.... there are countless records of individuals going through extreme experiences where survival was marginal, who say that it was their faith or their vision of the future that sustained them. One Indian Army officer who was a prisoner of war of the Japanese attributed his survival to having his fortune told in the 1930s by an Indian in a bazaar. The fortune-teller said that he would die when he was 80. He did in fact die 6 weeks before his 80th birthday, some 50 years after the surrender of the Japanese.

From these two examples we might conclude that it is not the believer's deity that saves them, but their faith. Jesus Christ ascribed his miracles to the belief of those healed: 'He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."'3

This anecdotal evidence is substantiated by the numerous studies which have observed and correlated a link between religiosity and spirituality with:

Longer life spans4
Evolution of a pool of wisdom and experience in the form of grandparents
Rates of survival during the holocaust of faithful against non-faithful
Faster recovery from surgery5; faith-healing is an advantage
Reduced risk of disease

read more at:http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A934283

There are indeed several spiritual philosophies that believe in the "Power of Belief".

In fact, there are whole books written on the subject.

Eastern Mysticism and the Law of Attraction, also suggest that your thoughts and outlook on life will indeed affect (or ever create) your reality.

So this is not an uncommon theme among many spiritual philosophies.

In fact, even purely secular psychologists have recognized the power associated with optimism versus pessimism, and they explain that entirely in secular terms.

people seem to forget that your mind controls everything.... the power of payer is nothing more than a placebo, which is not a bad thing. if people could tap into their minds own powers, everyone would live longer and better

There is absolutely a link between our psychologal state of mind and our health, longevity, and even how much pain and suffering we can take. Therefore religious beliefs can indeed be correlated in such studies.

While there is more than one thing that such studies tend to leave out, one of the greatest variables that cannot be controlled are the inherent (genetic) factors that make humans cling to life.

After all, the whole idea behind evolution is that the most useful and important genetic conditions should be passed on. What is more important to survival than the necessity of humans to CLING to life and to do whatever it takes to survive?

I wonder how many people in those studies who think that some other worldly power intervened in a life or death situation were asked "did you want to live?" & "what do you think you had to live for?"

Just curious

I imagine the answers would be varied. The similarity being that there was some PRECONCEIVED FUTURE that they clung to as motivation to get through that situation. Whether it was spiritual or worldly.

Why do placebos work?

The person believes he or she was given something that would alleviate their ailment.

Simple enough..

Doesn't this belong in "Science and philosophy"

There are HUGE advantages to faith. Where do I begin?

This is a great question, and one that unbelievers will look at with disdain. But, in a nutshell, I would say that one of the the main advantages of faith is that you live your life with purpose. You have a reason for being, existing, and living. You're not here by chance, but rather are meant to be here, NOW.

In short, we're here to glorify God and complete the work He gives us to do.

"In short, we're here to glorify God and complete the work He gives us to do"

i find that very interesting shiki. i just take that one step further and think that everyone is glorifying, each in his or her own way. even if we as laymen see good in some and evil in others, both are glorifying to Him

But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, "Why have you made me like this?" Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?

(sorry, this is just MY humble opinion and do not wish to persuade anyone else to believe as i do)

I will step way out on this one and say that faith and belief is the most powerful thing in existence.

A good example is hypnotism. I read of a hypnotist who told (suggested to) a person he hypnotized that he would die on a particular date. That date was several years away. That person died on exactly that date. His heart simply stopped beating.

Can your belief save you from self destruction, change your life? Yes it certainly can. Can it cure disease? Yes it can. That is why we are taught to believe in something. (God, Jesus, ourselves, success, winning, the dollar, etc.)

We live in a mind world, and a thought universe. If you believe there is a pink elephant in the room, you will see one, even if nobody else does.

Yes I really do agree that the beliefs of individuals can influence our health and hense our survival but it is not just religious beliefs that have this effect.

I have understood that concept for most of my life, which was always the reason I preferred to be respectful of the religious beliefs of those around me. But so many religious people are extremely eager to promote religion as the ONLY belief that has the effects the were mentioned in the article.
Like:
Longevity
Faster recovery from surgery
Reduced risk of disease

That's simply not true - but it is one of the things that gets some people through.

This is the foundation. You can't have faith without hope…"faith is the substance of things hoped for"

Really? I have to disagree with that. I do agree that Faith is the substance of things hoped for but not that you can't have faith without hope.

one persons opinion(which I agree with)

http://wjacqueline.wordpress.com/2008/01/25/faith-vs-hope/

That is not quite what faith is to me.

I don't worry when I have faith.

It is not that I have faith that everything will turn out the way I want it to, but that everything will proceed according to the natural laws of the universe.

Some people may call it "God's will" but I call it Law. Sometimes when bad things happen to good people to call that "God's Will" sounds like there is some God going around doing bad things to good people, or passing out judgement. That is not the case.

It is just the law, which is automatic.

The law is what people are talking about when they say

"What goes around, comes around."

"Reap what you sow."

and as Evelyn said in the movie the mummy: (1999)

"You know, nasty little fellows such as yourself always get their comeuppance."


..and he did. He was eaten by millions of bugs.

Jeanniebean, a bit of advice here. If you are going to dispute faith, you should come up with something a bit better than a quote from The Mummy.