The argument is often advanced that since Jesus performed miraculous cures, and the apostles in the Early Church healed the sick, by miracle-working power, Christians today should be able to do the same. Our attention is called to a statement made by Jesus to the effect that his disciples would be able to accomplish the same mighty works, and even “greater works.”—John 14:12

It is true that Jesus healed the sick by miracle-working power. It is also true that he assured his disciples that they would be able to do even greater works than they had seen him accomplish. But it is also true that Jesus raised the dead. Lazarus, for example, had been dead for four days and his body had begun to decay; yet Jesus restored him to life. The Apostle Peter, by invoking divine power, raised Dorcas to life. If Christians today are to practice divine healing because Jesus and the apostles did, then it should be possible, by faith, to raise the dead.

No matter how successful faith healers of today may claim to be, they must admit some failures; yet Jesus never failed. And even the most enthusiastic must also agree that they are utterly unable to restore the dead to life. Thus we are presented with inescapable facts which must be given consideration in the appraisal of the modern practice of healing the sick in the name of Christ.

First, we should remember that others are doing the same thing apart from all claims of being Christian, and have been doing so for centuries. Second, there are many failures in the attempts that are being made by faith healers today to restore the sick to health; and third, they cannot raise the dead as Jesus did; hence their claims of following his example come far short of actually doing so, thus raising a question as to whether they are really acting by his authority.