Inner Healing

Definition and Meaning

Inner healing refers to the healing of wounds within the heart, as distinguished from divine healing, which concerns the healing of bodily illness. The Korean term is a translation of the English "inner healing." The practice addresses emotional wounds, such as childhood abuse, feelings of rejection, a sense of inferiority, and unresolved anger, that hinder a person's life of faith and relationships with others. These wounds are addressed through prayer, repentance, forgiveness, and counseling. A method in which a person recalls past memories while meditating on Jesus Christ as present in those moments is sometimes distinguished as "the healing of memories."

Biblical and Historical Background

Practitioners of inner healing cite the following passages as evidence that God heals even the human heart:

• "He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds" (Psalm 147:3)
• The prophecy that the Messiah would come "to bind up the brokenhearted" (Isaiah 61:1)

On the basis of these passages, they emphasize a holistic restoration that encompasses not only the soul but also the emotions and memories.

The modern form of inner healing emerged in the United States in the mid-twentieth century. It is generally understood to have originated in the healing ministries of figures such as the Episcopalian Agnes Sanford. It later spread widely through the charismatic movement and the Vineyard movement. Writers who combined psychological insight with pastoral counseling, such as the Methodist minister David Seamands, were also influential.

Practice in the Korean Church

In Korea, inner healing spread from the 1980s and 1990s onward through the following channels:

• Books on inner healing were translated and introduced to Korean readers.
• Churches and prayer retreat centers held inner healing seminars, healing retreats, and counseling ministries.

The format of these ministries is generally similar. Participants confess their wounds, forgive those who have hurt them, and receive prayer from ministers. Small-group sharing is also part of the process.

Assessments of the practice vary by denomination and theological orientation.

• Pentecostal and charismatic churches: These have embraced it relatively readily as part of the healing ministry of the Holy Spirit.
• Presbyterian theologians and pastors who emphasize Reformed theology: These have voiced critical views. Their chief criticisms are that a psychological view of humanity centered on the unconscious and on emotional wounds diminishes the seriousness of sin and repentance, and that prayer which reconstructs memories through the imagination has little biblical basis. Some of them propose biblical counseling as an alternative.
• Forms combined with generational curse theology or deliverance (the ministry of casting out demons): These have been viewed with caution by many denominations.

Supporters of inner healing, by contrast, respond that inner healing ultimately aids sanctification through forgiveness and repentance, and that caring for wounded church members is a pastoral responsibility.

In theological seminaries and counseling institutions, discussion of the methods and limitations of inner healing continues within the academic field of Christian counseling.