Christian Science History | CARM Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry by Matt Slick Christian Science was founded by a woman named Mary Baker Eddy. She was born Mary Ann Morse Baker in New Hampshire in 1821. (She died in 1910). She was the daughter of a New Hampshire Congregationalist church member. As a child, she was frequently ill and highly emotional. She is said to have been "domineering, quarrelsome, and extremely self centered." 1 At age 22, she married George Glover. He died seven months later. She then married Dr. Daniel Patterson, but that marriage failed in divorce. In 1862, while suffering from an illness, she visited a man named Phineas Quimby. He taught a system of healing dealing with the mind. He taught that the mind had the power to heal the body. He exerted a significant influence on her thinking regarding spiritual matters. In 1866, she fell and was seriously injured; and she was not expected to recover. She apparently read Matt.

9:2 ("And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee") and experienced a miraculous cure. It was this experience that convinced her of the truth of Christian Science. She first published "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" in 1875 when she was 54. She claimed it was the final revelation of God to mankind and asserted that her work was inspired of God. The word "Key" in the title of her book is in reference to her being the woman of Revelation 12--that she is the key to unlocking the Bible which she called a dark book. She claimed the Bible had many mistakes, and that her writings provided the "Key" spoken of in Rev. 3:7. She married Asa Eddy in 1877. In 1879, four years after the first publication of Science and Health, Mary Baker Eddy and some of her students voted organized the church of Christ (Scientist) in Boston Massachusetts.

Of course, like all cults, it claimed to be the restoration of the original New Testament Church. In 1881 she opened a metaphysical college and charged $300 for 12 healing lessons. The Church was reorganized in 1892, and the Church Manual was first issued in 1895 which provided the structure for church government and missions. She died in 1910--a millionaire. This article is also available in: Español 1. Meyer, F.E., The Religious Bodies of America, Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1961, p. 532. THE CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST (CHRISTIAN SCIENCE) The Church of Christ, Scientist (a.k.a. Christian Science) Sponsored link. Quotations from the writings of Mary Baker Eddy: "If Christianity is not scientific, and Science is not God, then there is no invariable law and truth becomes an accident." "Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love.

It is unselfish; therefore it cannot exist alone, but requires all mankind to share it." "To those leaning on the sustaining infinite, today is big with blessings." "Truth is immortal; error is mortal." History of the Church: Mary Morse Baker Eddy (1821-1910) discovered and founded Christian Science. She was raised in a strict, deeply religious home, from which she derived her lifelong interest in Christianity and the Bible. She had been plagued with ill health through her childhood and into adult years. This motivated her to study alternative methods of healing, which deviated from the then current medical techniques which had failed her. Shortly after her first marriage, her husband died and she began to study a number of healing ministries. She remarried in 1853 in an unsuccessful attempt to gain control of her son who had been placed in another home by her family in the belief that she was physically incapable of caring for him. At the age of 41, she sought a cure from a healer, Phineas P. Quimby (1802-1866). Quimby had been a clockmaker, with relatively little education.

But he had developed a method of natural healing which involved techniques of hypnotism and animal magnetism. He emphasized the role of the human mind in achieving bodily health. Quimby felt that the key to healing lay in the confidence by the healer in the patient's recovery, and in the confidence that the patient has in the healer's ability. Mrs. Eddy (as she is referred to by church members) was a student-associate of Quimby until his death in 1866. Her health initially improved under his care, but she later suffered a relapse. Shortly afterwards, she fell on an icy sidewalk and severely injured herself. Some did not expect her to survive. On what she believed to be her deathbed, she read one of Jesus' healings. She suddenly realized that healing comes not from internal bodily processes, or from the power of a person's mind, but from the Divine Mind, God. She was instantly cured! Mrs. Eddy withdrew from society for three years in order to concentrate on a deep search through the Bible and discover precisely how her healing had taken place. She wished to share this knowledge with others, and to give them the tools to take away sin and achieve health. Mrs.

Eddy then wrote her main book, Science and Health, later called Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. The book has since been published in 17 languages, and is available in English Braille, on audio cassette, CD, and in software packages. Many people have speculated on the source(s) of Mrs. Eddy's new beliefs. Some skeptics have implied that she plagiarized much of Quimby's writings and teachings. His beliefs involved the dualism between mind-spirit and matter. He emphasized the supremacy of mind over matter, and was highly antagonistic towards Christianity. She had always been deeply committed to Christian beliefs and rejected his opposition to religion. It is probably accurate to say that Mrs. Eddy was further sensitized by Quimby to the healing role of mind. However, she made a major break from his basic teachings. She determined that it was the Divine Mind, God, who healed, not the human mind. Other skeptics have asserted that she copied some of the writings of a German-American philosopher, Francis Lieber. This appears to be unfounded. She asserted that her beliefs are derived from new interpretations of Biblical passages, not from human sources.

She taught that they do not represent an "add-on" to the Bible; she had discovered the science of scriptures. Through a spiritual interpretation of the Bible she had rediscovered its original truths as believed in and practiced by the early Christian church. Her book was published at a time of great social unrest. The people of the United States were buffeted by the effects of the Civil War, by the teachings of Darwin, Freud and Marx, by rapid industrialization, and by many economic upheavals. Mrs. Eddy's teachings were welcomed and adopted by many Americans, but bitterly opposed by many traditional Christian authorities. They also raised some animosity from scientists who criticized the use of the word "science" in connection with Christianity. In 1875, she published her book. In 1877 she married Asa Gilbert Eddy, her second husband having left her, and she adopted the name by which she is most commonly remembered: Mary Baker Eddy. Her book, though controversial, was well received by many Christians. She was inspired to promote the founding of the Church of Christ, Scientist in Lynn, MA, a suburb of Boston, in 1879.

She was ordained by her students, and created the Massachusetts Metaphysical College in 1881 and the National Christian Scientist Association in 1886. She later disbanded the Association, College and Church and concentrated the movement within The Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist in Boston, MA. Although she continued to manage church affairs until her death in 1910, she removed herself from public contact and lived in seclusion, in order to revise her book and guide the movement. The church went through a period of rapid growth during the first half of the 20th century. Membership leveled out by 1950 and has since gradually declined. "...the closing of hundreds of branch churches over the past two decades suggests that attrition is the biggest threat the Church faces." 19 Current membership data is unknown; the Church does not publish statistics. One source estimates about 400,000 people follow Christian Science teachings, although many are not affiliated with a congregation.

Another estimates: 150,000 members, and 100,000 members in the U.S., 15,000 in Germany and Great Britain, and others in over 60 countries. 19 Two Christian Scientists, H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman, of the Nixon era helped sponsor a Congressional bill which extended the copyright of "Science and Health With Key to the Scriptures" by 75 years. The bill became law but has since been declared unconstitutional. 19 The Church has about 2,300 branch congregations in 60 countries. There are about 1,600 congregations in the US; about 60 in Canada. They operate Christian Science Reading Rooms where the public is invited to read the Bible and literature published by the Church. In 1908, Mrs. Eddy founded The Christian Science Monitor, an international newspaper, whose employees have won 6 Pulitzer prizes. A cable TV channel launched in 1991 was short lived and was terminated for financial reasons. In recent decades, a number of main-line Christian leaders have extracted the Christian Science concept of Divine Mind.

