Prayer, randomized controlled trials and distance healing: A response to Dr. Jana.

Sir,

We thank Dr Jana for the interest shown[1] in our paper,[2] the principal purpose of which was not to examine the efficacy of prayer but to determine whether the healing power of prayer can be scientifically studied through randomized controlled trials. We provided scientific and philosophical arguments that suggest an inescapable conclusion: prayer as a means of “distance healing” does not lend itself to scientific enquiry. Under these circumstances, it would be premature to speculate on the metaphysical explanations for the well-known physiological, psychological and medical benefits of prayer. Indeed, in conflict with the suggestion by Dr. Jana, given the first three mechanisms for healing through prayer that we discuss in our paper,[1] there does not seem to be a proven need for “a transcendent God who supernaturally heals” to explain the benefits of prayer.

We have chosen our words carefully and hope that our words will be read with the care with which they were written. We wish to make it clear that we do not argue against the existence of God or the benefits of prayer.