The Church of Christ, Scientist, also known as “Christian Science”
Creators: name: Prince, Alexandra
Publisher: name: Database of Religious History (DRH)
Year: 2023

description: The Church of Christ, Scientist, also known as Christian Science, is an American Christian restorationist religion and healing tradition founded by Mary Baker Eddy in 1879. Christian Science is predicated on what’s considered Eddy’s re-discovery of the divine healing ministry of Jesus Christ as an essential aspect of Christian life. After a lifetime of physical and mental suffering, Eddy founded Christian Science following a debilitating fall on the ice in Lynn, Massachusetts in 1866 referred to as the “Fall in Lynn”. During her period of recovery, she turned to the Bible for relief and later wrote her understanding of Jesus’ ministry in a text published in 1875 entitled Science and Health (later re-published as Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures). Eddy underscored the need for Christians to take part in healing both themselves and others and declared that the same works of healing demonstrated by Jesus were not miracles particular to his age but available to all Christians. Before writing Science and Health, Eddy was a student of New Thought leader Phineas Parkhurst Quimby. During the turn of the 20th century, Christian Science rapidly attracted followers across the United States and later in Europe and Australia. Eventually the religion would spread to Asia and Africa, where it now has experienced its greatest growth. The religious practice of Christian Science is based on study of the King James version of the Bible and a large corpus of writings authored by Mary Baker Eddy, especially her work Science and Health which is considered the textbook of Christian Science. In lieu of clergy, Christian Scientists instead view the Bible and Science and Health as their only “Pastor.” They are most well-known for engaging in healing by prayer rather than seeking allopathic medical care, although they are not forbidden as members of the Church from seeking medical attention. Christian Scientists employ prayer for healing and also hire professional healers in Christian Science known as practitioners. Christian Scientists are called to engage in the healing work of Jesus Christ by healing themselves and others through prayer alone. This prayer involves an understanding of God as Perfect Spirit and man as God’s perfect creation. Reality is interpreted as strictly metaphysical or Divine Spirit, and consequently, disease and matter are dismissed as unreal and lacking in “intelligence” and power. Christian Scientists interpret disease as the product of fear or erroneous thinking referred to as “mortal mind” and dismiss epidemiological interpretations of illness and contagion. In the United States, members of the Church of Christ, Scientist have historically labored through lobbying and other means of political redress to maintain what they consider their religious freedom to opt for care under a Christian Science practitioner or healer rather than seeking medical attention. Christian Science has therefore been influential in shaping the United States’ legal interpretation of religious freedom. Christian Scientists have been implicated in charges of child neglect and abuse in legal cases in which Christian Science parents opted to heal their children through prayer rather than seeking medical attention. Highly-publicized cases of this nature in the late 20th century brought significant negative attention to Christian Science. The Christian Science church is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts and is known as the Mother Church. It is also the home of the Christian Science Publishing Society where the Christian Science Monitor, an internationally-recognized periodical, is published. The Church also publishes the Christian Science Journal and the Christian Science Sentinel. Both publications contain public testimonies of Christian Science healing. Christian Science churches hold two services each week, one on Sunday and another on Wednesday. Each is led by two readers, or appointed members of branch churches who read from both the King James Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. The Wednesday service includes public testimony of healings. In addition to Christian Science branch churches, Christian Science Reading Rooms are operated in conjunction with each church as a “public face” to the religion and offer a place where members and nonmembers can access and purchase Christian Science literature. Reading Rooms are operated by Christian Science branch church volunteers. Christian Science is considered a “science” or “divine science” in that the religion’s efficacy regarding healing is understood as demonstrable and repeatable. Christian Scientists additionally understand their faith as adhering to divine laws that supersede natural laws. When Eddy adopted the term science in the late 19th century, the term was in wider circulation and had broader connotations than today.