They have secularized it to refer to the human mind and have grafted it onto traditional Christian belief. This may be the source of some of the teachings in Norman Vincent Peale's Power of Positive Thinking, Bishop Sheen's Peace of Soul, Rev. Robert Schuller's Possibility Thinking, etc. Church Beliefs: (provided by Lyle Young, Christian Science Committee on Publication for Ontario) Christian Scientists believe: Christian Science is a Christian denomination based on the teachings and works of Christ Jesus. The Church was founded in 1879 by Mary Baker Eddy, with this purpose: ". . . to commemorate the word and works of our Master, which should reinstate primitive Christianity and its lost element of healing." (from the Manual of The Mother Church by Mary Baker Eddy) Christian Scientists do not have an organizational creed. However, the following is a brief exposition of the important points, or tenets, of the religion as given in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy (p. 496): "1. As adherents of Truth, we take the inspired Word of the Bible as our sufficient guide to eternal Life. 2. We acknowledge and adore one supreme and infinite God.

We acknowledge His Son, one Christ; the Holy Ghost or divine Comforter; and man in God's image and likeness. 3. We acknowledge God's forgiveness of sin in the destruction of sin and the spiritual understanding that casts out evil as unreal. But the belief in sin is punished so long as the belief lasts. 4. We acknowledge Jesus' atonement as the evidence of divine, efficacious Love, unfolding man's unity with God through Christ Jesus the Way-shower; and we acknowledge that man is saved through Christ, through Truth, Life, and Love as demonstrated by the Galilean Prophet in healing the sick and overcoming sin and death. 5. We acknowledge that the crucifixion of Jesus and his resurrection served to uplift faith to understand eternal Life, even the allness of Soul, Spirit, and the nothingness of matter. 6. And we solemnly promise to watch, and pray for that Mind to be in us which was also in Christ Jesus; to do unto others as we would have them do unto us; and to be merciful, just, and pure." Seeking and finding God is central to the practice of Christian Science. God is understood as the all-loving, omnipotent Father-Mother, and Christ Jesus as His Son.

Jesus' human life characterized the kind of sonship that Christian Scientists believe is provable for all as the children of God. He is seen as the Exemplar, the Way-shower. The divine nature he expressed is the Christ, and the Christ-God's expression of Himself-is eternal and ever-present. Understanding man's pure, indestructible relationship with God is what results in regeneration and healing. Healing: (also provided by Lyle Young) A surface acquaintance with Christian Science may reveal that adherents don't generally use medicine or go to doctors. This is true, but it's not the result of any antagonism towards doctors. Christian Scientists respect the work of the medical profession, but choose prayer as treatment for themselves and their children rather than medicine because they have experienced prayer's effectiveness many times in their lives. The regeneration of heart and mind that brings about physical healing is a most significant element of healing. The teachings of Christ Jesus are central to Christian Science, and his healing work provides an example of how his followers can also turn to God's omnipotent love for healing. Over the years, Christian Science religious publications have provided thousands of accounts of healing through prayer.

Each week corroborated testimonies of healing are published in the Christian Science Sentinel and each month in The Christian Science Journal. Healing is accomplished not through blind faith but through a growing understanding of God and a recognition of one's identity as God's reflection. This can be gained through the study of Christian Science. It is the result of drawing closer to God through coming to know the loving kindness of His divine laws and the perfection of His spiritual creation. Christian Scientists often pray for themselves and find healing. If one feels the need for additional prayerful assistance, however, he or she can call a Christian Science practitioner. Practitioners are men and women who devote their full time to helping others through prayer. The practitioners claim no personal healing power, nor do they act as intercessors. God alone heals. The practitioner, just as the patient, turns to God in humility and willingness to hear His direction and follow His guidance. Church Practices: Christian Scientists daily study the Bible and Science and Health. An important part of this study is a weekly Lesson-Sermon outlined in The Christian Science Quarterly which includes excerpts on certain subjects from the Bible and Science and Health. The lesson studied daily comprises the sermon that is read at each Sunday church service worldwide.

There is no ordained clergy in the Church. Services are conducted by Readers who read from the Bible, from "Science and Health" and from lesson-sermons sent from The Mother Church. The King James Version of the Bible is used in English services. Other translations are also used in private study and in non-English speaking areas. The Bible and Science and Health are considered the dual and impersonal pastor of the Church. Lay Christian Science practitioners are trained in Church principles and present a prayer-based healing ministry to members and the public as an alternative to conventional medical services. The Manual of The Mother Church lists the bylaws governing the movement. It was originally published in 1895, was extensively revised during Mrs. Eddy's lifetime, and has remained unchanged since her death. Authority is vested in a Board of Directors who conduct The Mother Church business. It is composed of five members who hold their positions for an undefined interval and select their own successors. The Mother Church organization is highly centralized. Branches are self-governed along democratic lines. Although they engage in some of the traditional Christian sacraments, they interpret them differently. Baptism is regarded as the continual purification of thought and deed.

The Eucharist is regarded as spiritual communion with the one God, which is celebrated with silent prayer and Christian living. Sponsored link: Church Media and Publications: Newspaper: The Christian Science Monitor is a highly regarded, daily newspaper which has been published from Boston, MA since 1908. Radio: The Church has a short-wave network which broadcasts around the world. It broadcasts news, religious discussions and services from The Mother Church in Boston. They also distribute news programs to public radio stations in the US. Periodicals: The Christian Science Publishing Society publishes: The Christian Science Journal, a monthly periodical which is the Church's official organ. The Christian Science Sentinel, a weekly magazine which provides spiritual answers to life's problems. The Christian Science Quarterly which includes weekly Bible lessons. Church Controversies Compared to other recently emerging faith groups, there has been relatively little controversy within Christian Science: A crisis over leadership (referred to as the Great Litigation) occurred at the death of Mrs. Eddy, but was settled by the courts. Emma Hopkins left the church during Mrs. Eddy's lifetime and created a movement which developed into New Thought; that group in turn influenced other new religious groups.

Anne Bill led a breakaway sect, the Christian Science Parent Church, after Mrs. Eddy's death. This evolved into the Church of Integration, which expired in the 1950's. Like other successful denominations which deviate from traditional beliefs, Christian Science has attracted negative attention. Some has come from the Counter-cult Movement ;that condemns any Christian group that deviates from historical Christian teachings. Some conservative Christian religious leaders have also criticized it because of its unique interpretation of scriptures. Some refer to the movement as a cult . But the Christian Science Church maintains that this term inaccurately describes the century-old denomination. Christian Scientists practice their religious teachings out of reasoned conviction of its truth - not from blind irrational feelings about Mary Baker Eddy. Their churches and Reading Rooms are open to all; their services are dignified and simple. There are many sites on the Internet maintained by persons who have left the Church. 13,14 Healing by faith: There exists a chronic state of tension between the Church, its practitioners, and medical doctors over the substitution of Christian Science healing techniques for conventional medical treatments . However, this does not frequently escalate into conflict, as it often does between Jehovah Witness parents, their children and the courts.

In instances where there would be a difference of opinion between Christian Science parents and medical authorities, the Church's policy is to strongly encourage parents to cooperate with those authorities. It is not known how frequently this advice is taken by individual members. The Church urges the reporting of communicable diseases, conforming with vaccination laws, and the provision of certified midwives or other medical attendants at childbirth as required by law. 15 The Church believes that spiritual healing techniques are quite effective; they publish descriptions of such healings in various of their publications. Their critics feel that medical intervention is more effective and should be the technique of choice. 16,17 We have been unable to locate any studies which compare the effectiveness of Christian Science healing with conventional medical treatments. The Church itself is unaware of any. 18 The church feels that the term "faith healing" does not accurately describe its methods of healing. They state that its methods do not rely on miracles. Rather, they are believed to be the same natural methods that Jesus used to cure people. Author's comment: We are concerned about the lack of hard data available about the effectiveness of faith healing generally and of Christian Science healing methods in particular. We consider this a major ethical concern.

