CHRISTIAN SCIENCE

Introduction

Christian Scientists believe in an all-loving and infinite God who is knowable and can be progressively experienced in any individual’s life as the impartial source of all goodness. God is most clearly revealed in the Bible through the gospel accounts of the words and healing works of Jesus. This understanding of the Bible teachings as a practical resource for healing is explained in “the Christian Science textbook”, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.

In Science and Health (p 587) God is defined as “The great I AM; the all-knowing, all-seeing, all-acting, all-wise, all-loving, and eternal; Principle; Mind; Soul; Spirit; Life; Truth; Love; all substance; intelligence.” God loves and cares for each one of us as His perfect expression, or 'image' and 'likeness' as the first chapter of Genesis describes man.

What Does Christian Science Teach?

The teachings of Christian Science are based on the whole Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, especially on the teachings of Jesus, whom Christian Scientists consider to be the Saviour of mankind. In Christian Science, Christ, or the Son of God, is seen as the divine title of Jesus, because he so fully expressed God's spiritual, eternal nature. Jesus' teachings, such as the Sermon on the Mount, are applied to all life situations, including healthcare and healing, to promote resolution of difficulties great and small. The Science of Christianity is seen as the law of God, Spirit, which Jesus proved by his healing work and which is still comprehensible and applicable today. In endeavouring to follow, however modestly, Jesus' example, Christian Scientists face life’s challenges with prayer which starts from the basis of God's great love for his spiritual creation. Christian Science practitioners, who have experience in the healing ministry of Christian Science, are available full-time to help Christian Scientists and others who request it through this prayer-based approach to healing.

History of Christian Science

Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of the Christian Science church, formally known as the Church of Christ, Scientist, was born in 1821. A devout Christian, she spent the first 45 years of her life in a heartfelt spiritual search, which prepared her well for the second 45 years of her life. Shortly after a severe fall in 1866 which left her with internal injuries expected to prove fatal, she had a moment of profound spiritual illumination when she opened her Bible and read the gospel account of Jesus’ healing of the palsied man. She immediately rose from her bed, healed. Her deep Biblical studies over the next three years were directed towards understanding how such healing had happened and how it could serve mankind.

She began healing other people, and was encouraged by a doctor, who had witnessed her successful healing of a case of pneumonia, to write a book to enable others to understand the method she was using. The first edition of Science and Health was published in 1875. There is a substantial, documented record of healing over the 130 years since its publication.

The Christian Science church began in a modest way four years later, with the founding statement that is was organised as “a church designed to commemorate the word and works of our Master, which should reinstate primitive Christianity and its lost element of healing.” (Church Manual)

The Church Today

The centre of the worldwide Christian Science movement is The First Church of Christ, Scientist in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, also known as The Mother Church. Branches of The Mother Church are found in many countries around the world and each one is a lay church, its ordained Pastor being the Bible and the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. Two Readers are elected from among the members to conduct the services. The sermon each Sunday is a Bible Lesson with citations from these two books, which is distributed worldwide and studied daily during the week before the service at which it is read. There is also a Sunday School for children and teenagers on Sunday morning, as well as meetings every Wednesday evening when testimonies of Christian Science healing are shared.

The Christian Science Monitor, Other Publications, and Websites

Mary Baker Eddy founded the widely respected international secular daily newspaper The Christian Science Monitor in 1908 to counter the sensationalist yellow journalism of her day. Its object is “To injure no man, but to bless all mankind”. It has a reputation as an unbiased and informative newspaper, and has received seven Pulitzer Prizes for its fairness, trustworthiness, and in-depth reporting. It was launched online under www.csmonitor.com in 1996, one of the first newspapers to appear on the internet.

Other sources of articles on Christian Science and information, including a worldwide listing of churches and Christian Science practitioners, are the weekly Christian Science Sentinel and the monthly The Christian Science Journal as well as the websites www.christianscience.com and www.spirituality.com