# How did faith healers in ancient days do what they do

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-faith-healers-in-ancient-days-do-what-they-do/668447>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [September 9, 2013, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-faith-healers-in-ancient-days-do-what-they-do/668447 "2013-09-09T22:15:46Z")\
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**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-faith-healers-in-ancient-days-do-what-they-do/668447/15 "2013-09-10T12:32:06Z")

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I refer the Honorable Doper to the answer(s) given in earlier thread(s), e.g.

> [@Resolved: Jesus did not exist](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/resolved-jesus-did-not-exist/566230/177):
>
> … Jesus was an extremely charismatic healer, probably using some method of hypnosis. (Read about [Dr. Albert Abraham Mason’s famous cure of ichthyosis](http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,816892,00.html) for an example of how astounding hypnotic cures can be.) In those days … people were, in general, more easily hypnotized, and psychosomatic illnesses were not uncommon.

Note that not only the cure, but the psychosomatic illness itself, can be caused by forms of hypnosis or self-hypnosis.

(I do note that link quoted above has now become pay-for-view…)

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