Two thousand years and half a world away
Dying trees still grow greener when you pray.(Bruce Cockburn, “All the Diamonds in the World”)
Science cannot study God — at least, not directly. But a study, to be published today in the American Heart Journal, attempted to investigate God’s existence indirectly.
The study showed no benefits from prayer. The Globe and Mail reports:
The study followed about 1,800 patients at six medical centres. It was financed by the Templeton Foundation, which supports research into science and religion, and one of the participating hospitals. …
The research team tested the effect of having three Christian groups pray for particular patients, starting the night before surgery and continuing for two weeks. The volunteers prayed for “a successful surgery with a quick, healthy recovery and no complications” for specific patients — their identities known only by first name and first initial of the last name.
The patients, meanwhile, were split into three groups of about 600 apiece: those who knew they were being prayed for, those who were prayed for but only knew it was a possibility, and those who weren’t prayed for but were told it was a possibility.
The researchers didn’t ask patients or their families and friends to alter any plans they had for prayer, saying such a step would have been unethical and impractical.
The study looked for any complications within 30 days of the surgery.
And the results? The study showed no difference between those who were prayed for and those who weren’t.
(Oddly, knowing you were being prayed for produced negative results. Fifty-nine per cent of the patients who knew they were being prayed for developed a complication, versus only fifty-two per cent of those who were told it was just a possibility.)
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