[Athos]

The Duke study (1998) claims to have shown:

The study you quote was acknowledged to have been flawed by all concerned. Duke did a second study with 700+ patients, several prayer groups from various religions, and rigidly controlled with accepted scientific testing methods. It was a three-year study ending in 2003.


Here is the conclusion from the Duke Medicine News and Communications publication:

By Duke Medicine News and Communications

Published: July 14, 2005



DURHAM, N.C. -- Distant prayer and the bedside use of music, imagery and touch (MIT therapy) did not have a significant effect upon the primary clinical outcome observed in patients undergoing certain heart procedures, researchers at Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI), Duke University Medical Center, the Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) and seven other leading academic medical institutions across the U.S. have found.

[Akoue]

The study you quote was acknowledged to have been flawed by all concerned. Duke did a second study with 700+ patients, several prayer groups from various religions, and rigidly controlled with accepted scientific testing methods. It was a three-year study ending in 2003.


Here is the conclusion from the Duke Medicine News and Communications publication:

By Duke Medicine News and Communications

Published: July 14, 2005



DURHAM, N.C. -- Distant prayer and the bedside use of music, imagery and touch (MIT therapy) did not have a significant effect upon the primary clinical outcome observed in patients undergoing certain heart procedures, researchers at Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI), Duke University Medical Center, the Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) and seven other leading academic medical institutions across the U.S. have found.

I'm not surprised. I didn't mean to advocate anything. I just came across it and thought you guys might like to take a look.

[JoeT777]

All:

My two cents worth as to whether science can prove the prayer or miracle phenomenon is best expressed by Chesterton.

Men can construct a science with very few instruments, or with very plain instruments; but no one on earth could construct a science with unreliable instruments. A man might work out the whole of mathematics with a handful of pebbles, but not with a handful of clay which was always falling apart into new fragments, and falling together into new combinations. A man might measure heaven and earth with a reed, but not with a growing reed. G.K. Chesterton


JoeT

[Athos]

I don't know the journal, but this study claims to show some benefit from intercessory prayer.

Effects of remote, retroactive intercessory prayer on outcomes in patients with bloodstream infection: randomised controlled trial -- Leibovici 323 (7327): 1450 -- BMJ

This is a fascinating study. The prayer took place 4-10 years AFTER the patients had been discharged from the hospital. Some had died. So here we have intercessory prayer working retroactively! The doctor who conducted the experiment and wrote the original article was proving a point with a tongue-in-cheek article.

Amazing what you can find on the internet.

Here's the link - norvik.com/prayer. See #6 Rabin Medical Center Israel - Retroactive Prayer.

[Akoue]

This is a fascinating study. The prayer took place 4-10 years AFTER the patients had been discharged from the hospital. Some had died. So here we have intercessory prayer working retroactively! The doctor who conducted the experiment and wrote the original article was proving a point with a tongue-in-cheek article.

Amazing what you can find on the internet.

Here's the link - norvik.com/prayer. See #6 Rabin Medical Center Israel - Retroactive Prayer.

Crazy academic humor!

Did the other study turn up anything of interest?

[Athos]

If I'm not mistaken, both Duke and Georgetown medical schools have recently done studies on "remote prayer".

The Georgetown study:


"Those hoping for confirmation of a positive therapeutic effect of distant prayer were to be disappointed. As Matthews explained, "Neither multivariate nor univariate analysis showed a statistically significant overall improvement after intervention in the 10 outcome variables for the group receiving.. . Distant intercessory prayer (n = 19) when compared with the group receiving no.. . Distant prayer (n = 21)." And the placebo effect was in evidence: "Although only.. . 48% [of patients] actually received distant prayer and individuals were blinded to distant prayer treatment status.. . 73% [believed they received] distant prayer. These patients were more likely than others to have improvement in global function.. . And reductions in pain."


Translation: Distant (intercessory) prayer did not work. Dale Mathews, MD, is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Georgetown who conducted the study.

[arcura]

I found this about intercessory prayer..

Scientific Evidence for Answered Prayer

Peace and kindness,
Fred

[Athos]

I found this about intercessory prayer..

Scientific Evidence for Answered Prayer

Case 1 - This 1983 study measured 24 variables. 18 showed no difference, 6 showed a small difference. The study author keyed on the 6 favorable variables, ignoring the other 18. These 6 variables were declared important only AFTER the study. This is NOT proper methodology. Again, AFTER the study was done, the author determined the scoring method - it is crucial to determine the scoring method PRIOR to the study. When corrected for these flaws, the study was inconclusive.

Case # 2 - More of the same - shaky scoring and shaky variables. Larry Dorsey, a supporter of remote healing, said, "This study has missed the mark. We would want to see statistically significant life-or-death effects, which simply did not occur".

Case # 3 - This is the same Israeli study I mentioned in the above post to Akoue. See that post. What is interesting is that Arcura's source makes a point of mentioning that only Christian prayer proved effective. This study presumably was carried out with Jewish prayer.

