Which has increased human lifespan more... praying to god, or science and medicine?

Question

Forgive the rhetorical question friends. I just want to witness the ensuing spectacle of illogic.

Thanks folks for not disappointing! :-)

Answer 1

Rhetorical indeed! Your question answers itself in its asking. What was the point of prayer during the plague, the "Black Death", the days of bloodletting as a cure based upon ignorance? Obviously, modern medicine has quite the more enviable record of cures than does prayer, yet the faithful will attribute the same to god's intervention! However obvious the truth, those who are theists will always persist in their beliefs in miracles as the sole province of their deity! If your purpose is to suggest that intelligence prevails over mediocrity, there will ever be those to refute your premise!

Answer 2

Interesting question.
"Increased human life span"...hmmm...are we including qualilty of life in our question?
Are we allowing for the many, many, many, many medical professionals who tell their patients that they do the treating, but only God heals?
Are we realizing that, as yet, anyway, science has not figured out how to give anyone immortality?
Are we sure we would want that?
I do know of a very prominent heart surgeon who, on the night before he was to do a very delicate open heart surgery on a tiny six month old baby, went to visit and pray with two very anxious grandmothers staying at the Ronald McDonald house. The next day, the baby was wheeled into the operating room, where he worked on her tiny body for nearly six hours.
After it was all over, he went, personally, into the operating waiting room to assure the family that the baby had lived through the surgery and was doing well, and that he had good feelings about her recovery. Again, he prayed with the family.
That baby is about to celebrate her eighth birthday. That is not to say there have not been some problems, but, in the beginning, she was not expected to see even her first birthday.
How do I know this story is true?
Because I am Katlynn's grandmother.

Answer 3

Your question is stupid in that God has limited the natural
lifespan of man to be a certain age.

All science has done is what? An attempt to increase the lifespan of the sick and infirm to live longer than they would normally but not longer than the days that God has allotted.

Answer 4

Hmm...Tough one.

It might just be praying to God.

Well, science has shown that most of the damage done to the human body is caused by stress, and Praying, otherwise known as the poor mans Prozac, is good at relieving stress, as it just might be edging out science and medicine. However, drinking and sex is far more effective.

Hail Eris! All Hail Discordia!

Answer 5

Why would he be mad at his own creation. God made man who worked hard to improve the quality of life for all humankind. If a doctor finds a drug that can extend life by another 100 years, meaning little illness, anti-aging cream, whatever, then why can't we see that great accomplishment as a bi-product of God's divine plan. We are made in his image and he did say we should honor him. How is extending our life to further worship him for longer periods of time upset Him?

Answer 6

Well since 76% of doctors today are believers, and 66% of scientists are believers, I would not leave out prayer in its ability to open the mind to medical discovery. Of certain, the atheist mind is not a necessity and any attempt to say so, should be proven with the scientific method. I dare say such a hypothesis will be found invalid.

Answer 7

Nothing fails like prayer.

http://atheism.about.com/b/a/186360.htm

"...compared to no prayer or MIT therapy, prayer alone or prayer plus MIT did not affect whether patients had a 'major cardiovascular event' while in the hospital or had to be readmitted to the hospital or died during the six months following the procedure."

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http://whywontgodhealamputees.com/god9.htm

"Here is what Jesus said in Mark 11:24:

" 'Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.'

"That is clear and simple. But it is completely wrong. Why, then, did Jesus say it? Why would Jesus lie to us?"

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http://whywontgodhealamputees.com/god5.htm

"A simple experiment

"For this experiment, we need to find a deserving person who has had both of his legs amputated. For example, find a sincere, devout veteran of the Iraqi war, or a person who was involved in a tragic automobile accident.

"Now create a prayer circle like the one created for Jeanna Giese. The job of this prayer circle is simple: pray to God to restore the amputated legs of this deserving person. I do not mean to pray for a team of renowned surgeons to somehow graft the legs of a cadaver onto the soldier, nor for a team of renowned scientists to craft mechanical legs for him. Pray that God spontaneously and miraculously restores the soldier's legs overnight, in the same way that God spontaneously and miraculously cured Jeanna Giese and Marilyn Hickey's mother.

"If possible, get millions of people all over the planet to join the prayer circle and pray their most fervent prayers. Get millions of people praying in unison for a single miracle for this one deserving amputee. Then stand back and watch.

"What is going to happen? Jesus clearly says that if you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer. He does not say it once -- he says it many times in many ways in the Bible.

"And yet, even with millions of people praying, nothing will happen.

"No matter how many people pray. No matter how sincere those people are. No matter how much they believe. No matter how devout and deserving the recipient. Nothing will happen. The legs will not regenerate. Prayer does not restore the severed limbs of amputees. You can electronically search through all the medical journals ever written -- there is no documented case of an amputated leg being restored spontaneously. And we know that God ignores the prayers of amputees through our own observations of the world around us. If God were answering the prayers of amputees to regenerate their lost limbs, we would be seeing amputated legs growing back every day."

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http://whywontgodhealamputees.com/god6.htm

"Yes, there are people who do pray and live, and their stories sound convincing. But the only reason that they sound convincing is because the millions of people who pray and die never get to tell their stories."

"If prayer worked as promised by Mark 11:24 and James 5:15, people would not need doctors."

"If prayer did work, then both your hospital and your insurance company would have a Department of Prayer, and they would have employees praying feverishly day and night. Hospitals and insurance companies want to save lives and save money just as badly as you do. If prayer worked, corporations would be using it every day without hesitation."

Answer 8

Chuck Norris

Answer 9

Richard Simmons: Sweatin to the Oldies

Answer 10

Actually, many studies have been done in the past years that show an increase in longevity in those who rely on prayer more than on medicine. I am a Psychology student and a Chrisitan and have witnessed it with my own eyes as well. Prayer increases a person's mental state, thereby increasing their body's immune system response and thus increasing longevity.