The performance of miracles is something that reinforces the faith of the believer and the skeptisicm of the non-believer! What is without doubt is the miracle establishes the credentials of the pastor. But since the 1950s some pastors have literally been pulling their congregations legs.
The Miracle
The pastor tells a member of his congregation that one of their legs is shorter than the other. The knowledge must have come from the angels because, amazingly, the person with the short leg often doesn’t even know! Sitting the person down and holding out their legs, they do appear to be different lengths. Calling the name of Jesus makes the shorter leg grow…apparently.
The Method
The ‘miracle’ is a well-known parlour trick amongst magicians. Starting with the legs slightly sideways and pulling the shoe slightly off the heel, makes one leg appear to be longer – or the other to be shorter! Reverse the process and you have an instant, miraculous healing.
The best thing is to watch this wonderful old clip of faith healer A.A. Allen followed by a demonstration of the method by magician James Randi. Watch carefully as Allen swing the legs to the side and blatently pulls off the shoe. Also on this video is another leg-puller W.V. Grant.
A A Allen exposed by James Randi
From the Faith of Fire church in Denmark we have the following video [now taken down from YouTube!]. The pastor was rather careless because it was performed over a wooden floor where the strips of wood create a grid. Notice the position of the feet going across the grid at the start and the way they are lined up at the finish. Perhaps he thought no one would notice because his congregation’s faith would suspend their critical reasoning?
There are also pastors in Ghana who do the same thing. From the one’s I have seen they have learnt the same method.
YouTube is full of these videos. You can do a search using terms such as “miracle leg grows”, “lengthen a short leg miracle” or “short leg miracle”.
Based on my knowledge of this trick, none of the YouTube performances I’ve seen are convincing to me. What do you think?
Why Don’t We See?
Intelligence has no bearing on the ability to be tricked, as James Randi showed with his Project Alpha.
In James Randi’s book The Faith Healers, he quotes Joseph Barnhart, professor of Philosophy at North Texas State University. Barnhart claims the faith healing service functions as a grand drama in which all become participants. The division between performer and audience does not exist in this context. The gradual build up to the climax is a ritual of magical proportions. The afflicted wants to get close to the magic and suspends all doubt to reinforce “the myth that all the actors have agreed to believe in”.
“The faith healing service is a sort of mutually accepted morality play that is participated in without doubt or hesitation, for fear of breaking the spell.”
We suspend our disbelief within a church service because we presume the proceedings are being conducted honestly. In a stage performance of magic we know we are being tricked. Historically, unscrupulous pastors have exploited this.
The pastors cover their tracks suggesting that questioning is challenging God and that being critical is “touching God’s anointed”.
If we suspend our critical abilities we have no defence against this sort of deceit .
Just because we cannot think of an explanation doesn’t mean the thing is real. It just shows the limits to our imagination!
Critical Point 
There may be fakes out there, but I have seen a persons leg grow,now this preacher stood back ,the lady was sitting in a chair her leg was a least a half to 3 quarters of an inch shorter,the prayer to Jesus was said,the leg slowly grow,up to and past the other one then shrank back to the same length as the other..No squirming in the chair, no pulling of the legs here,nothing of the things you described ,no magician tricks here, the preacher was 3 to 5 feet away,look there may be fakes out there, but this preacher knew and openly acknowledged that he personally could not heal any one, but Jesus Christ could,if you doubt the power that Christ has, read the story of Betty Baxter ,well known and was reported in the news papers at the time, you can get back to me after you read her personal story if you wish……..Mal Hunter
Why, why, why would God do this, and leave little kids with cancer and terrible diseases to die – or little kids who starve to death, kids who get raped by their parents or by their preachers? If it’s all that easy to perform miracles that change the lengths of legs – are you just assuming that the people who REALLY suffer, in real and terrible ways, just don’t ‘pray’ enough? Six years old that aren’t good or pure enough, maybe?