Case # 4 - This is the last study mentioned. I will only quote the study itself which should suffice. "The LACK of efficacy in this study could be due to theological problems with the study design". When a source is cited as proof of intercessory prayer, and that very source states that there was a lack of proof, I begin to wonder why such a citation was made in the first place.


I have now replied to several posts on this issue. It should be apparent that every study cited could have been carefully researched (googled) for all the pertinent facts BEFORE posting it here. I don't have the time to continue doing all the research.

[arcura]

Athos
Thanks for your observation.
I still believe prayer works for me.
But U must keep in mind that God answers prayer 4 ways.
1, Yes
2. No
3. Maybe
4. You've go to be kidding.
Peace and kindness,
Fred

[this8384]

Okay, here goes.

1. Man and Woman are created.;)
2. Woman chose to disobey God and thus committed the first sin.:eek:
3. Because of her, the rest of us have to pay.:(
4. Animals had to be sacrificed in the OT to earn acceptance from God.:(
5. In the NT, Jesus was sacrificed for our sins. (Hey, I wasn't even born yet! ) The deal was, if you believe that Jesus died for your sake as a way to pay for your sins, THEN I (GOD) will accept you into my kingdom.:cool:

Why torture Jesus that way? Looks like a source as powerful as God could come up with a better plan wouldn't you think? As a parent, you don't punish child A when child B disobeyed do you. That would just be all kinds of wrong:mad:

My love for my children is unconditional and I would never ever turn them away. And I especially would never send them somewhere to be tortured! (Hell) NEVER, no matter what. They could have disobeyed me, not accepted my sacrifice made for them, or even cursed me.
Still, I'd never turn my back on them. In MY opinion, neither would God. This story just does not add up.

1. No issues here.
2. Still no issues, story is true.
3. Wrong. We're not suffering for Eve's choices. We suffer because of our own.
4. Sacrifices weren't for "acceptance," they were a form of worship. People used to place their hands upon a goat's head to symbolize the passing of their sin and then send the goat into the wilderness.
5. Story true, no issues.

Jesus wasn't ordered, He chose to make that sacrifice; He even prayed and asked God if there was any other way. There wasn't. Jesus is the only substitute for sin; He's perfect. What can be better than perfection?

I'm asking honestly: what do you think God should have done? What other way should there be?

[Wondergirl]

The big Q for me is, why did God put the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden in the first place? He had created a perfect universe. Everyone and everything was happy and existed/lived in peace. Why that particular tree?

[this8384]

To show us that we have a free will. God didn't make us to be puppets; He made us to think for ourselves.

[Wondergirl]

To show us that we have a free will. God didn't make us to be puppets; He made us to think for ourselves.

Adam and Eve didn't know they had free will?

[this8384]

Yes, they did know. God specifically told them not to eat from that tree; they chose to do it. That's free will. God could have stopped them, but that defeats the whole purpose of free will.

[Wondergirl]

Yes, they did know. God specifically told them not to eat from that tree; they chose to do it. That's free will. God could have stopped them, but that defeats the whole purpose of free will.

I'm wondering why God put the tree there in the first place. It's like a mom setting a plate of freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies on the table, telling her children not to eat any, then going away to a different part of the house.

Adam and Eve had free will and apparently knew that. Why would God play devil's advocate and put temptation right in front of them?

[cozyk]

Okay, here goes.

1. Man and Woman are created.;)
2. Woman chose to disobey God and thus committed the first sin.:eek:
3. Because of her, the rest of us have to pay.
4. Animals had to be sacrificed in the OT to earn acceptance from God.
5. In the NT, Jesus was sacrificed for our sins. (Hey, I wasn't even born yet! ) The deal was, if you believe that Jesus died for your sake as a way to pay for your sins, THEN I (GOD) will accept you into my kingdom.:cool:

Why torture Jesus that way? Looks like a source as powerful as God could come up with a better plan wouldn't you think? As a parent, you don't punish child A when child B disobeyed do you. That would just be all kinds of wrong:mad:

My love for my children is unconditional and I would never ever turn them away. And I especially would never send them somewhere to be tortured! (Hell) NEVER, no matter what. They could have disobeyed me, not accepted my sacrifice made for them, or even cursed me.
Still, I'd never turn my back on them. In MY opinion, neither would God. This story just does not add up.

this 8384, let me put it this way,

1. I personally don't believe that just two people came together to populate the world. You do realize incest was necessary to get this ball rolling, right? I know most christians would never question what the bible says , so I'm going along with this story for the sake of argument. Evolution makes more sense to me.

2. Still, just playing along.

3. :rolleyes: okay... sure

4. I don't really worship God as much as I "honor" God. I don't feel that rituals of any Kind, from touching a goats head to hanging a man on a cross is what a true God is looking for. To require "worship" from his people is to insinuate that God has an ego that needs to be fed. To honor God is to say, I'll live a life that will please God by helping, caring, sharing, and loving each other.

5. Maybe, maybe not. I wasn't there and I don't know anyone that was. I hope he didn't have to go through all that suffering because my behavior in my life is not based on that event. I would strive to be a good steward of God no matter what. There appears to be evidence that Jesus lived. If all those stories of his acts of kindness are true, then I believe God sent him to us to show us how it is done. How to live a way that is true and pure.

