faith healing

noun

1. healing effected through prayer or religious faith; divine healing.
2. a method employing faith or prayer in the hope of receiving such healing.

faith healing

noun

1. treatment of a sick person through the supposed power of religious faith

Derived Forms

• faith healer, noun

Other Words From

• faith healer noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of faith healing¹

First recorded in 1880–85

Example Sentences

By the time Gannon became aware of faith healing, the practice had been allowed in many U.S. states for 40 years.

From Seattle Times

Those suffering from depression are often quietly sent not to doctors or psychologists but to clergy members or shrines, such as the Hindu temple Mehandipur Balaji, where people are committed to undergo faith healing.

From New York Times

Zion was founded in 1900 as a Christian theocracy by John Alexander Dowie, an evangelical and early Pentecostal preacher who drew thousands to the city with his faith healing ministry.

From Seattle Times

It has all sorts of religious teachings which he takes from various strands of African-American religious traditions, as well as things like New Thought, which is a 19th-century Protestant idea, very American, faith healing.

From Salon

Pentecostalism, a charismatic movement, often features practices like speaking in tongues and faith healing.

From Seattle Times