Come on, it’s insulting. God making legs even, for Christ’s sake. It’s ridiculous. What you saw was a trick. If magicians on stage can perform far more elaborate tricks than that, I’m pretty sure the “healer” you saw could as well.
Leg lengthening Gods… he must have had a really boring day with very little to do, huh?
Is it not more likely that preacher simply found another clever way to fool the faithful, I mean why just stick to legs, why not heal someone who has never been able to walk? Faith healers are snake oil salesman and with all due respect you have been duped.
I have seen this trick many times, even had it performed a couple of times on me. I actually have a relative who’s a self-proclaimed healer and prophet. He does this trickery regularly at the church he pastors. It’s still hard to believe that someone in my family does this. Does he know he’s tricking people or is he so deep into it all that he’s deceived himself into doing parlour tricks and then calling it divine? It makes my head hurt sometimes 😛
That would be a very interesting thing to find out. Somehow if you are going through the procedures to create an illusion, it’s hard for me to imagine you don’t know what you are doing. If it was horoscopes or palm reading then it would be easy to deceive yourself but removing someone’s shoe or even swinging their legs? Surely you would have to consciously do that? Why they do it is what I can’t understand.
I had the leg trick done to me when I was a child and my parents took me to a faith healer’s house.
That was back in the 70’s in New Zealand.
I have considered the idiomatic effect, but sometimes it’s too obvious. I’m not a Christian anymore and see him or step in that church only when I have to. An honest cousin of mine (with a history of mental problems) said that she was skeptical of it…until she did the exact same thing, using her mother as an healee. I’ve thought about asking him to “check” my legs…although I wonder if he’s read my blog and seen how critical I am of faith healers lol. Stil, something in the back of my mind tells me I’m all wrong and that I’m burning in hell. It sounds rediculous, but I can’t seem to shake the thought. I’m an Agnostic Atheist…and yet my fear of this is overwhelming at times. 😦
Sorry, spelling error: Idiomotor Effect
Argh! Sorry for the spelling errors…on my phone 😛
I’m obsessive compulsive and have a really hard time letting things go. My only comfort is knowing that there is a natural world that operates accordin to the laws of physics. Why relatives would do that (why they would even see themselves as “called” and superior is a whole other discussion) is beyond me…and that question is always in my head >_<
Hi, I have a healing ministry, and grow out legs through God’s power. If you watch AA Allen again, you will notice that on the lady and the little girl, he did not turn the legs to the side as Randi did. They were straight on. That is the way i do it too. No trick, no slight of hand, and in fact, if the person’s body is not square in the chair and 90 degrees on the seat from the back of the chair, , I will not begin the miracle. Be careful here of being too wise in your own minds….God uses the foolish things….. Many people are served by this miracle, many issues solved…..
Greg thanks for checking my post and taking the time to comment. Randi’s method is not the only one of course and not the one I use – it’s a little too obvious in my opinion. If you are indeed one of the few that can create this miracle Randi would like to give you 1 million dollars which you can use to develop your ministry. If you don’t know how to apply for it let me know. I think I’m more fascinated that there appears to be a never ending supply of people with short legs!
Hey Greg! I’ve seen this miracle before. The person did not have shoes on! No trickery there I am positive. I think for all things genuine, the devil has counterfeits. And, I am quite convinced that there are charlatans out there that deceive people with the intent on getting them to follow them in hopes of financial gain. However, people who criticize the healing movement should be very careful at what they call false
.
Stan – the fact there were no shoes on does not mean there was a miracle – there is an older way of performing this stunt without shoes as James Randi shows. You assert the Christian dualist idea, “for all things genuine, the devil has counterfeits” – but we first have to prove these things are genuine in the first place, and this leg-pulling appears not to be so. People should be very skeptical of what you term “the healing movement” (meaning the Christian faith healers) as no conclusive proof has come forwards. Pastors claim they have evidence and will produce it, but when asked by those who are in a position to really assess their evidence (and by that I don’t mean a journalist), they have always failed to do so. The one notable exception was Morris Cerullo who submitted his 3 top healings to a BBC religious affairs programme. When the programme investigated, they found none of the 3 were healed although the people themselves were convinced they were! As to your statement that people should be “very careful at what they call false”, I would ask why? Genuine things do not need to fear criticism.
