Laying on of hands



The laying on of hands is a religious ritual that accompanies certain religious practices, which are found throughout the world in varying forms.

In Christian churches, this practice is used as both a symbolic and formal method of invoking the Holy Spirit primarily during baptisms and confirmations, healing services, blessings, and ordination of priests, ministers, elders, deacons, and other church officers, along with a variety of other church sacraments and holy ceremonies.

Jewish tradition
The laying on of hands was an action referred to on numerous occasions in the Tanakh to accompany the conferring of a blessing or authority. For example, Isaac blessed his son Jacob by laying on of hands.

Aaron and the High Priests who succeeded him symbolically transferred the sins of the Children of Israel to a sacrificial goat by the laying on of hands: Leviticus. Moses ordained Joshua through semikhah - i.e. by the laying on of hands:,. The Bible adds that Joshua was thereby "filled with the spirit of wisdom". Moses also ordained the 70 elders. The elders later ordained their successors in this way. Their successors in turn ordained others. This chain of hands-on semikhah continued through the time of the Second Temple, to an undetermined time. The exact date that the original semikhah succession ended is not certain. Many medieval authorities believed that this occurred during the reign of Hillel II, circa AD 360. However, it seems to have continued at least until AD 425 when Theodosius II executed Gamaliel VI and suppressed the Patriarchate and Sanhedrin.

Christian traditions
In the New Testament the laying on of hands was associated with the receiving of the Holy Spirit (See Acts ). Initially the Apostles laid hands on new believers as well as believers. (See ). In the early church, the practice continued and is still used in a wide variety of church ceremonies, such as during confirmation.

The New Testament also associates the laying on of hands with the conferral of authority or designation of a person to a position of responsibility. (See Acts, Acts ; and . Also possibly Acts , where "ordained"--Greek: χειροτονήσαντες--may be translated "extended the hand.") The use of the laying on of hands for the ordination of church officers has continued in many branches of Christianity.

State use
The laying on of hands, known as the royal touch, was performed by kings in England and France, and was believed to cure scrofula (also called "King's Evil" at the time), a name given to a number of skin diseases. The rite of the king's touch began in France with Robert II the Pious, but legend later attributed the practice to Clovis as Merovingian founder of the Holy Roman kingdom, and Edward the Confessor in England. The belief continued to be common throughout the Middle Ages but began to die out with the Enlightenment. Queen Anne was the last British monarch to claim to possess this divine ability, though the Jacobite pretenders also claimed to do so. The French monarchy maintained the practice up until the 19th century. The act was usually performed at large ceremonies, often at Easter or other holy days.

Criticism
It has been touted as a cure for life-threatening conditions including brain damage, venereal diseases, diabetes and cancer, and there have been sharp criticisms from the scientific and medical communities towards the practice (as is the case with virtually every form of faith healing). One is that it has led to many casualties that might have been avoided or delayed with scientifically proven methods. Another is that the "energy field" created by the "vital energy" sent by the practitioners (i.e. the Japanese ki, the Chinese chi, the Indian prana, or a form of animal magnetism) cannot be detected by any scientific instruments, placing it in the realm of religious belief. Upon failure of the treatment, practitioners tend to use excuses such as that the patient was a non-believer, didn’t have enough belief or faith in the practice or practitioner, including other explanations that shield the practitioner at the cost of the patient. Claimed cures with the imposition of hands are often dismissed by the scientific community either as a placebo effect or as a spontaneous remission.

For a broader view on the criticisms that apply to the practice, see also:
 * Criticism section on Miracles
 * Criticism section on Faith healing