she had so many conditions, but that she could prolong her life by staying still in bed, advice she was unwilling to take.

Although she was a christian, she didn’t believe in divine healing, but she was persuaded to attend a Kathryn Kuhlman meeting. She experienced a burning sensation in her legs (the first thing she had felt in her legs for a time) and was completely healed. She was also strongly renewed in her faith. Dr Casdorph says he has medical records for Delores “an inch thick” showing seven serious spinal procedures and the increasingly desperate medical diagnoses, culminating in the doctor’s acceptance that she had “gotten an excellent result physically”.

What we can learn

Ten people, all prayed for by christians who believe in divine healing, all healed. That is surely enough to make any open minded person think.

At the very least, we can say that something quite unusual happened in each case. Coincidence? The odds seem against it. Poor diagnosis? Ditto. Lies? The documentation suggests not. Real miracles? It seems likely!

I suggest we can draw the following conclusions.

1.There is good documented medical evidence of unusual medical recoveries after prayer for healing. This evidence has been reviewed by medical specialists,

2.The probability of natural remissions seems remote, and the most believable explanation is surely that these were indeed cases of divine healing.

3.In many cases, people prayed for some time before the healing occurred. We should be encouraged to pray when loved ones need healing. They may not receive the healing they are seeking, but it is possible that they may.

Source: http://www.is-there-a-god.info/life/tenhealings/

all Glory to God in the Highest

ALMIGHTY GOD JEHOVAH YAHWEH TO YOU BE ALL GLORY,HONOUR AND ADORATION...YOU ALONE IS WORTHY TO BE PRAISED AND WORSHIP...Have mercy on me and let your favour be evident in my life and whoever clicks like in any of the comments in this particular thread...Amen.

Nice thread.

Glory be to God almighty!

And what miracle have you verified or performed

GRIMMJOE:
And what miracle have you verified or performed

That is not the topic of the thread.

Hallelujah!!! Yaweh at work

Athiests how far, if the doctors tell you it is all over who will you turn to for help? Science cannot solve all your problems only JESUS can

I dont understand you people. would you believe if he said he has performed miracles? Proof has been provided and you still ask for his own personal miracles. Next thing is to ask what color of pants the sick people wore when they were prayed for.

GRIMMJOE:
And what miracle have you verified or performed

Oo

Omudia:
I dont understand you people. would you believe if he said he has performed miracles? Proof has been provided and you still ask for his own personal miracles. Next thing is to ask what color of pants the sick people wore when they were prayed for.

Exactly.

Seun, HardMirror, Lennycool, valentinemary, wirinet, donnffd, hopefulLandlord and all athiests, don't pretend like you didn't see this thread lol

funny enough someone has already created a NL thread on this topic

https://www.nairaland.com/2001570/debunking-miracles-substantiated-dr-richard

Dr Richard Casdorph. That's a distinctive name. Shouldn't be too hard to find more info on this person. Huh... Lots of things saying he's a doctor, and a researcher, respected and eminent. Very nice. Good for him. Oddly enough all of them are in context of his faith ministry and books he's made a fortune from shilling. He's as much an impartial, skeptical observer as I am a penguin made of chocolate.
(I'm not. In case you were wondering.)
Calling someone a doctor doesn't make them a doctor. Even if they ARE a doctor (which he probably is) that doesn't make them definitively reliable. It seems to me that this is one faith healer being followed by a true believer. Scientific? Bullshit. Science suspends belief. This guy wallowed into it.
While I was looking for more info on him, though, I found out a bit more on Karthryn Khullman, too. In particular I found out about a man called William A Nolen, a legit respected doctor, respected enough to have an actual wiki entry to himself.

http://en.wikipedia.org /wiki/William_A._Nolen

He interviewed people Kathryn "healed" and found she did not, in fact, heal them at all. In fact, one of the women who was healed of spinal cancer threw her crutches away. Her spine collapsed the next day and she was hospitalised for some time, dying shortly after.
This is remarkably unconvincing.
If you're going to take the anecdotes of this one agenda driven man, why not take other studies into account, too? The Templeton Foundation (a Christian organisation trying to get some science up in this Dam) paid a substantial amount of evidence into an "Intercessory Prayer" study, and found that there was absolutely no difference between those people and a control group.
Don't pick and choose the results that suit your agenda. Take a look at all of them.

