Primitives, Rubes, and Superstitious Hicks!
No one wants thought of this way. We all want to be considered at least somewhat enlightened. We’re not some native tribe in the darkest jungle who think evil spirits of the forest come in at night and steal away our energy making us sick or even killing us. We’re hundreds of years of education removed from that sort of mumbo jumbo.
Even the least educated in our society know that germs are microscopic entities which invade our bodies and make us sick. What is required to keep us healthy are scientifically developed vaccines, antibiotics, and many other medications and nutrients to assist our bodies in healing.
And yet… there IS more. Virtually all theologians I know believe that sickness is a part of The Fall in the Garden of Eden. Genesis 3:19. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” How exactly this interplay happens is something we do not fully know. Is it just that the corruption of the earth introduced bad bacteria and viruses and so now we have to contend with them? Or is it possible that there is an interaction between the physical world and the spiritual?
James 5:14-16 suggests that sometimes there is a connection between our spiritual lives and our physical health. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
Does this mean that if we are physically or mentally unwell that there are demons oppressing us? I don’t know. But I think that we are missing half the boat if we merely address the physical side of things when we are not well.