How about this for an experiment for if God exists...?

Question

Choose 1000s of people in hospitals all over the world and match them for age, illness, SES, etc. Give half of the names to religious people all over the world and have them pray for these people. Do not let the people in the hospital or their docs or nurses know which list they are on (being prayed for or not being prayed for). See if those being prayed for improve at a higher rate. Surly God would not choose not to help the sick in order to stay hidden...

Has it been done?

And if it's been done under these scientific conditions...please give reference.

Answer 1

It has.

http://nccam.nih.gov/news/newsletter/2005_winter/prayer.htm

National Institute of Health conducted a study on the power of prayer and found those that utilized prayer, or were prayed FOR felt since of peace, calm and better outcome in their illnesses.

Answer 2

Interesting idea, but there are a few flaws. Firstly, wouldn't it matter WHICH religion that the people on the "prayed for" list? Next, of this had any effect, wouldn't it matter which religion prayed for which religious people? For instance, if you got a high ranking roman catholic priest to pray for a reformed muslim man who healed faster than expected, which religion could this be attributed to? What if the patients themselves pray? God (if it exists) may not neccesarily follow suit. I don't think that it has been done, fix some of those problems, maybe do some philosophical research (if you haven't already) and try to get funding to do it yourself. See what the results are. Even though the existence of God will ALWAYS be debated, maybe you could aid in further exploration of the possibilty/impossibility of a higher, supernatural entity. It's a very original idea, with very few problems.

Answer 3

It has. And guess what - no change whatsoever.

"A new scientific study shows that prayer didn't seem to help patients who underwent bypass surgery. In fact, some of the people who were prayed for did worse. The results of the study of more than 1,800 patients were published in the American Heart Journal. From Reuters:

The patients in the study at six U.S. hospitals included 604 who were actually prayed for after being told they might or might not be; another 597 patients who were not prayed for after being told they might or might not be; and a group of 601 who were prayed for and told they would be the subject of such prayer.

The praying was done by members of three Christian groups in monasteries and elsewhere -- two Catholic and one Protestant -- who were given written prayers and the first name and initial of the last name of the prayer subjects. The prayers started on the eve of or day of surgery and lasted for two weeks.

Among the first group -- who were prayed for but only told they might be -- 52 percent had post-surgical complications compared to 51 percent in the second group, the ones who were not prayed for though told they might be. In the third group, who knew they were being prayed for, 59 percent had complications.

After 30 days, however, the death rates and incidence of major complications was about the same across all three groups, said the study..."

Answer 4

well, let's see... there's this wonderful world of medicine that helps people recover. it's not some unknown force. what are you going to suggest next? that you ditch the medicine and to hell with the doctors too? hmm...seems like if you did that, you'd be risking human lives. and how are you going to keep track of who's praying anyhow? if a satanist is stuck in a hospital, does that necessarily mean that someone isn't praying for them? perhaps they have a roman-catholic friend that is. you can't even begin to start this experiment. it's implausible.

Answer 5

Good thought ,but it wont work. In order for the person to be healed there has to be faith and prayer from the patient as well. Why would God choose to heal someone that doesn't serve him.What does God get in return for the healing? God wants people in this world to serve him, thats the ultimate purpose in life.Our purpose in life is to serve our God.

Answer 6

Yes, it has been done, and is not proof that God does or does not exist. Sorry.
Study: Praying Won't Affect Heart Patients
By Malcolm Ritter, AP Science Writer – Associated Press (posted March 30, 2006 10:01PST)

New York- In the largest study of its kind, researchers found that having people pray for heart bypass surgery patients had no effect on their recovery. In fact, patients who knew they were being prayed for had a slightly higher rate of complications.

Researchers emphasized that their work can't address whether God exists or answers prayers made on another's behalf. The study can only look for an effect from prayers offered as part of the research, they said. They also said they had no explanation for the higher complication rate in patients who knew they were being prayed for, in comparison to patients who only knew it was possible prayers were being said for them. Critics said the question of God's reaction to prayers simply can't be explored by scientific study.