I laffeh you and your proof

www.reddit.com/r/DebateReligion/comments/1i062f/to_atheists_scientifically_studied_miracles/

Why are the atheist avoiding this thread? Why are they not coming to disprove doctors and give logical reasons why these healings took place?

Children of logic, proof and evidence....you ask if there's a God, you try as much as you can to deny it, yet deep down within you, you know the truth, you know He's there, you feel him listening to your every thought, watching your every move. Most times you just wish He could just reveal himself to you and put you out of your misery of unbelief.

But that's not how it works; if you want to know Him, you must first believe that He is(that He exist) and that He's a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

I have love for you (the atheist), because you are being led astray, you don't even know what you're doing and I can't blame you, and that's because there's formidable force barring you from knowing God; a force beyond your human control. I pray that the good and gracious God will deliver you guys out of the hands of the evil one and take off the veil of unbelief and cause His marvelous light to shine upon you, in Jesus name. Amen.

Lennycool:
I'm here

Speechless?

Pidggin:
Seun, HardMirror, Lennycool, valentinemary, wirinet, donnffd, hopefulLandlord and all athiests, don't pretend like you didn't see this thread lol

I thought I was the only one who noticed.

LaClicKLaBenDin:


I thought I was the only one who noticed.

Great thread

Pidggin:


Great thread

Thanks, dearie.

Pidggin:


Speechless?

Hardly please look above you.

Lennycool:
funny enough someone has already created a NL thread on this topic

https://www.nairaland.com/2001570/debunking-miracles-substantiated-dr-richard



I laffeh you and your proof

www.reddit.com/r/DebateReligion/comments/1i062f/to_atheists_scientifically_studied_miracles/

The problem I have found with your type is that, you don't really want to know God, you're rather against Him and that's scary.

I could go through the stress of convincing people in my local church here to give me the permission to upload their test results; 1. One of them her genotype was changed SS to AA, with medical evidence; 2. For eight months she had a swollen stomach and did several test but was told it wasn't pregnancy, but after prayers, she went for another test and was confirmed pregnant, and today she has delivered a baby girl.

Even if I go through that stress, you'd still find a way of mocking God, because it's obvious that this is what it's about. When I come across a genuine atheist who has a sincere desire to know if God exists, I will give him proof, I can even go to any length.

But as for you who seek to disprove God, I would invite you to my local church; come with the worst ailment you can think of, bring medical doctors with you, and let's see if I serve the living God or not.

If you're interested, pm me and I will give you the address.

Lennycool:
funny enough someone has already created a NL thread on this topic

https://www.nairaland.com/2001570/debunking-miracles-substantiated-dr-richard



I laffeh you and your proof

www.reddit.com/r/DebateReligion/comments/1i062f/to_atheists_scientifically_studied_miracles/

chai!!!

you've let the Elephant out of the can

I was waiting till many more of their fellow deluded Christians fall in before ripping this thread to .... threads

Christianity was built on lies and delusions, it can only be sustained by a combination of the two

just read the below link, its a short story

http://hca.gilead.org.il/emperor.XHTML

LaClicKLaBenDin:


The problem I have found with your type is that, you don't really want to know God, you're rather against Him and that's scary.

I could go through the stress of convincing people in my local church here to give me the permission to upload their test results; 1. One of them her genotype was changed SS to AA, with medical evidence; 2. For eight months she had a swollen stomach and did several test but was told it wasn't pregnancy, but after prayers, she went for another test and was confirmed pregnant, and today she has delivered a baby girl.

Even if I go through that stress, you'd still find a way of mocking God, because it's obvious that this is what it's about. When I come across a genuine atheist who has a sincere desire to know if God exists, I will give him proof, I can even go to any length.

But as for you who seek to disprove God, I would invite you to my local church; come with the worst ailment you can think of, bring medical doctors with you, and let's see if I serve the living God or not.

If you're interested, pm me and I will give you the address.

Your story can be analyzed.
The woman had what is known as false pregnancy.

False pregnancy, clinically termed pseudocyesis, is the belief that you are expecting a baby when you are not really carrying a child. People with pseudocyesis have many, if not all,symptoms of pregnancy-- with the exception of an actual foetus. Some men experience a related phenomenon known as couvade, or sympathetic pregnancy. They will develop many of the same symptoms as their pregnant partners, including weight gain, nausea, and backache.