If either conventional medical treatments or faith healing is marginally better that the other, then thousands of lives could be saved each year in the U.S. by inducing people to switch to the more effective treatment. See further details . Books about Mary Baker Eddy: Gillian Gill, "Mary Baker Eddy," Perseus Press, (1999). Read reviews or order this book Stephen Gottschalk, "Rolling Away the Stone: Mary Baker Eddy's Challenge to Materialism," Indiana University Press, (2005). Read reviews or order this book David Keyston, "The healer: The healing work of Mary Baker Eddy," Healing Unlimited, (1998). Read reviews or order this book Richard Nenneman, "Persistent Pilgrim: The life of Mary Baker Eddy," Nebbadoon Press, (1997). Read reviews or order this book Some web sites about Christian Science: The "Official home page of The Church of Christ, Scientist" contains a question and answer section, and other information about Christian Science. See: "Concord" is a dynamic electronic tool for researching the Bible.

See: The "Writings of Mary Baker Eddy," in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. sponsors Although this appears to be a Christian Science site, that fact is only revealed in the "about the site" page. "The virtual Christian Science reading room," is maintained by the First Church of Christ, Scientist in St. Paul, MN. See: Longyear Museum collects and preserves historic documentation and artifactual material on Mary Baker Eddy's life and achievements, and those of her early followers from 1821 to 1910. See: David J. Nolan maintains the Christian Science University at: It is independent of the Church. "Ananias: Pilgrims to the Cross of Christ from Christian Science" is a websites for former Christian Scientists who have transitioned from following the teachings of Mary Baker Eddy to evangelical Christianity. See: Related essay on this web site: Christian Science - Christian or Cult?

Christian Science Christian or Cult?* The movement known as Christian Science is a religion "emphasizing divine healing as practiced by Jesus Christ." It is officially known as The Church of Christ, Scientist (CCS) (with headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts), founded in 1879 by the much married Mary Baker Glover Patterson Eddy (1821-1910). It is one of the more sophisticated modern cults, attracting many intellectuals. Estimated membership was about 350,000 in the 1930s with approximately 2,500 branch churches, societies, and college organizations in more than 50 countries worldwide. Estimates suggest that membership has fallen to well under 100,000 at the present time. While the branches are democratic in government, they all conform to the rules laid down in Mary Baker Eddy's Manual of The Mother Church (1895); church affairs are now overseen by a self-perpetuating board of five people. Under the leadership of Board of Directors Chairman Virginia Harris, the CCS has embarked on an aggressive, multi-faceted marketing program designed to mainstream itself and to attract new members.

For example, the CCS is finding new ways to promote itself in light of our society's current interest in self-awareness, spirituality, mind/body connections, alternative medicine, and women's issues. The CCS's weekly magazine has been redesigned to include quotes from New-Age proponent Oprah Winfrey. Church representatives are also turning up at medical conferences and other places. Mrs. Eddy was chronically sick growing up, with many ailments including paralysis, hysteria, seizures and convulsions. At 22, she married her first of three husbands, George Glover, who died within 6 months from yellow fever. Following Glover's death, she began to be involved in mesmerism ( hypnosis ) and the occult practices of spiritualism and clairvoyance (Ruth Tucker, Another Gospel, p. 152). Still ill, she married Daniel Patterson in 1853, a dentist and homeopathic practitioner . It was during this time she met mental healer Phineas P. Quimby (1802-1866), whose influence would shape her belief of Christian Science. Quimby believed that illness and disease could be cured through positive thoughts and healthy attitudes, by changing one's beliefs about the illness.

She claimed that Quimby cured her; she suddenly improved, but later the symptoms returned (Another Gospel, p. 155). After Quimby's death in 1866, Mrs. Eddy determined to carry on his work. She had developed a "psychic dependence" on Quimby, drawing on his spiritual presence, claiming even visitations by his apparition. Eddy "reached the scientific certainty that all causation rests with the Mind, and that every effect is a mental phenomena." Eddy took Quimby's teachings one step further, claiming that sickness, death, and even our physical bodies do not exist, but are only imagined. Based on this absurdity, Mary Baker Eddy formulated her unique interpretations of Scripture upon which Christian Science was founded (and recorded in Eddy's 1875 book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. [HJB] (In 2001, the ten millionth copy of Science and Health was sold). In essence, Christian Science is a revival of ancient Pantheism.

[Eddy later published 16 other books, including Retrospection and Introspection (1891), which tells of her own experience of discovering, practicing, and teaching the "science" of Christian healing.] [The CCS recently announced plans to build (at a cost of $25 million) the Mary Baker Eddy Library for the Betterment of Humanity. Scheduled to open in 2002 in Boston, the library will house over 500,000 unpublished documents and artifacts related to Mrs. Eddy. It will also allow the CCS to secure another 45 years of copyright protection for the writings under new U.S. copyright laws that take effect at the end of 2002.] The event that Mrs. Eddy claimed as the inauguration of Christian Science occurred in February of 1866. She claimed to have had a near fatal fall on icy pavement, but was instantly healed when "the healing Truth dawned upon my senses," and the divine healing ministry was born (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 24; Science and Health, p. 107). Testimony from her attending physician as well as other correspondence from Mrs. Eddy at the time strongly dispute Mrs.

Eddy's "official" version of those events (Anthony Hoekema, Christian Science, pp. 12-13). Healing became a major distinctive of Christian Science. According to Eddy Baker, the central fact of the Bible is the superiority of spiritual over physical power. The spiritual superiority is evident in other ways than healing. Telepathy is practiced in Christian Science treatment, and may be considered a form of psychic healing. Christian Science claims to prove through the healing of disease and other difficulties that the understanding of God and his spiritual creation is as effective now as it was in Jesus' time. Its adherents, therefore, rely on "divine law" in times of sickness instead of resorting to medical and other material means. Christian Scientists do not use doctors, medicine, or immunizations. Christian Science Practitioners are used to " help people through the false reality of illness." Instead, proper prayer and training are employed to battle the "non-reality" of illness. (The right of Christian Science parents to withhold medical treatment from their children has many times been challenged in court.) During the formative stages, the church saw many rivalries, scandals, and dissident movements.

One of the dissidents was Emma Hopkins, who as an independent Christian Science leader, taught Charles and Myrtle Fillmore, who later founded the Unity School of Christianity (another "mind-science" cult). Because Mrs. Eddy wanted to spread Christian Science, especially to the upper class, she increased her control over all aspects of the movement and would not tolerate any disloyalty (Georgine Milmine, The Life of Mary Baker G. Eddy, p. 234 ff). Publications of the Christian Science Publishing Society include the Christian Science Quarterly, containing Bible lessons for daily study; The Christian Science Journal, a daily newspaper; and The Herald of Christian Science. In the 1980s, the group expanded into other media, producing both radio and television news programming. Their venture into cable-television operations was ended in 1992, when it was discovered "that the church had secretly transferred $46.5 million from endowments and pension funds to help cover huge losses on the 'Monitor Channel,' which had lost over $325 million" (Chicago Tribune, 1/27/93, p. 2).

