Many have assumed that faith healing is something the patient and healer both want to try because of their devout faith in the healing power of God. In the late '80s, however, James Randi investigated the methods of popular American faith healers, and came to believe that they were deliberately defrauding the sick.
As detailed in an article published in the Journal of Religion and Health, Randi became invested in revealing the truth about faith healers after witnessing "Philippine psychic surgeons" using simple sleight of hand to scam the sick. As he investigated American faith healers, he found that they used the same methods of deception. Randi described this as "doing a magic act disguised as religious miracles."
Along with Peter Popoff's earpiece, Randi discovered many examples of intentional deception on the part of popular faith healers. Some were as simple as having an assistant provide information secretly with hand signals, while others as insidious as offering wheelchairs to any audience members that were able to walk with a cane before the show began, so the healer could appear to cure their condition by simply having them stand up from their chair.