Its quite common, the woman had a false pregnancy and years later had a real one. you can read more about it in the link below.

http://www.webmd.com/baby/guide/false-pregnancy-pseudocyesis#1

As for your genotype change, the test result could be wrong, a mistake by the doctor, you should advise the person to do another test. Your genotype doesn't change like that.

Lennycool:

Your story can be analyzed.
The woman had what is known as false pregnancy.



Its quite common, you can read more about it in the link below.

http://www.webmd.com/baby/guide/false-pregnancy-pseudocyesis#1

As for your genotype change, the test result could be wrong, a mistake by the doctor, you should advise the person to do another test. Your genotype doesn't change like that.

Lennycool, The Delusion Destroyer

hopefulLandlord:


Lennycool, The Delusion Destroyer

sometimes I feel like an evil person for destroying their fantasies. Its like ripping the idea of Santa Clause from children. But these people are not children, you can be reasonable and religious.
I want a Nigeria where when a pastor like RCCG overseer says that "the amount of money and type of currency you put into the church, equates to what God will give you" people will get angry.
A type of Nigeria where when a pastor (again RCCG) says he prayed for his tank to full with fuel, people will ask how can? (Just as they do with evolution that has proof).
A nigeria where no one sends people on pilgrimages when people are starving on the streets.
Nigeria needs reason

hopefulLandlord:


chai!!!

you've let the Elephant out of the can

I was waiting till many more of their fellow deluded Christians fall in before ripping this thread to .... threads

Christianity was built on lies and delusions, it can only be sustained by a combination of the two

just read the below link, its a short story

http://hca.gilead.org.il/emperor.XHTML

Your link can't be opened. 404 error

Lennycool:


sometimes I feel like an evil person for destroying their fantasies. Its like ripping the idea of Santa Clause from children. But these people are not children, you can be reasonable and religious.
I want a Nigeria where when a pastor like RCCG overseer says that "the amount of money and type of currency you put into the church, equates to what God will give you" people will get angry.
A type of Nigeria where when a pastor (again RCCG) says he prayed for his tank to full with fuel, people will ask how can? (Just as they do with evolution that has proof).
A nigeria where no one sends people on pilgrimages when people are starving on the streets.
Nigeria needs reason

endorsed!

we need to keep freeing people from the delusions brought about by a book written by drunk cavemen who had absolutely NO knowledge about how things work

Lennycool:
Your link can't be opened. 404 error

here
http://www.online-literature.com/hans_christian_andersen/967/

hopefulLandlord:


endorsed!

we need to keep freeing people from the delusions brought about by a book written by drunk cavemen who had absolutely NO knowledge about how things work

Ahhh drunk violent cavemen. With an obsession with things of a sexual nature.

hopefulLandlord:



here

http://www.online-literature.com/hans_christian_andersen/967/

The Emperor New clothes. Its like all the world religions.

Lennycool:

Your story can be analyzed.
The woman had what is known as false pregnancy.



Its quite common, the woman had a false pregnancy and years later had a real one. you can read more about it in the link below.

http://www.webmd.com/baby/guide/false-pregnancy-pseudocyesis#1

As for your genotype change, the test result could be wrong, a mistake by the doctor, you should advise the person to do another test. Your genotype doesn't change like that.

I told you that your problem isn't that you don't have proof, the problem is that you have refused to see...there was no mistake, someone cannot be SS for 25years and later turn out to be AA all by mistake, and for you to think that it was just one test that proved she was now AA, then I think you're shallow. If you think that someone who has been an SS all her life will rely on just one test to believe her genotype has been changed, then you're not as smart as you claim.

The I said earlier, the problem with your type is that you think you have arrived, and nothing more can be proved to you.

You talked about false pregnancy, right? Your problem is that your of lack of belief make you want to go to the extent of disproving people's realities.

Please Sir, give me a medical condition/explanation of a situation where a woman has a swollen stomach, with no signs of pregnancy, no symptoms, with regular menstrual circle, and for 8months. All medical test showed she wasn't pregnant, she was made a mockery of, told she would swell up and finally die, but after prayers, she was asked to go for a test, the test show she was pregnant, and after a month she gave birth to a bouncing baby girl. Please treat this question, don't deviate or try linking plenty stories; it's a situation that I witnessed myself, let's treat it as it is, and if you can't do that, then I don't have anything more to say to you

Lennycool:

The Emperor New clothes. Its like all the world religions.

exactly!

no one actually wants to look "stupid" and "unworthy" so they pretend say they know the cloth (god) is there