The Lord for the Body: Religion, Medicine, and Protestant Faith Healing in Canada, 1880-1930 (McGill-Queen's Studies in the History of Religion, Series Two)

In the early 1920s, English-Canadians were captivated by the urban campaigns of faith healing evangelists. Crowds squeezed into local arenas to witness the "slain in the spirit" casting away braces and crutches. Professional faith healers, denounced by critics as promoting mass hypnotism, gained notoriety and followers in their call for people to choose "the Lord for the Body." James Opp explores the cultural practice of Protestant faith healing in Canada, from its Victorian roots as an informal network of women sharing testimonies to its culmination in the organized professional campaigns of the twentieth century. Framing the phenomenon of divine healing as a history of the body, Opp provides a unique window onto the intersection of religion and medicine.