My last paragraph is just showing how preposterous this scenario really is.
It's a father allowing his son to be tortured and killed to provide a way for his other kids not to burn in hell for eternity since they were born of sin through no fault of their own.

And to create another hurdle, these sinful people will have to admit that they are sinners and that I did send my son to suffer a horrible death because of them. Oh, and one more thing. I gave you free will so don't screw it up. Of course, since I AM God, I could have just kept that gift of free will to myself and we could have just avoided this whole mess.

Being God and all, looks like I would have seen this coming. Darn... Hindsight IS 20/20. Yeah Sounds like a vicious circle of bad planning to me if I were the creator of all people.

"Free will", is the christians way of saying... hey, it's not God's fault you are in the predicament you are in. He did you a FAVOR when he gave you free will. It's a GIFT. Yeah, that's it! :rolleyes:Yeah, the gift that keeps on giving.

[DoulaLC]

You didn't cite any works. How can I check them out? Please state what these recent studies are.

To your last sentence: NO study has found ANY connection!

Here are a few that show studies have been done since the 1990's... enough interest has been shown on the topic that many studies have been done and, while some have found them to be conclusive, others have not and feel further study should be done. This is just a small sampling from the US alone:


Can Prayer Heal?


Howstuffworks


Researchers Look at Prayer and Healing


Praying for the sick – can science prove it helps?

[this8384]

this 8384, let me put it this way,

1. I personally don't believe that just two people came together to populate the world. You do realize incest was necessary to get this ball rolling, right? I know most christians would never question what the bible says , so I'm going along with this story for the sake of argument. Evolution makes more sense to me.

2. Still, just playing along.

3. :rolleyes: okay...sure

4. I don't really worship God as much as I "honor" God. I don't feel that rituals of any Kind, from touching a goats head to hanging a man on a cross is what a true God is looking for. To require "worship" from his people is to insinuate that God has an ego that needs to be fed. To honor God is to say, I'll live a life that will please God by helping, caring, sharing, and loving each other.

5. Maybe, maybe not. I wasn't there and I don't know anyone that was. I hope he didn't have to go through all that suffering because my behavior in my life is not based on that event. I would strive to be a good steward of God no matter what. There appears to be evidence that Jesus lived. If all those stories of his acts of kindness are true, then I believe God sent him to us to show us how it is done. How to live a way that is true and pure.

My last paragraph is just showing how preposterous this scenario really is.
It's a father allowing his son to be tortured and killed to provide a way for his other kids not to burn in hell for eternity since they were born of sin through no fault of their own.

And to create another hurdle, these sinful people will have to admit that they are sinners and that I did send my son to suffer a horrible death because of them. Oh, and one more thing. I gave you free will so don't screw it up. Of course, since I AM God, I could have just kept that gift of free will to myself and we could have just avoided this whole mess.

Being God and all, looks like I would have seen this coming. Darn...Hindsight IS 20/20. yeag Sounds like a vicious circle of bad planning to me if I were the creator of all people.

"Free will", is the christians way of saying...hey, it's not God's fault you are in the predicament you are in. He did you a FAVOR when he gave you free will. It's a GIFT. Yeah, that's it! :rolleyes:Yeah, the gift that keeps on giving.

1. Actually, Adam & Eve didn't have children until after they had sinned. Maybe they were meant to be the only ones, who knows?

2. Going along...

3. Not sure what you mean by that comment.

4. Worshipping God is honoring Him. If He is so powerful that He created everything, why shouldn't he be praised?

5. That's good that you try to be the best person you can. Unfortunately, not everyone does and that lands us into the world we live in now. People are selfish and evil. They don't care who they hurt or destroy, as long as they get what they want.

Christ didn't die for us simply because we were born into sin; Christ died because we all sin on a daily basis. Even my pastor sins, and he admits it in front of the entire congregation. The importance is acknowledging that you screwed up and trying to not repeat the same mistake(s).

Yes, free will IS exactly that. For example, let's say an attractive woman works with your husband. For him to have an affair with her would be his free will decision; would you believe him if he said, "Well, that's not really my fault. The temptation was put there by God, so too bad for you and our marriage"? I'm going to be presumptuous and say no.

[Akoue]

Adam and Eve didn't know they had free will?

Interestingly, according to one old Jewish traditon, they didn't. It was the serpent who disclosed this to them. Prior to that, they were so thoroughly in harmony with God that they were unaware of possessing a will separate from his.

[Wondergirl]

Interestingly, according to one old Jewish traditon, they didn't. It was the serpent who disclosed this to them. Prior to that, they were so thoroughly in harmony with God that they were unaware of possessing a will separate from his.

So why did God plunk those delicious-smelling, warm and fresh chocolate chip cookies in front of them? He's omniscent. He knew what would happen. He knew they would grab a cookie and eat it. He knew they would sin. He knew they would need a Savior. Why start the ball rolling with the plate of cookies?