[Additionally, there were losses of $36 million and the resulting termination of World Monitor, a newspaper begun in 1988. The Christian Science Monitor is said to be losing $13 million annually (Martin Gardner, The Healing Revelations of Mary Baker Eddy, p. 218).] Instead of preachers (the CCS has no ordained clergy), Christian Science's Sunday services consist mainly of prescribed readings from the Bible, followed by interpretive readings from Science and Health with (which Eddy thought was divinely inspired -- "I should blush to write of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures as I have, were it of human origin and I apart from God its author; but [since] I was only a scribe echoing the harmonies of heaven in Divine Metaphysics, I cannot be super-modest of the Christian Science Textbook."). Eddy's "Scientific Statement of Being" (read every week from every Christian Science pulpit) begins with, "There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter," and ends with, "Therefore, man is not material; he is spiritual." Wednesday meetings include testimonies of healing from the congregation.

Readers, both men and women, are elected from the membership to conduct the services. Practitioners, also both men and women, devote full time to the work of "spiritual healing." Mrs. Eddy presented Christian Science as a scientific system of healing based upon spiritual laws God (allegedly) had revealed to her. She taught these laws must be followed -- without deviation -- if a believer wishes to practice Christian Science with consistent success. She taught Christian Science cannot be mixed with any other doctrine or spiritual healing system, and, thereby, it is incompatible with medicine. Eddy also believed in "Malicious Animal Magnetism" (MAM), which is negative mental energy or power, on the level of black magic. "Reading Rooms" are local Christian Science libraries where members go to read Eddy's works to aid their spiritual evolvement. Christian Scientists call themselves Christians, but their beliefs deviate from Biblical Christianity on nearly every central Doctrine. Below are the highlights of what Christian Scientists believe concerning their source of authority, the Godhead, Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Resurrection, sin and salvation, heaven and hell, man's destiny, and disease and death: 1. Source of Authority.

Mary Baker Eddy claimed the Bible was her "only textbook" and "only authority." Yet she also said the Bible has thousands of errors -- 30,000 in the Old Testament and 300,000 in the New Testament. Christian Scientists believe that Mrs. Eddy's discovery of Divine Science is the "final revelation" from God. They claim Science and Health is divinely inspired (even though it has been proven to contain numerous plagiarisms and revisions). -- Science and Health is the "first book" which has been "uncontaminated by human hypothesis" (The First Church of Christ, Scientist and Miscellany, p. 115; Science and Health, pp. 99, 139, 456-457). [HJB] One is only supposed to read the Bible if they have Eddy's "key" in hand, so as to find out what a passage means. The implication is that God couldn't make Himself plain, but has to have Mary Baker Eddy interpret what He says. With this in mind, the world was, in effect, left to grope in darkness until Mrs. Eddy came on the scene. 2. Language.

Christian Scientists have given Bible terms allegorical, metaphysical definitions that are completely different from normal usage. Everything is spiritualized to the point that the physical no longer exists. New meanings have also been assigned to many traditional theological doctrines. (For example: "Adam was not an actual person who was created by God and fell into sin. 'Adam' means error; a falsity; the belief in 'original sin,' sickness, and death; evil; the opposite of good.") [HJB] 3. Trinity. Christian Science clearly repudiates the Trinitarian Godhead: "The theory of three persons in one God (that is, a personal Trinity or Tri-unity) suggests polytheism, rather than the one ever-present I Am" (Science and Health, p. 256). Instead, "Life, Truth, and Love constitutes the triune Person called God ... God the Father-Mother; Christ the spiritual idea of sonship; divine Science or the Holy Comforter" (Science and Health, p. 331-332). Christian Science teaches that the Biblical concept of the Trinity suggests "heathen gods" ( Science and Health, p. 152).

God is thus viewed as an impersonal "Divine Principle," a conception of one's mind ( Science and Health, pp. 361, 469). On page 465 in another of Mrs. Eddy's "authoritative" books, entitled Miscellaneous Writings, she wrote: "God is incorporeal, divine, supreme, infinite, mind, spirit, soul, principle, life, truth, love," but devoid of any personality. [HJB] [To the contrary, the Bible teaches that God is a triune, personal, transcendent Being who created "the world and all things in it" (Act 17:24). He is not a pantheistic all-in-all. He is holy and just, as well as love. God created and governs the universe, including man (Acts 17:24-27).] 4. Jesus Christ. Christian Science denies that the incarnation of Christ was the fullness of deity dwelling in human flesh, denies the perfection of the man Jesus, and attempts to explain away the historical death and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ (Science and Health, pp.

336, 29, 332, 53, 398, 313, 593; Miscellaneous Writings, p. 201) Christian Science believes that Mary's conception of Jesus was spiritual -- on pages 332 and 347 of Science and Health, the virgin birth of Christ is described and explained: "Jesus was the offspring of Mary's self-conscious communion with God. ... Mary's conception of him was spiritual." Christian Science believes that the names "Jesus" and "Christ" do not refer to the same person -- that Jesus is the human man and Christ is the "divine idea" (i.e., "dualism"). They teach that the spiritual (good) cannot dwell in material bodies because they are evil; thus Jesus could not have been both God and man. [To the contrary, the Bible teaches that Jesus Christ is not the divine idea of God but was God uniquely manifested in the flesh, truly God and truly man, one divine Person with two indivisible natures, who is the only Savior and the only truth and Lord (John 1:1-3,14; Col. 2:9; Phil.

2:6-7; John 14:6) . ] Christian Science believes that Jesus was not God and the only way to heaven, but only the "wayshower" (cf. Jn. 20:31; I Jn. 4:2,3). Christian Science not only denies that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, it also denies that Jesus is one Person with two natures -- fully God and fully man. Christian Science presents Jesus Christ in terms of a Gnostic duality: "The spiritual Christ was infallible: Jesus as material manhood was not Christ'' (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 84). "Christ as the true spiritual ideal, is the ideal of God now and forever ..." (Science and Health, p. 361). "The Christ is incorporeal, spiritual ..." while, "The corporeal [physical] man Jesus was human only (Science and Health, p 332). Yet "matter is mortal error � matter is the unreal and temporal" (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 21). So what Christian Science actually concludes is that the physical humanity of Jesus was an illusion, ''as it seemed to mortal view" (Science and Health, p.

315). Concerning the blood atonement of Jesus Christ: "The material blood of Jesus was no more efficacious to cleanse from sin when it was shed upon 'the accursed tree,' than when it was flowing in his veins ..." (Science and Health, p. 25). Christian Science teaches that the death of Jesus Christ for sin was a "man-made" theory, and that Jesus was alive in the tomb, demonstrating the "power of Spirit to overrule mortal, material sense" (Science and Health, p. 44). Eddy states, "Christ was not crucified ... Jesus, being the man who possessed the Christ consciousness, was the one who went to the cross and who appeared to die." Thus, according to the theology of Christian Science, the Bible only appears to say that Jesus died on the cross and His body was laid in the tomb; it must instead be understood that Jesus actually never died, but was rather in the tomb denying death's reality! 5. Holy Spirit. Christian Science denies that the Holy Spirit is a personal being. It teaches that the Holy Spirit is Christian Science. -- "This Comforter I understand to be Divine Science" (Science and Health, p. 55).