I feel sorry for people who choose not to believe in miracles. My hope is they never find themselves in a situation where they themselves need a miracle. I have seen too many miracles first hand to ever doubt, especially in my own family. My daughter, when she was 4 had an accident at church. A very heavy podium fell on her and dented in her head and caused a triangular shaped cut on her scalp that was bleeding profusely. My first reaction was to call 911, but we decided to go to God first. We gathered around her and began to pray as she sat there screaming bloody murder. Soon though, her screams of pain were replaced by sobs and then laughter. When we heard this, we stopped praying and looked up to see her smiling ear-to-ear. She told us that Jesus had just been there. A 4 year old can’t make stuff like that up! We were all happy that she felt better until someone noticed the “true” miracle that had taken place. There, on her head where the dent and cut were, there was no signs of injury. Not only that, but where, only a few minutes prior, her blond hair was matted and covered with bright red blood, there was not a drop of blood on her – not even on her clothes, which also had been spotted with blood before we prayed. And, her head was dry! So was her face, even though she had been crying big alligator tears only a few minutes earlier. I am convinced that Jesus Himself and dried her tears, healed her of her injury and wiped away even the evidence that it had occurred by removing the blood stains and dried blood in her hair. Say what you want about this stuff not being real. I KNOW it is real.
I feel sorry for those that are dying because pastors are claiming miracle healings when none are taking place.
So a 4-year old, who has just had a serious head injury, is now seeing Jesus based on her religious indoctrination and you say a child wouldn’t make that up? I hope she was taking for medical help after.
Anecdotes are not evidence. The leg-lengthening stunt is not a miracle – it’s a trick. The question is why are pastors (including AA Allen) doing tricks in churches?
Oh, and to answer your question and comment:
“As to your statement that people should be “very careful at what they call false”, I would ask why? Genuine things do not need to fear criticism.”
I will say this; I do not fear criticism and things that are genuine speak for themselves. I could care less what people say about me. That was not the point I was making when I said ‘be careful’. I was sending a warning to people who criticize and call the works of God false. To be honest, the thing I fear is you one day finding out too late that blaspheming God is a very serious offense and one that has a very horrible price to pay. It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of an angry God.
The real blasphemy is those that peddle this false nonsense and deceive others for whatever reason. Leave the threats to God.
Greg – You are absolutely correct that AA Allen does not turn the legs to the side. He uses the other method, probably the one you employ, where the shoe is pulled off the leg furthest to the
audiencecongregation whilst drawing attention to the fact the closer leg now appears to be shorter! In fact you can blatantly see him doing this at 1:47 in the clip to the woman’s right show. Pushing the show back on makes the leg closest to the viewer appear to grow. This is outright deceit, dishonesty and disrespect. You may think this impresses your sheep but please don’t insult the intelligence of others.Graham, wow….. you said: “probably the one you employ,” implying that I am a trickster, engaging in deceit…. we do not pull off shoes, as everything is more noticeable with shoes on….. to write that to me is hard hearted…. what a callous of unbelief you have in your heart….. I will pray for you. Greg
“I will pray for you” – wonderfully passive-aggressive comment. In case that’s not enough. Can you sacrifice a goat or make a burnt offering?
But you haven’t commented on the deceit that AA Allen is doing. Why did you not point that out after appearing to defend him?
Hi Greg, Min Lee Majors is right. Even if leg lengthening were a true miracle it is a very trivial use of the power of The Lord. There are thousands of amputees who could do with a new limb. Do you reckon you could up the ante a bit to re-grow limbs in your healing ministry? Some folks would be forever grateful.
