This post is a response to a comment from “pastormatte” regarding an earlier post about declaring things over your life. It also answers a question someone asked for my series, “Questions People ask About the Holy Spirit.”
Some people argue that “the New Testament always shows healing and never shows someone asking for healing and leaving still sick.”
The Bible includes examples of people who were not healed.
Paul himself was not always healed. Paul reminds the Galatians that “it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you” (Galatians 4:13).
Furthermore, Paul had sick friends that he had no doubt prayed for. He writes that he left “Trophimus sick in Miletus” (2 Timothy 4:20). And Paul’s friend Epaphroditus was so sick that he “almost died” (Philippians 2:27).
Paul nowhere suggests that these people were sick because he or they didn’t have enough faith. And he doesn’t tell Timothy that Timothy needed to exercise more faith because of his “frequent illness” (1 Timothy 5:23). Instead, he suggests a medicinal remedy.
Why are some people not healed?
Hmmm…that question requires a book. There are many possible reasons a person might not be healed when they pray.
Many people aren’t comfortable with this, but in some cases it is possible that God has inflicted the suffering (Deuteronomy 7:15). Again, some cases.
More generally though, one important reason people aren’t healed is that the kingdom of God hasn’t fully come yet. I’ve written about this in my previous post, “Why Are Some People not Healed?”
Do you know of any Pentecostal / Charismatic resources that address a theology of suffering?
Yes! Here are some books by Pentecostals that address a theology of suffering (in alphabetical order)…
- Courey, David J. What has Wittenberg to do with Azusa? Luther’s Theology of the Cross and Pentecostal Triumphalism. London: Bloomsbury T & T Clark, 2015.
- Menzies, William W., and Robert P. Menzies, Spirit and Power: Foundations of Pentecostal Experience. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000.
- You may have this book on your shelf, as many PAOC clergy received this book for free a number of years back. Chapter 12 deals with divine providence and a theology of suffering.
- Torr, Stephen C. A Dramatic Pentecostal/Charismatic Anti-Theodicy: Improvising on a Divine Performance of Lament. Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2013.
- Warrington, Keith. 2005. Healing and Suffering: Biblical and Pastoral Reflections. Milton Keynes: Paternoster.
I have also addressed this question to some extent in my article (see the section on ministry) “The Holy Spirit and Eschatology—with Implications for Ministry and the Doctrine of Spirit Baptism,” in the Journal of Pentecostal Theology 25.2 (2016): 203-221.
Question: Do you know of any other Pentecostal-Charismatic scholars who have addressed a theology of suffering? Leave a comment below by clicking here.
Andrew K. Gabriel, Ph.D., is the author of Touched by God: Experiencing the Holy Spirit (forthcoming) as well as three academic books, including The Lord is the Spirit. He is a theology professor at Horizon College and Seminary and serves on the Theological Study Commission for the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada. You can follow him on Facebook or on Twitter.
Thanks for you usual insightful comments!
How about The Spirit and Suffering in Luke-Acts: Implications for a Pentecostal Pneumatology by Martin W. Mittelstadt?
Perhaps, but the book deals more with the idea of persecution than suffering in general.
Great thoughts. I’m always a bit surprised when I hear of people who still subscribe to this belief. I mean, are they healthy 100% of the time? If they get sick or get a disease, is their faith completely dismantled? I had friends who dropped out of church because they were told that if they were sick, they didn’t have enough faith. Growing up in a Pentecostal church, if I had a dime for every time I heard someone use Isaiah 53:5 (By His Stripes You are Healed) to suggest that through Jesus’ death we are guaranteed physical healing, I would be a rich man today. A simple word study reveals that “healed” COULD mean physical healing, to be mended, or to become whole, but in context, it seems to be referring to salvation and spiritual wholeness. If someone takes this passage to mean physical healing, and they don’t get physically healed, it basically refutes the power of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Good observations. In addition, even if we read Isaiah 53:5 as “healed,” it could just mean “are healed” whenever it happens. Similarly, “You are washed with water” doesn’t mean we are always clean, but affirms water as a means of washing.
Over the years I have thought much about the need for a theology of suffering. I have also come to conclusions about healing and the atonement. Two different churches we attended for many years had prayer for the sick at every communion service which, I believe, distracted people from the true meaning of the atonement. All of those important issues aside, I just want to make one observation. The question “Why are some people not healed?” implies that most people are healed which everybody knows is not the case, and which is clearly not your view as expressed in this blog. Throughout my life various realities have forced me to change my theology in some areas. This is one of them. I have heard of healings that are verified and I have no reason to not believe that they really happened. However, after growing up in The Pentecostal church, attending two Pentecostal Bible Colleges, serving as a pastor in Pentecostal churches for many years, attending countless church services, prayer meetings, healing services and camp meetings I have yet to see or experience a physical healing. Everybody who gets a terminal disease that is no longer treatable simply dies, and everybody expects them to. “Without a miracle sister Jones. . . . .” is just code for “She’s going to die soon”. I’ve heard it and seen it a thousand times, and the poor soul who is called upon to pray has to pray for healing instead of an appropriate prayer for rest and peace and strength for loved ones. All of that to say this: Healing is the exception not the rule! It may be better to ask why some people ARE healed? In any case, I am pleased to see that somebody is bringing these questions forward. Thank you. Keep it up. 🌝
Thanks for your comments, John. I affirm your observations and suggestions.
Have you seen any of Shane Clifton’s (Australian Pentecostal Theologian) work. Here’s a link to one of his publications The Dark Side of Prayer for Healing: Toward a Theology of Well-Being
https://www.dropbox.com/s/lmv5bp0074bncp5/the%20dark%20side%20of%20prayer%20for%20healing.pdf?dl=0
https://shaneclifton.com/resources-and-publications-2/
As a quadraplegic myself I appreciate his work.
Yes, I know Shane and his work. Thanks for sharing this.
I think many people think that because you are a Christian, saved… you should be healthy all the time and prosperous etc…only good things. For a while and sometimes I admit, myself expect to be perfectly healthy..and then I remember why I am not and what Paul said about his thorn in his sides.. to keep him grounded and humble..”My Grace is sufficient” Do we have to be healed all the time? How would we learn? Isn’t this the very walk we have to walk?
Isn’t this how we grow and be constant in our faith?
Sometimes the disease is there for a reason..to change some habits that we think are acceptable and are not, to punish us- yes because nowhere says will only be punished after we die, to teach us important lessons, to humble ourselves, to die- nowhere says we have to die peacefully in our sleep.
The signs and wonders were made to make people believe in the gospel and they are still happening today for sure even in remote places and single lives but I also think that Jesus was emphasising over the spiritual world more than the physical.
Christians complaining about praying and not receiving healing have to understand that God is not at our disposal it is the other way around and He has His own reasons and His own timing even if we don’t understand and we need to be patient and accept that. Isn’t that what faith and obedience suppose to mean?
He says:” I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy” and I say thank you Lord.
Im not a scholar but I am a senior pastor at a Pentecostal church (New Zealand) and I know without a doubt suffering is part of living this side of eternity. And I know that most of my congregation have had and still go through suffering, some alot more than others but their faith is still solid and they still trust and believe in Jesus regardless.
Thanks for sharing!