It is the unfolding of the thoughts and infinite mind of God (pp. 502-503). [cf. Jn. 16:13-14] Thus, God, the Holy Spirit, cannot indwell a person (Science and Health, p. 336). 6. The Resurrection. It is obvious that if Jesus never physically died on the cross to atone for sins that mankind cannot commit (Science and Health, pp. 45-46), then the resurrection must also have a unique meaning in Christian Science. Eddy explains, "When Jesus reproduced his body after its burial, he revealed the myth or material falsity of evil; its powerlessness to destroy good and the omnipotence of the Mind that knows this: he also showed forth the error of nothingness of supposed life in matter, and the great somethingness of the good we possess, which is of Spirit, and immortal" ( Miscellaneous Writings, p. 201). Jesus resurrection was thus the manifestation of the error of evil. He demonstrated that sin and death are illusions and that if one wishes to rid themselves of these illusions, they only need to deny their reality. 7. Sin.

Christian Science denies the existence of all matter, including man's physical body. They say that man is "incapable of sin, sickness, and death." They claim sin, sickness, and death are the "effects of error," thereby denying the reality of sin. [HJB] Bottom line, to Christian Science, there is no sin (Science and Health, p. 447). This is a consistent deduction and fundamental principle of the Christian Science system -- namely, God is all and God is good, and since the real man has never departed from his original state of perfection, he is not in need of salvation. He is saved now and reposing in the bosom of the Father. He has always been saved -- that is, as God's idea of the expression of the mind, man is forever held in the divine consciousness. And since sin and evil have no reality, all ideas of sin and evil are illusions. They are the product of the mortal mind. Hence, it is a sense of sin which is sinful because of the illusory product of the mortal mind.

They say that man's real problem is the belief of sin, and that "Christ came to destroy the belief of sin." [Eddy writes in Miscellaneous Writings in the question and answer section: "If there is no sin, why did Jesus come to save sinners?" She answers, "Jesus came to seek and to save such as believe in the reality of the unreal; to save them from this false belief; that they might lay hold of eternal Life ..." (p. 63). In other words, Jesus came to save mankind from the false belief that sin is real! Jesus saving work was to exemplify the fact that death is unreal, that sin is only an illusion or false belief, and that to deny its existence is the ultimate task of each person.] 8. Salvation. Since Christian Scientists do not believe that sin is real, they, therefore, see no need for salvation in Jesus Christ. Notwithstanding, Christian Scientists still teach a salvation based on works -- and contrary to even their own teachings, a salvation through victory over suffering temptation. [HJB] 9. Hell. Christian Science denies the existence of hell and eternal punishment, and, therefore, there is no devil (Science and Health, p. 469).

Hell is defined as "mortal belief; error; lust; remorse; hatred; revenge; sin; sickness; death." They believe that hell is a self-imposed "mental anguish," emanating from the guilt of one's imagined sin. [HJB] 10. Man's Destiny. Christian Science teaches that since God is all good and nothing that is real exists outside God, then sin, sickness, and death are mortal error or an illusion. Christ, as the Truth, therefore came to set man free from these false beliefs by His teachings and example (Science and Health, pp. 473, 475, 108). Christian Science denies the penal, substitutionary atonement of Christ, saying, ''The material blood of Jesus was no more efficacious to cleanse from sin when it was shed on 'the accursed tree,' than when it was flowing in his veins as he went daily about His Father's business" (Science and Health, p.25). "Jesus taught the way of Life by demonstration. There is but one way to heaven, harmony, and Christ in Divine Science shows us this way" (Science and Health, p. 242).

''Universal salvation rests on progression and probation � No final judgment awaits mortals �" (Science and Health, p. 291) 11. Disease and Death. Christian Scientists claim that since organic disease does not exist, "the cause of all so-called disease is mental" [i.e., 'the belief in sin is thereby the cause of it'], "a mistaken belief" (Science and Health, p. 377). They say that since our physical bodies do not exist, disease and death are only illusions (Science and Health, pp. 348,386). [To the contrary, the Bible teaches that sin, sickness, and evil are not an illusion, but a result of man�s willful choice to rebel against a Holy God, and death (both physical and the spiritual eternal separation from God) is the result of sin (Rom.

3:10, 23; 5:12-14; 1 John 1:8-10).] They believe they have restored Christ's principles of divine healing through their practices of mental healing; i.e., the healing performed by Christian Science involves helping a person to deny the reality of his illness, and thereby, any failure to heal is due to a person's inability to overcome his belief. Mary Baker Eddy claimed to have this power of healing (called Divine Science), though she never provided any tangible proof of it. [HJB] [Whereas the Christian Science approach to healing may help psychosomatic illnesses, it has been scientifically demonstrated that it is not effective with real illness. In fact, studies comparing the cumulative death rates of practicing Christian Scientists with control groups have shown significantly higher death rates among the Christian Scientists (Journal of American Medical Association, September 22/29, 1989, pp 1657-58; and Morbidity Weekly Report, August 23, 1991, pp. 579-582). ] 12. The "Gospel" of Christian Science.

Jesus, who possessed the Christ consciousness as do all men to a lesser extent, went to the cross, not to bring about forgiveness of sin, for sin is an illusion, but rather to demonstrate that death is an illusion. On the morning of the resurrection, the supposed physical body of Jesus was reproduced in its original illusionary form, for all matter is illusion, and thereby demonstrated to mankind that all could do the same by denying the reality of sin and death. Jesus' "seeming" death on the cross was not intended to pay for our sins, but to prove the unreality of sin, disease, and death. The Bible is full of mistakes. Jesus' words were recorded by "dull disciples ... in a decaying language," and must be spiritually interpreted through Christian Science. To put it another way: "Jesus was laid down as the result of apparent death, into a fictitious tomb, in an unreal body, to make an unnecessary atonement for sins that had never been a reality and had been committed in an imaginary body, and that He saves from non-existing evil those headed toward an imaginary hell, the false fancy of an erroneous Mortal Mind" (J.K. VanBaalen, The Chaos of Cults ). 13. Conclusion.

Christian Science offers some real enticements -- a "spiritually scientific" method for healing, victory over life's circumstances, and guaranteed salvation. All one has to do to receive these blessings is to study Eddy's writings and obey them to the letter. She was God's messenger to this age and her writings are considered infallible. Just obey her teaching, and learn to think as she thought, and you will be victorious. The physical dangers of Christian Science are obvious. Since they are taught that learning about their bodies is spiritually harmful, Christian Scientists are ill equipped to understand the symptoms of illness. They often suffer needlessly from treatable ailments and neglect life-threatening conditions that could be cured if treated in their early stages. * Unless otherwise cited, six primary sources were used for this report: (1) Grolier's 1995 Multimedia Encyclopedia ;(2) Funk & Wagnall's Encyclopedia ; (3) "Christian Science, Attempting a Comeback," MCO Journal, Spring 2001, pp.

8-11, 15; (4) " Christian Science ," Craig Branch (Watchman Fellowship Profile, 1997); (5) Examining & Exposing Cultic & Occultic Movements, Jack Sin, "Christian Science Examined," April 2000, pp. 26-31; and (6) What They Believe, The Origin and Current Status of Christian Science The Origin and Current Status of Christian Science Stephen Barrett, M.D. In about 1850, Phineas Parkhurst Quimby of Maine used Anton Mesmer’s ideas of animal magnetism to develop his own healing approach. Quimby would place his hands on a sick patient’s head and abdomen and encourage supposed magnetic healing forces to flow through them. He claimed that diagnosis and cure resulted from the individual’s faith in him. He professed that conventional medicine was useless, that disease itself was “error,” and that only health was “truth.” In 1862, Quimby treated Mary Baker Glover for a spinal problem that had failed to respond to orthodox medical care. The water massage and hypnotism that he used reportedly had a positive effect. On awakening from her trance Glover found herself cured.