I have just discovered this blog, and this extraordinary discussion of a “miracle”. I am a former Franciscan priest and theologian with two degrees from the Catholic University in Paris, a former diocesan Religious Education Director in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Professor of Religious Pedagogy in St Michael’s College Vermont. Now a militant atheist and author of my self-published “From Illusions to Illumination”, I have continued my Reflections in my blog : http://blindfaithblindfolly.wordpress.com Readers will enjoy, I believe, my “ticklers and teasers” concerning the credulity behind “miracles” like this and in fact all religious belief and practice.
Thanks so much for visiting and leaving a comment. Actually I just came across you a few days ago on the internet. But how do we get your book? I’m sure you have a fascinating journey to tell.
Greg here. In the healing ministry, we let the leg thing happen, we don’t manipulate it. Last fall, (2012) a man with a crushed leg had a short one and a lift in his shoe. When God healed the leg, not only lengthening it, but straightening it too, and removing a lump from the shin there for 30 years or so, the man was so shocked, it was amazing to see his reaction. He stood up and his lift tilted him to one side. He removed his shoes and was perfect. He got rid of the lift, put in by experts. But I could never tell Randy when something like this was going to happen. Why? Because God does it and chooses the timing and setting. About 3 years ago, I saw a leg grow about 3-4 inches in a 48 year old man. It quit growing in his youth after a severe accident that left him in traction, and the traction was to pull his leg out, until the medical field gave up on him. He spent months in traction. Many people witnesses this miracle, and the man now walks normal. Now I see other confusion here on your part. You say “never ending supply of short legs.” People can jar their skeletons and be mis-aligned in the hips, lower lumbar and back, and their legs will register unequal. These are not short legs, but to measure the misalignment, you hold up their legs which can be 1-2 inches different in apparent length. This is fixed by prayer too. But it is different than a creative miracle as the two i explained above. A Chiropractor will verify what I have said here about misalignment. Stepping wrong off a curb can cause it. I can get this alignment in people about 19 out of 20 that I pray for. Many people I know do this too. No leg is short, but the aligning can release pressure, remove sciatic pain, or hip pain, and so on. Try this test. Sit down 5 people. Usually all 5 or at least 4 will be misaligned. We usually get 100% alignment. The results seen show both legs running the same length, in appearance. I can show this to Randy, anytime. I do it to myself 2 times weekly or so. Jesus is a good Chiropractor. God bless you!
Why do you think there have been so many short legs grown out but not ONE amputee?..missing finger?….whithered arm?…… A finger is smaller than a leg.Every “faith healer” that I have looked into has proven to be a LIAR….So ofcourse they cant produce an organic miracle
The ignorance of some of the postings here is beyond anything I have seen. Your misnomers of the healing ministry are huge. People do not have healing ministries, God does, and He uses the faith of a receiver. So I cannot pick and choose my miracles, they are in His control. It takes more faith for some things than others. Some of the miracles you are suggesting like growing out an amputees leg is a creative miracle, while most leg lengthening s are not creative miracles. One of you, Doc, suggested that it is a trivial use of God’s power, but the Jesus I know cares about everything that is wrong with us and considers nothing trivial. The removal of a headache by God is a miracle but not a creative miracle. The restoration of someone comatose and brain dead because of a brain injury is a creative miracle, which I have seen. As I shared above, which it seems none of you read, is that most leg lengthenings are rather an alignment of the legs, out of alignment with the rest of the skeletal structure. I have seen God do this with chiropractors present, who confirm this is a valid and common issue that they correct, and they charge money for it. Since misalignment creates pressure on the spine, aligning a person in their legs with God’s power can fix many issues, even bed wetting in children. But you guys are so dogmatic about what you perceive miracles are, you seem not compassionate to the little things. In the healing ministry, the biggest obstacle is unbelief, and it is even said that of Jesus, he could do no mighty miracles in one place because of unbelief. But you guys will mock, and joke, and spew unbelief while God is still expecting His Church to heal the sick. I am sure you all have cute comebacks to this entry also, as your fault finding antennas are already out. I am sure that God cannot get a physical miracle done within a few hundred feet of any of those hard hearts, so I hope you never need one. If I sound angry, or unloving, – to the lost of His day, Jesus was kind, and loving, but to the questioning, the mocking, the Pharisee-ical, the self righteous of his day, Jesus shredded them verbally.