The work, which followed about 1,800 patients at six medical centers, was financed by the Templeton Foundation, which supports research into science and religion. It will appear in the American Heart Journal. Dr. Herbert Benson of Harvard Medical School and other scientists tested the effect of having three Christian groups pray for particular patients, starting the night before surgery and continuing for two weeks. The volunteers prayed for "a successful surgery with a quick, healthy recovery and no complications" for specific patients, for whom they were given the first name and first initial of the last name.

The patients, meanwhile, were split into three groups of about 600 apiece: those who knew they were being prayed for, those who were prayed for but only knew it was a possibility, and those who weren't prayed for but were told it was a possibility. The researchers didn't ask patients or their families and friends to alter any plans they had for prayer, saying such a step would have been unethical and impractical.

The study looked for any complications within 30 days of the surgery. Results showed no effect of prayer on complication-free recovery. But 59 percent of the patients who knew they were being prayed for developed a complication, versus 52 percent of those who were told it was just a possibility.

Dr. Harold G. Koenig, director of the Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health at the Duke University Medical Center, who didn't take part in the study, said the results didn't surprise him. "There are no scientific grounds to expect a result and there are no real theological grounds to expect a result either," he said. "There is no god in either the Christian, Jewish or Moslem scriptures that can be constrained to the point that they can be predicted." Within the Christian tradition, God would be expected to be concerned with a person's eternal salvation, he said, and "why would God change his plans for a particular person just because they're in a research study?" Science, he said, "is not designed to study the supernatural."

Answer 7

This experiment has already been conducted and the result was that the people who were prayed for did not get any better than those who were not prayed for.

A Christian excuse for this failure by God is that it's not God's responsibility to prove himself to us and we are wrong for trying to test Him.

Answer 8

Creation occurs when energy bits called
"quarks" explode, and interface with invisible
forces we know as Laws Of Physics.
Time & space are merely by-products of this
reaction.

The Force is not the energy, or a form of
energy.
The energy is not The Force.

Put effort into your life, and God's blessings
will find you.

Answer 9

That caricature replaced into relaxing - thank you. i admire physics and this bit relating to the quantum international replaced into relaxing, nonetheless this is previous stuff. the way the caricature shown it replaced into intense-high quality. It incredibly is wise to me. It must be my fuzzy good judgment. The test itself is a factor of the concern, of our assumptions. right here they set out and show the two diverse varieties of waves and debris. Then they got down to degree with a gadget what occurs and this seems to offer a marvel. what's then no longer a threat to degree is how the gadget, which is likewise composed of quantum count, interacts with different such count. in line with hazard if shall we glance down on the test from a various attitude - a working laptop or computing gadget simulation into which somebody had programmed the entire certainty rules (which we for sure lack in any different case it does no longer be a puzzle to us), it could be a threat to truly see how the gadget for measuring this in its very own self motives interference. we've been instructed that no count how a lot we glance there'll consistently come a factor previous which issues will never be solved. in line with hazard this is in simple terms too a lot to assume that beings who stay in this universe must be waiting to make your techniques up how all issues artwork. yet we can provide it our ultimate shot. Does it tutor God exist, you ask? no extra beneficial than different issues around us. theory or disbelief has little to do with evidence, yet seems to be a heart situation. some human beings will cut back of their head incredibly than have faith in a god. theory in a god to three is so obnoxious that they are going to do something to circumvent it. we are instructed that Jesus resurrected human beings, Lazarus and others. This replaced into publicly widely used to all Israel then. nevertheless, the leaders, religious and political desperate to kill him incredibly than bow all the way down to the data and obey him as they should have. The leaders have been nervous of loosing their possessions, THEIR united states as they suggested it. They have been prepared to do something to circumvent it.

Answer 10

sure has been done

"Intercessory prayer itself had no effect on complication-free recovery from CABG, but certainty of receiving intercessory prayer was associated with a higher incidence of complications."

that is, if you love someone, DON'T pray for them!