She concluded, however, that her cure was not due to Quimby but to “truth in Christ.” In 1875 she published Science and Health, which described her theories about religion based on the Bible and some of Quimby’s ideas. She said that God was the author and that she was only the writer. In 1877 she married for the third time, becoming Mary Baker Eddy, and named her new philosophy Christian Science. The Church of Christ, Scientist was founded in 1879. Mary Baker Eddy represented herself as the supreme healer and as infallible as Christ. She claimed to be able to perform miracles and said she had healed many people with crippling disabilities. She demanded absolute obedience to her system as well as to her person. She could not bear to be contradicted or found wrong. In her determination to justify herself on all counts, she frequently twisted evidence and facts to her purposes. Her writings contain many contradictions [1]. Faulty Beliefs and Practices Christian Science contends that illness is an illusion caused by faulty beliefs, and that prayer heals by replacing bad thoughts with good ones. Christian Science practitioners work by trying to argue the sick thoughts out of the patient’s mind.

Consultations can take place in person, by telephone, or even by mail. Individuals may also be able to attain correct beliefs by themselves through prayer or concentration. In Science and Health [2], Eddy reported that her experiments with homeopathy had made her "skeptical as to material curative methods." After noting that extreme homeopathic dilutions removed all trace of the original active ingredient, she concluded: Metaphysics, as taught in Christian Science, is the next stately step beyond homeopathy. . . . Christian Science exterminates the drug, and rests on the Mind alone as the curative Principle, acknowledging that the divine Mind has all power. Homeopathy mentalizes a drug with such repetition of thought-attenuations, that the drug becomes more like the human mind than the substratum of this so-called mind, which we call matter; and the drug's power of action is proportionately increased. A pamphlet of the Christian Science Publishing Society states that “every student of Christian Science has the God-given ability to heal the sick.” To become a practitioner, an individual takes 2 weeks of “primary class instruction” from a qualified teacher. The course is based on questions and answers from Science and Health.

When training is completed, “C.S.” may be placed after the person’s name. After 3 years of full-time practice, a practitioner may apply for the 6-day “normal class.” Completion merits the degree of Bachelor of Christian Science (C.S.B.) and certifies the person as a teacher who may give primary instruction to 30 pupils a year. Devout Christian Scientists do not use medications and usually eschew medical aid. They are opposed to vaccination, immunization, and quarantine for contagious diseases, although official church policy advises members to comply with state laws. A physician or midwife may be used during childbirth. A physician may also be used to set a broken bone if no medication is administered. The weekly magazine Christian Science Sentinel publishes several “testimonies” in each issue. To be considered for publication, an account must merely be “verified” by three individuals who “can vouch for the integrity of the testifier or know of the healing.” Believers have claimed that prayer has produced recovery from anemia, arthritis, blood poisoning, corns, deafness, defective speech, multiple sclerosis, skin rashes, total body paralysis, visual difficulties, and various injuries.

Most of these accounts contain little detail, and many of the diagnoses were made without medical consultation. The church also publishes The Christian Science Monitor, a daily newspaper. Christian Scientists may legally practice in all states. Medicare and some insurance companies cover care given by Christian Science practitioners, and their services are also tax-deductible as a medical expense for federal income-tax purposes. It is not known how many members continue to fully accept Mary Baker Eddy’s premise that disease is an illusion, or how many continue to visit practitioners instead of physicians. Eyeglasses, hearing aids, and dental treatment are used by some members who still maintain that illness is the consequence of mental error. Consequences of Medical Neglect Rita Swan, Ph.D., whose 16-month-old son Matthew died of meningitis in 1977 under the care of two Christian Science practitioners [3], quickly collected allegations of 75 deaths and 95 serious injuries to children of Christian Scientists [4]. Angered by her experience, she formed Children’s Healthcare Is a Legal Duty, Inc. (CHILD) to work for legal reforms that could protect children from inappropriate treatment by faith healers [5]. She also sued the church but lost the case.

During the proceedings, church officials testified that the church had no training, workshops, or meetings for practitioners that included any discussion on how to evaluate the seriousness of a child’s condition [6]. A 1993 lawsuit following the death of an 11-year-old boy resulted in a $1.5 million judgment against the boy’s mother and stepfather and two Christian Science practitioners. Press reports indicate that the boy died after passing into diabetic coma while the mother prayed at his bedside and the practitioner took notes about his condition [6]. During an appearance on the “Donahue” show the Swans were asked why Matthew’s illness had not been reported to state health authorities as required by law in Michigan. They replied that no one had made the diagnosis. Devout believers, they did not want to face possible abandonment by the church if they sought a medical opinion. The broadcast triggered many responses, including this one from 43-year-old Paul Michener of Waynesville, Ohio: At age nine, my left leg was burned in a gasoline fire (1st to 3rd degree). Although the area burned was not too large, from the ankle to just above the knee, it became a lengthy trauma. . . .

I was fifteen years old before the injury had grown closed with scar tissue. In the meantime, the knee became stiff and the pain was beyond description. I was bedridden for about two years and walked on crutches for another two and a half years. Today I walk with a four-inch limp, a curved spine, and some recurring back and hip pain. . . . I have undergone three surgical operations in the last four years trying to patch up the damage done by this insidious philosophy. I find it neither Christian nor a science. . . . Today when I look at our nine-year-old daughter, I ask how could any “loving” and “religious” parent put his child through such an experience. Two studies suggest that Christian Scientists who rarely consult doctors pay a high price for avoiding medical care. The first study, study published in 1989, compared alumni records from Principia College, a Christian Science school in Elsah, Illinois, with records from the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas.

Even though Christian Science tenets forbid the use of alcohol and tobacco, the death rates among those who had graduated from Principia between 1934 and 1948 were higher than those of their University of Kansas counterparts (26.2% vs. 20.9% in men, and 11.3% vs. 9.9% in women). [7] The second study compared Christian Scientists and Seventh-day Adventists (who also are admonished to abstain from cigarettes and alcohol but use scientifically oriented medical care) and found even greater differences in the death rates [8]. Undeserved Political Privilege In August 1996, a federal court judge ruled that Medicare and Medicaid payments for Christian Science nursing violate the Constitutional principle of church-state separation. The ruling came in response to a suit by CHILD and two individuals. At that time, about 500 Christian Science nurses practiced in the United States. (Today, only 20 are listed in the church's online directory.) When the suit was filed, CHILD noted in a news release that these nurses are neither licensed nor trained in science-based nursing.

