OP : Yes yes, we all know about the placebo effect. Congrats on finding that...
The real question is, what if the placebo effect is in fact faith(at work)? What if Yehovah had purposefully provided the ability for a person's brain to be able to cure a physical problem by simply thinking he/she was healed? Food for thought...
And what if pink magic unicorns are controlling our thoughts from the backside of Pluto? These far fetched "what if" questions are only being posited because you have assumed your religion is true and you are now trying every which way to defend it against scrutiny or critical thinking. You have started with your conclusion. That is backwards.
On the amputee thing, I thought I would address that right away. Let's put the title of this forum to rest shall we?... Here's the thing. If God healed amputees, then no faith would be required. He only cures internal diseases because nobody can completely & absolutely verify that it was The LORD healing that. This is also why it is written :...
Faith ISN'T required! That is exactly the point. Faith is not a good thing. Faith is just gullibility dressed up. Faith is believing something when you have no good reason to do so. It is the excuse people give when they can't give good reasons, or demonstrable
unequivocal, evidence for their beliefs.
Faith is not a pathway to truth.