Religious healing in 19th century ‘new religions’: The cases of Tenrikyo and christian science

Abstract

Religious healing has played a major role in the origin and growth of new indigenous religious movements in both Japan and America. The plethora of new religious movements can be traced in both instances to the 19th century. Japan's Tenrikyo movement and America's Christian Science movement provide two fascinating case studies of the experience of religious healing in recent times. Both have grown into international religious movements claiming millions of adherents. Both have spawned a number of branch movements which follow essentially the same practices as the parent groups, but which have splintered off for political or doctrinal reasons. Both are very evident in the political and economic fabrics of their respective societies. Most important for the purposes of this paper, both began with remarkable healing experiences, and continue to treat healing at the heart of their theologies. This paper will compare these religions on a number of counts, concluding with some observations more applicable to religious healing in general. These healing religions lend themselves to ready comparison along the lines of their respective social histories, theologies and healing techniques. By a comparison of their differences of style and content, we may also suggest some preliminary conclusions about the nature of religious healing and its connection to religious doctrine.