Divine intervention? A Cochrane review on intercessory prayer gone beyond science and reason

doi:10.1186/1477-5751-8-7

Journal of Negative Results in BioMedicine

Volume 8

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Hróbjartsson A
Gøtzsche PC

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Commentary

Divine intervention? A Cochrane review on intercessory prayer gone beyond science and reason

Karsten Juhl Jørgensen , Asbjørn Hróbjartsson and Peter C Gøtzsche

The Nordic Cochrane Centre, Rigshospitalet, Dept. 3343, Blegdamsvej 9, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark

author email corresponding author email

Journal of Negative Results in BioMedicine 2009, 8:7doi:10.1186/1477-5751-8-7


Published:	10 June 2009

Abstract

We discuss in this commentary a recent Cochrane review of 10 randomised trials aimed at testing the religious belief that praying to a god can help those who are prayed for. The review concluded that the available studies merit additional research. However, the review presented a scientifically unsound mixture of theological and scientific arguments, and two of the included trials that had a large impact on the findings had problems that were not described in the review. The review fails to live up to the high standards required for Cochrane reviews.