The release also stated: Christian Science nurses cannot take a pulse, use a fever thermometer, give an enema or even a backrub. They have no training in recognizing contagious diseases. They have been retained to attend sick children and have sat taking notes as the children suffered and died, but have not called for medical care nor recommended that parents obtain it. The notes of these . . . nurses indicate that they observed children having “heavy convulsions,” vomiting repeatedly, and urinating uncontrollably. They have seen the children moaning in pain and too weak to get out of bed. They have seen their eyes roll upward and fix in a glassy stare. One Christian Science nurse force-fed a toddler as he was dying of a bowel obstruction. Although the court ruled in CHILD’s favor, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) rescued the Church by engineering passage of a law providing for Medicare payment for “religious non-medical health care.” CHILD sued under the new law but was not successful. Membership Declining The Christian Science Church is declining rapidly. Between 1971 and 2009 the number of U.S.

practitioners and teachers listed in the Christian Science Journal fell from about 5,000 to about 1,160 and the number of churches fell from about 1,800 to about 900 [9]. In November 2005, Rita Swan noted: The Christian Science Monitor had over 175,000 subscribers in 1988. Today it has 53,203 subscribers worldwide, but its circulation has fallen by more than 10% in the past six months. Even more startling, the Christian Science Board of Directors recently told a regional membership gathering that only 15,000 of those subscribers are members of the Christian Science church. (Thousands of the subscribers are libraries.) The Manual of the Mother Church, which provides the rules for church members, requires all members to subscribe to all church periodicals if they can afford it. Many of those subscriptions are going to homes with only one church member (a widow, a single person, or a person who married outside the faith). It therefore seems highly likely that the Christian Science church today has no more than 30,000 members.

Around the time of World War II, when the church had to report its membership to the government in order to be allowed to have military chaplains, it reported having 268,915 members in 1936 [10]. In March 2016, Swan sent me this update: The Christian Science church will not disclose how many members it has, but one can estimate from U.S. Postal Service data. Because of the class of postage used, the USPS requires the church to report how many copies of their Christian Science Sentinel they mail worldwide. The figures for the past 20 years are: 1996 15,818 15,362 At least 1,000 of those copies are going to church "reading rooms" rather than private homes. In Article VIII, Section 14, of the Manual, the church's governing instrument, founder Mary Baker Eddy decreed: "It shall be the privilege and duty of every member, who can afford it, to subscribe for the periodicals which are the organs of this Church. . .

." Some homes would have two Christian Science church members in them, and perhaps some members believe they are too poor to pay for the magazine, but those would be few and far between because the theology encourages people to believe in "abundance." It is also possible that some of the drop is the result of switching from the print to the online version. But I believe it is safe to estimate that the Christian Science Church has fewer than 40,000 members in the entire world. The Christian Science Church's decline is not surprising because its doctrines have little appeal to modern youth. For Additional Information God's Perfect Child: Living and Dying in the Christian Science Church (Caroline Fraser) References Kinsolving L, Barrett S. The miracle merchants. In Barrett S, Jarvis WT, editors. The Health Robbers: A Close Look at Quackery in America. Amherst, N.Y., Prometheus Books, 1993. Eddy MB. Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, pp 152-157. Reprinted by First Church of Christ Scientists, Boston, 1994. Mathew Swan . Quackwatch Web site, June 18, 1998.

Swan R. Faith healing, Christian Science, and the medical care of children. New England Journal of Medicine 309:1639–1641, 1983. Swan R, Swan D. Civil suits against Christian Science providers; no standards established. CHILD Newsletter, No 1, 1991. Christian Scientists challenged. Physicians Financial News 14(3):23, 1996. About - The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.com We offer multiple perspectives and in-depth analysis. We resist the sensational in favor of the meaningful This approach has served our readers and story subjects well over the years, winning us seven Pulitzer Prizes and more than a dozen Overseas Press Club awards. Our voice We are an independent voice, devoid of the corporate allegiances and pressures that critics say too often skew today's media. We seek to give our readers the information they need to come to their own constructive conclusions. Since 1908, we have been published as a public service by The First Church of Christ, Scientist . For more information, see our FAQ section below.

Our coverage We deliver global news via our website and mobile site, weekly digital edition , digital app , weekly print magazine , Daily News Briefing and email newsletters . FAQ 1. Is the Monitor a religious publication? No, it’s a real news organization owned by a church – The First Church of Christ, Scientist , in Boston, Mass. , USA. Everything in the Monitor is international and US news and features, except for one religious article in the weekly magazine and Daily News Briefing – a version of which has appeared each day since 1908, at the request of the Monitor’s founder, Mary Baker Eddy. In an age of corporate conglomerates dominating the news media, the Monitor’s combination of church ownership, public-service mission, and commitment to covering the world gives the Monitor a uniquely independent voice in journalism. In fact, unlike most US news organizations, the Monitor does not rely primarily on wire services, like AP and Reuters, for its international coverage. We have one of the strongest networks of global correspondents in the news industry. Each year, we typically report stories from more than 350 places in 100 countries around the world. 2. Why does the Christian Science church own a news organization?

One answer might be found in a story the Monitor’s Washington bureau chief, David Cook, related in a talk several years ago: "Consider this case. It is 1907. An elderly New England woman finds herself being targeted by Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World. She is 86 years old and holds some unconventional religious beliefs that she expounds in a book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. The book becomes a bestseller, making her wealthy and a well-known public figure. The New York World decides she is incapable of managing her own affairs and persuades some of her friends and her two sons to sue for control of her estate. Although Boston and New Hampshire newspapers and major wire services interview this woman and find her competent, the New York World is unrelenting. The lady in question finally is taken to court where the case against her is dropped. And the next year this woman, Mary Baker Eddy , founds The Christian Science Monitor . Given her experience with the press, it is not all that surprising that she sets as the Monitor’s goal 'to injure no man, but to bless all mankind.' In one of life’s little ironies, Joseph Pulitzer went on to endow the Pulitzer prizes for journalistic excellence.

And Mrs. Eddy's newspaper has gone on to win seven Pulitzer Prizes so far, the latest in 2002 for editorial cartooning. Mrs. Eddy had been thinking about a newspaper for a long time before 1907. Way back in 1883 she wrote: 'Looking over the newspapers of the day, one naturally reflects that it is dangerous to live, so loaded with disease seems the very air. These descriptions carry fears to many minds, to be depicted in some future time upon the body. A periodical of our own will counteract to some extent this public nuisance; for through our paper we shall be able to reach many homes with healing, purifying thought.'" 3. Does the Monitor have an agenda? We are not about promoting any specific set of policies, actions or ideologies. The founder of the Monitor was convinced that what reaches and affects thought ultimately shapes experiences and moves our world forward. News, therefore, should be thought-provoking, trustworthy, and engaging. We seek to give our readers the information and multiple perspectives they need in order to develop their own constructive conclusions. 4. If the Monitor's news is secular, why is "Christian Science" in its name?

It's about honesty and purpose. We do not hide the fact that the Christian Science church has stood behind this publication for more than 100 years. While some might argue that not having those words would give it wider appeal, to remove them would mislead people about the organization that supports the Monitor. Eddy knew this from the outset. She insisted, against strong opposition from some of her advisers and church officers, that the words “Christian Science” should be in the paper’s name. 5. Do church leaders determine or influence the Monitor’s editorial content? The Board of Directors of the First Church of Christ, Scientist, has oversight over Monitor editorials and editorial cartoons, but rarely edits content. The board selects the Monitor’s editor, whose staff chooses stories they feel are most meaningful to our readers. 6. Why doesn’t the Monitor endorse political candidates? The Monitor’s editors believe readers should decide for themselves who is best qualified for public office. Through our extensive political coverage from Capitol Hill and in races around the country, we strive to provide all the information necessary for voters to make political decisions most appropriate for them, their communities, and the nation. 7. How would I find out more about the Monitor’s founder and Christian Science?