God doesn’t have ministries – people do. This is just semantics, another attempt to put yourself above those that disagree with you.
You question our compassion yet we are the ones pointing out a fraudulent business that misleads the vulnerable and often prevents them from taking their needed medication. The deaths of people who have been for healing, the evidence of those unhealed is what we present. You will surely have a way of excusing failure (blaming the victim, etc.)
The only way you can justify others, including other Christians, questioning the sham of the faith healing industry is through lack of belief (what – you can’t see evidence unless you believe in it!) , claim we have “hard hearts” (what kind of hard heart does it take to deceive others?) and to claim we mock and joke. No – we demand the hard evidence you are unable to provide, beyond your anecdotal stories. The demonstrations many of us have seen are trickery. The evidence we have followed has suggested fraud.
I gave hard evidence on this blog at least one so-called faith healer (A.A.Allen) is fraudulent – you have refused to comment on that but instead seem to have been easily fooled that he was for real.
As Derren Brown said on his Miracles for Sale – The leg lengthening trick is absolutely the mark of a charlatan.
I’m sure you’ll have a cute, patronising comeback to this entry too.
I believe Derren Brown to be wrong in that statement, and A.A. Allen, although just a man, and a man subject to error as we all are, had an enormously successful healing ministry. I really do not like the phrase “faith healer.” That sounds like a name the world came up with, or Hollywood. God has men and women who preach the gospel and He brings signs and wonders to confirm that gospel. Some are called healing evangelists. But any believer can see a healing miracle at their own hands. I am sorry if I patronized, I apologize. I also do not want to be cute. I also reverse what I said before, as I believe any of you can get healed by God, anywhere and anytime – I just urge you to believe, and be open to what God is doing on the earth today. I don’t build everything around leg lengthening, that is a small part. It is usually an alignment, and in fact, God has shown me how to do that alignment for people as they stand, so the results are not really seen. But it can be done either way. I am not a charlatan, as I work a job and get paid by that, but I do anything I can do to get the job done to help people including leg alignment, and if a creative miracle is needed, leg lengthening. By the way, I can tell you, with all honesty, and before God, that I would qualify for Randy’s million dollars, as well as several people I know, if, any of us were even about the money, which we are not. God bless you all, this is the last post.
I have seen this several times, too, in religious circles. There is a part of me that wants to believe in the miracles of God, but I can’t help but ask: so God is willing to stretch out a leg, but not willing to heal someone from Alzheimer’s? Not that I or anyone else is belittling the miracle of a leg being stretched out, but why is healing power limited to something so small when there are so many other illnesses and diseases out there? Especially when the NT is filled with examples of Christ healing people from demons, blindness, muteness, etc.?
It’s an honest concern that cannot be merely explained away with, “Oh ye of little faith,” or “You just have to believe.” The reason so many people believed in Jesus’ day is because he showed and proved.
I never get an oil change. I just pray over my engine and oil every 3 to 5 thousand miles. So far I have 63,000 miles on my vehicle. Once I seen God grow legs in church right before my eyes, I figured him keeping my oil in my car good is a simple request.
Some miracles are real .Nobody is going to gain anything by insinuating that all miracles are fake.Take away miracles( God’s interventions in matters beyond man ) and humanity will be doomed.
The purpose of this post is not to discuss whether miracles exist but merely to demonstrate that this is not one because it is achieved with deceit.
There is a reason this “miracle” is regularly performed by pastors and that is it’s an illusion. Even if the pastor believes it to be a real miracle it is not. We’d all be be much more inclined to miracles if someone could grow back an amputated limb or even a toe. Surely God can manage a replacement toe for someone. It can’t be too much to ask of the Almighty.
Extreme irony or Freudian slip that pastors do indeed pull peoples legs.