As Jesus is the cornerstone upon which the Church is built, so are his teachings the unifying cornerstone of Christian doctrine.

Proxy anointing

A proxy anointing is where one person is anointed for the healing of another. It is not in the Bible, though prayers for the sick are. Jesus once healed a centurion’s servant from afar (Matthew 5:8-13), but he did not anoint the officer. The idea may come from the Mormon ritual of baptism for the dead and is found among some Pentecostal churches. One mainstream church bans it and a Catholic priest believed that it made a mockery of anointing the sick. Jesus went to the sick (Luke 13:10-17). James instructed the sick to call for the elders, NOT send a proxy (James 5:13-16) and if the elder cannot come, we have the example of Paul sending forth cloths to the sick (Acts 19:11-12). Religious novelties are risky, but biblical guidelines are always a safe haven.

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