For more about Mary Baker Eddy, the pioneering woman who founded the Monitor, see The Mary Baker Eddy Library for the Betterment of Humanity at . Visit for information about Christian Science and our publisher, The First Church of Christ, Scientist. Here you can learn more about Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, the premier work by Monitor founder Mary Baker Eddy. You’ll also find articles, discussions, and events showing how people are using spiritual ideas in their daily lives. For more information about The Christian Science Monitor, please e-mail us . What is Christian Science? - Christian Science Christian Science Search all of Christian Science Search What is Christian Science? Mary Baker Eddy , who discovered and founded Christian Science, defined it as “the law of God, the law of good . . . ” (Rudimental Divine Science, p. 1). In Christian Science, God is understood to be infinite Love, and so invariably good that a clear glimpse of this through prayer has power to heal, redeem, and restore anyone. A lifelong student of the Bible, who yearned from her youth to find deeper answers to the persistent question of human suffering, Mary Baker Eddy turned wholeheartedly to God when she experienced a critical injury in 1866.

As she read accounts of Jesus’ swift, powerful healings, a new sense of God, Spirit, as the only reality flooded her thought and healed her. Impelled to understand the Principle behind this experience, she continued to search for and find in the Bible the underlying laws of God that would form the basis of her teaching and practice of Christian Science. From her time to ours, many have found that when they understand their relationship to God better through this Science of Christianity, their health is restored and character transformed. And each healing inspires a heartfelt desire to help others know and experience how loved we all are by God. Read Mary Baker Eddy's primary work, the textbook of Christian Science, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures . Beliefs and teachings Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science, outlined a few brief tenets, rather than a creed or doctrinal beliefs, that summarize the essential points of Christian Science, all of which are rooted in the Bible. Christian Science Origins, Christian Science History, Christian Science Beliefs Share Christian Science (officially, the Church of Christ, Scientist) is a religion that focuses on spiritual healing through prayer. Its stated purpose is to restore the healing works of the early Christian church.

Founded in the late 19th century C.E. by Mary Baker Eddy, Christian Science teachings agree in many ways with Protestant theology while also significantly differing from that theology. In 1875, Eddy wrote about Christianity and healing in her major book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, which is meant to explicate the Bible and especially the healings of Jesus. These two books are the joint Pastor of the Christian Science church, in place of clergy. Both are read in individual prayer and communal services. Some distinctive Christian Science teachings include the idea that the creation is entirely spiritual and whole, while matter and sin are the illusive "mist" that befogged creation. Jesus saved humanity from this "mist" of sickness, sin, and death and was therefore the "remedy for Adam." Heaven and hell are not literal places. "Heaven" is being in complete harmony with God and "Hell" is being outside that harmony. God is referred to as "Father-Mother" and Jesus is considered divine, but not God. Although there is no clergy, some members participate in full-time healing ministries. These "practitioners" treat and heal through prayer those who request help.

Christian Scientist Christian Scientist Christian Scientist: The Meaning A Christian Scientist is a member of The Church of Christ, Scientist (Also referred to as CCS). The church is also recognized by the term The Christian Science Church, which was its original title and is not associated with the Church of Scientology . The organization was founded by Mary Baker Eddy in 1879. Currently, the CCS is run by a five-person Board of Directors headquartered at the First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts. The CCS has approximately 2,300 churches in 68 countries. Christian Scientist: The Foundation According to Christian Scientist literature, Mary Ann Morse Baker was born in 1821. She was a frail youngster who suffered from many illnesses. In 1844, her first husband, George Glover, died of yellow fever and left her in poverty with an infant son. Shortly thereafter, Mary was forced to give up her son to foster care. In 1853, she married her second husband, Daniel Patterson. After being miraculously healed from injuries suffered during a crippling accident, Mary claimed to have uncovered the secret of "Divine Science." She went on to teach her techniques of healing and spiritual philosophy to all who were intrigued.

In 1875, after her divorce from Daniel Patterson, she moved from New Hampshire to Massachusetts and founded the Christian Science Association. It was there that she published her foundational book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. In 1877, she married her third husband, Asa Albert Eddy, and together they officially founded the CCS. Asa died in 1882, and Mary went on to establish "The Mother Church," The First Church of Christ, Scientist, of Boston, Massachusetts, in 1890. Mary died in 1910. Christian Scientist: The Doctrine Christian Scientist doctrine is found principally in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (S&H). Other CCS publications include The Christian Science Monitor, The Christian Science Journal, Herald of Christian Science, The Christian Science Sentinel, The World Monitor, and Christian Science Quarterly. Biblical Authority. Christian Science doctrine maintains that "as adherents of Truth, we take the inspired Word of the Bible as our sufficient guide to eternal Life" (S&H, p. 497). Nonetheless, Christian Science interprets the Bible in light of Mrs.

Eddy's writings, particularly S&H, in which she interprets the Bible according to her metaphysical presuppositions. She questions the textual reliability of the Bible, pointing to "the manifest mistakes in the ancient versions . . . these facts show how a mortal and material sense stole into the divine record, with its own hue darkening to some extent the inspired pages" (S&H, p. 139). Mrs. Eddy went on to apply new, spiritual meanings to common biblical terms. For example, "Jerusalem" is defined as "Mortal belief and knowledge obtained from the five corporeal senses" (S&H, p. 589). "Holy Ghost" is defined as "Divine Science; the development of eternal Life, Truth, and Love" (S&H, p. 588). God. They use impersonal synonyms for God, which lessens God's personal nature. "God is incorporeal, divine, supreme, infinite Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, Love" (S&H, p. 465). These are synonymous terms that "refer to one absolute God.

They are also intended to express the nature, essence, and wholeness of Deity." (S&H, p. 465). Spirit & Reality. Since God's essence is spirit or mind, and only that which reflects God's nature is real, then matter does not really exist. "Spirit is immortal Truth; matter is mortal error. Spirit is the real and eternal; matter is the unreal and temporal" (S&H, p. 468). Since matter does not exist and humanity reflects God's nature, then humanity is not really made of matter. "Spirit is God, and man is His image and likeness. Therefore man is not material; he is spiritual" (S&H, p. 468). Pain, death, sin, and disease are only illusions. "The only reality of sin, sickness, or death is the awful fact that unrealities seem real to human, erring beliefï¿½They are not true, because they are not of God" (S&H, p. 472). "The cause of all so-called disease is mental, a mortal fear, a mistaken belief or conviction of the necessity and power of ill-health" (S&H, p. 377).

Since matter, sin, disease, and death are illusions and are unreal, then people are not subject to them. "Through immortal Mind, or Truth, we can destroy all ills which proceed from mortal mind" (S&H, p. 374). Christian Scientist: What About Salvation? A Christian Scientist believes that sin and death are false notions (illusions). Therefore, salvation comes through understanding and overcoming these false beliefs and recognizing that humans are divine spirit and mind. "We acknowledge that the crucifixion of Jesus and his resurrection served to uplift faith to understand eternal Life, even the allness of Soul, Spirit, and the nothingness of matter" (S&H, p. 497). However, salvation is not the result of some special wisdom set forth in the S&H. The Bible tells us that salvation is received only by acknowledging and repenting of our sin (real, not illusion), and putting our faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Learn More Now! WHAT DO YOU THINK? - We have all sinned and deserve God's judgment. God , the Father, sent His only Son to satisfy that judgment for those who believe in Him.

Jesus , the creator and eternal Son of God, who lived a sinless life, loves us so much that He died for our sins, taking the punishment that we deserve, was buried , and rose from the dead according to the Bible . If you truly believe and trust this in your heart, receiving Jesus alone as your Savior , declaring, " Jesus is Lord ," you will be saved from judgment and spend eternity with God in heaven. What is your response?

Question: Who founded the Christian Science Church?
Answer: Mary Baker Eddy