The records of the early Church make it indisputable that powers of healing were recognized as among the gifts of the Spirit.

St.Paul's letters render it certain that these gifts were not a privilege of the original twelve, merely, but that they were the heritage into which all the disciples entered.
Beyond the era of the primitive Church, through several generations, the early Christians felt themselves called to the same ministry of healing, and enabled with the same secret of power.

Through wellnigh three centuries, the gifts of healing appear to have been, more or less, recognized and exercised in the Church.

Through those generations, however, there was a gradual disuse of this power, following upon a failing recognition of its possession.

That which was originally the rule became the exception.