They cast out many demons, and anointed many with oil who were sick, and healed them.
Rubbing olive oil on a sick person while performing an exorcism is an effective medical treatment.
Medicine
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The cited passage
What current science says
Olive oil is great on salad, not so great as medicine. While oil can moisturize skin and has minor anti-inflammatory properties when applied topically, it cannot treat infections, cancer, organ disease, or any systemic illness. And the exorcism component assumes diseases are caused by demons, which — as germ theory established over 150 years ago — they are not. Bacteria don't respond to chanting. Viruses don't flee from olive oil. This is essentially a recipe for a salad dressing, not a medical protocol.
What the text says
This comes from Mark 6:13. The text says 'they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them' — presenting a combination of exorcism and oil application as a reliable cure for disease.
Three honest ways to read this passage
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As history
The text records how its authors understood the world with the knowledge they had. Read this way, a difference from modern science is a window into the ancient mind, not a failure.
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As accommodation
The text speaks to its first audience in their own terms, to make a point that isn't mainly about physics or biology. Read this way, the scientific detail is the vehicle, not the cargo.
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As contradiction
The text makes a claim about the physical world that modern findings dispute. Read this way, the difference is a genuine factual disagreement worth naming.
GEBible doesn't pick one of these for you. Each entry shows the passage, what it says, and what current science says — nothing more.