Health
In the fifteenth century James Baynham, a reputable citizen of London, when chained to the stake, embraced the fagots, and said: "O ye papists, behold! ye look for miracles; here now you see a miracle; for in this fire I feel no more pain than if I were in bed; for it is sweet to me as a bed of roses."--Blanchard's Book of Martyrs, p. 207.
Thomas Tompkins had his hand burnt over a wax candle of three or four wicks; but he declared to one James Hinse, "that his spirit was so rapt that he felt no pain! In which burning he never shrank till the sinews burst and the water spirted into Mr. Harpsfield's face."--Id. p.
Mrs. Jones, an eminently pious woman, was instantly healed. Mr. Wesley says:
"She had various physicians, but still grew worse and worse; till, perceiving herself to be no better, she left them off. She had a continual pain in her groin, with such a prolapsus uteri, as soon confined her to her bed. There she lay two months helpless and hopeless; till a thought came one day into her mind, 'Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me whole! Be it according to thy will!' Immediately the pain and the distress ceased. Feeling herself well, she rose and
dressed herself. Her husband coming in and seeing her in tears, asked, 'Are those tears of serious joy?' She said, 'Of joy!' on which they wept together. From that hour she felt no pain, but enjoyed perfect health. I think our Lord never wrought a plainer miracle, even in the days of his flesh."--Wesley's Journal Vol. IV, p. 748.
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Martin Luther, the great reformer, says:
"A woman at Isenack, lying very sick, had endured horrible paroxysms, which no physician was able to cure; for her indisposition was directly the work of the Devil, and an unnatural thing, occasioned by devilish frightenings, insomuch that she fell into a faint swooning, and thereupon had four paroxysms, each enduring the space of three or four hours; her hands and feet bended in the manner of a horn. She was chill and cold, her tongue rough and dry; her body, by reason of the disease, was much swelled; she, seeing Luther, who came to visit her, was much rejoiced thereat, raised herself up and said, 'Ah! my loving father in Christ, I have a heavy burden upon me. Pray to God for me; and so she fell down into her bed again--whereupon Luther fetched a deep sigh, and said, 'God, rebuke and command thee Satan, that thou suffer this his creature to be in peace!' Then turning himself to the standers-by, he said, 'She is plagued of the Devil in the body, but the soul is safe and shall be preserved. Therefore let us give thanks to God and pray for her.' And so they all repeated aloud the Lord's prayer. After which Luther concluded with these words, 'Lord God, heavenly Father, who hast commanded us to pray for the sick, we beseech thee through thy only beloved Son, that thou wouldst deliver this thy servant from her sickness, and from the hands of the Devil. Spare, O Lord, her soul, which together with her body thou hast purchased and redeemed from the power of sin, of death, and of the Devil.' Whereupon the sick woman said, Amen. The night following she took good rest, and the next day was graciously delivered from her disease and sickness."--Table Talk, p. 359.
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The following extract shows at least that a bishop of the Church of England believed in miracles in his time, and also that such faith was general in his day--the seventeenth century:
"A poor woman of the parish had a sadly afflicted son. When about a year old, having previously had his health very well, and all his teeth, 'he was,' his mother tells us, 'taken with fits, both inward and outward, which were so violent that he lost the use of his legs,' and his teeth fell out. He crawled on his back for five years. At the age of six he was baptized by Ken. 'About a week and odd days after, sitting at the door in his chair, one of his playmates called him Tattie. The child (which never spoke before) answered, 'My name is not Tattie--my name is Matthew; Dr. Ken has baptized me.' About a fortnight after, sitting at the door in a chair, he started up and went among his play fellows without being bid, and without leading; and that very day month following his baptism, he went in my hand to the church in which he was baptized (which is near a quarter of a mile from my then dwelling), and answered several questions of the church catechism. The mother's letter signed, Sarah Cante, is among the Baker MSS. in the British Museum Library. The cure seems to have been permanent as well as speedy. It is not more remarkable than many recorded in medical history, but it doubtless produced a great effect among a hundred population, in an age of little information. Dr. Ken himself was among the credulous. He is said to have spoken of the occurrence thirteen years after as 'a great miracle.' The remark was in accordance with the spirit of the age. Almost every leading man of the day would have expressed the same opinion, and could be proved to have done so in many a similar case."--Life of Bishop Ken (Bishop of Bath and Wells) pp. 49, 50.
A case of curing blindness, as related in Bramwell's Memoir:
"William Greensmith, son of Thomas Greensmith, of Watnal, near Nottingham, when about nine years of age was severely afflicted with a scrofulous humor in his eyes, so that he was unable to bear the light even with bandages upon them. Mr. Bramwell was then in Nottingham circuit, and went in his regular turn to preach in Mr. Greensmith's house. On one of these occasions he remained all night; and previous to his departure the next morning, when his horse was brought to the door, he asked where the boy was who had sore eyes. Mrs. Greensmith replied that he was in a dark room behind the door. He wished him to be called out. He came and stood near Mr. Bramwell, who put his hand on the boy's head, and looked upward as if in ejaculatory prayer. He then went out, leaving the child standing, while the latter, as if conscious of some important change, pulled off his bandages, looked through the window, and asked if Mr. Bramwell was gone. On perceiving that his eyes were
perfectly healed, all the family were completely astonished. He is now about thirty years of age, and has never since had any complaint in his organs of sight."--Memoir, p. 157.
"In returning to Canterbury I called upon Mr. Kingsford, a man of substance as well as piety. He informed me, 'Seven years ago I so entirely lost the use of my ankles and knees, that I could no more stand than a new-born child. . . . . . I could not move from place to place, but on crutches. All the advice I had, profited me nothing. In this state I continued about six years. Last year I went on business to London, then to Bristol and Bath. At Bath I sent for a physician; but before he came, as I sat reading the Bible, I thought, Asa sought to the physicians, and not to God; but God can do more for me than any physician. Soon after I heard a noise in the street; and, rising up, found I could stand. Being much surprised, I walked several times about the room, then I walked into the square, and afterward on the Bristol road: and from that time I have been perfectly well, having as full a use of all my limbs as I had seven years ago.'" Wesley's Journal, Vol. IV, p. 682.
Again Wesley says:
"Many came: among the rest was one William Kirkman, a Weaver, near Old Nichol street. I asked him, 'What complaint have you?' 'O, sir,' said he, 'a cough, a very sore cough. I can get no rest day nor night.' I asked, 'How long have you had it?' He replied, 'About three-score years; it began when I was eleven years old.' I was nothing glad that this man should come first, fearing our not curing him might discourage others. However, I looked up to God, and said, 'Take this three or four times a day. If it does you no good, it will do you no harm.' He took it two or three days. His cough was cured, and has not returned to this day."--Wesley's Journal, Vol. V, p. 187.
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To the following, "Dr. Middleton absolves you from all boasting, in relation to the miracle you worked upon Kirkman," Mr. Wesley replies, "Dr. Middleton does me too much honor, in taking notice of so inconsiderable a person. But miracle or no miracle, the fact is plain: William Kirkman is, I apprehend, yet alive and able to certify for himself, that he had that cough three-score years, and that since that time it has not returned."--Id. p. 363.
Speaking of this in another place he says: "Now let the candid man judge, does humility require me to deny a notorious fact? If not, which is vanity? to say I by my own skill have restored this man to health, or to say God did it by his own almighty power?"
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