The Christian Science Tradition

1 The Church of Christ, Scientist, was founded in1879 and reorganized in 1892 by Mary BakerEddy, a Congregationalist who had experienced adramatic healing in 1866 while reading a biblicalpassage about Jesus healing powers. For many years,Eddy had had limited success in achieving healthusing a wide variety of methods, most notably home-opathy and the mind-cure methods of Maine healerPhineas Quimby. The moment of her healing repre-sented a breakthrough not only in her search forhealth but in her understanding of the nature ofreality. The essence of her 1866 discovery, which shecalled Christian Science , was that reality is, in truth,spiritual, and that the material world is only thehuman mind s primitive, distorted view of reality,which she understood as God s kingdom, always athand. Eddy spent the next several years developingan extensive theology and metaphysics to help othersunderstand the implications of her discovery; the firstedition of her magnum opus, Science and Health withKey to the Scriptures, was published in 1875 underthe title Science and metaphysical and theological basis of ChristianScience is distinctive; comprehending it can requiretime and careful study.

2 Adherents of Christian Science ,called Scientists, are considered students and areThe Christian Science TraditionReligious Beliefs andHealthcare DecisionsEdited by Deborah AbbottRevised by Stephen Gottschalk ContentsThe Individual and the 5 Patient-Caregiver RelationshipFamily, Sexuality, and Procreation6 Genetics8 Organ and Tissue Transplantation8 Mental Health9 Medical Experimentation9and ResearchDeath and Dying 10 Special Concerns11 Part of the Religious Traditions and HealthcareDecisions handbook seriespublished by the Park Ridge Center for the Study of Health, Faith, and EthicsTHEPARKRIDGECENTERD eborah Abbott, , formerly with the Park Ridge Center, iscurrently affiliated with Georgia State Gottschalk, , is a scholar in the field of religiousstudies, specializing in Christian to spend time each day studying theBible and Science and Health.

3 Through thisstudy, they seek to change their view of realityand to understand more fully the true nature ofGod. One of the major principles of ChristianScience is that because God is not the cause ofsin, sickness, and disharmony, these can be over-come through a deeper understanding of divinetruth. Christian Science teaches that God couldnot create disharmony; therefore, because God isthe creator of all things, it follows that dishar-mony is not in accord with God s will and has noontological reality however real it seems toconventional human perception. Another majorprinciple is that the miracles of Jesus (includinghis healings, resurrection, and ascension) exem-plify ultimate freedom from the bondage of phys-ical laws and that we, too, should strive to freeourselves from the delusion that mortality andthe suffering it entails are divinely instituted andin consonance with God s will.

4 Jesus miracles donot represent exceptions to the laws of nature butrather illustrate what can happen when one isable to see the reality of God shining through thedifficulties that only appear to be true. WhenJesus was confronted with a diseased person, forinstance, he did not see the physical appearanceas a fixed reality; rather, he discerned the pres-ence of a spiritual individual perfectly created byGod. The clarity of Jesus vision brought imme-diate health to the individual. To ChristianScientists, Jesus represents perfect understandingof and harmony with God and therefore stands asthe model for all Science , though distinct in manyways, has more links to traditional Christianitythan its critics (and some of its adherents) mayhave supposed. Mrs. Eddy, for example, teachesthat the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are threeaspects or offices of one God, signifying God asFather-Mother; Christ as divine manhood; andthe Holy Comforter as God s sustaining power,which Mrs.

5 Eddy believes has been revealedthrough Christian Science . Christian Science is Christian in that it grew out of the Christiantradition, relies heavily on the Bible, andupholds Jesus as the Savior and Way-shower ;it has always distinguished itself from othermetaphysical traditions (to which it is oftencompared) by its focus on Christ Jesus and itsChristian roots, and especially by its emphasison the need for redemption. Christian Science is scientific in that Eddy believed that herdiscovery embodied a truth so real that it couldbe repeatedly verified by anyone willing to prac-tice its divine Principle according to its fixedrules for BELIEFS CONCERNINGHEALTH CAREC hristian Scientists believe that all illness andsuffering are ultimately illusory. Obviously,Scientists feel sick and experience disease asothers do, but they believe illness results from amistaken view of the nature of reality, indicating aneed for spiritual renewal.

6 One prominentChristian Scientist has framed the issue in thisway:This [understanding] does not deny that within astrictly physical framework of causation, certainconclusions are warranted for example, that manyinfections have a bacterial origin. And a ChristianScientist would not presume to question the accu-racy from a medical standpoint of a competentdiagnosis. What a Christian Scientist does questionis the physical framework of causation itself .. Totake a medical analogy, a Christian Scientistregards all forms of disease as symptomatic of anunderlying condition that needs to be healed. Thisis the healing, or spiritual wholeness, that he orshe seeks to effect through therefore focus not on the symptom,the sickness, or disease, but rather on the under-lying condition flawed human perception andestrangement from God.

7 Through their prayersand practices, Christian Scientists hope to alignhuman understanding with God s divine, disease-free reality, thereby restoring spirituality to the2 THECHRISTIANSCIENCETRADITION: RELIGIOUSBELIEFS ANDHEALTHCAREDECISIONS human spirit and destroying the illusion ofdisease. A renewed relationship with God is theprimary goal. Physical healing is simply a naturalby-product. Eddy wrote, Healing physical sick-ness is the smallest part of Christian Science . Itis only the bugle-call to thought and action, inthe higher range of infinite goodness. Theemphatic purpose of Christian Science is thehealing of sin; and this task, sometimes, may beharder than the cure of disease; because, whilemortals love to sin, they do not love to be sick. 2 Despite her view of bodily healing as secondaryto the healing of sin, Eddy still saw it as a vitalpart of Christian salvation.

8 Christian Scienceperiodicals regularly publish dramatic personalaccounts of healing. Since 1900, over 53,900such accounts have been published, mostinvolving physical to Christian Science , drugs do nothave real power; they are effective only insofaras they are supported by general human faith inmaterial cause and effect. Certain results,supposed to proceed from drugs, are reallycaused by the faith in them which the falsehuman consciousness is educated to feel. 4 Because this faith is fundamentally misguided,the effect can only be temporary. Eddyexplained, A hypodermic injection of morphineis administered to a patient, and in twentyminutes the sufferer is quietly asleep. To himthere is no longer any pain. Yet any physician allopathic, homoeopathic, botanic, eclectic willtell you that the troublesome material cause isunremoved, and that when the soporific influ-ence of the opium is exhausted, the patient willfind himself in the same pain, unless the beliefwhich occasions the pain has meanwhile beenchanged.

9 5 Christian Scientists and others in need ofhealing often rely on Christian Science practi-tioners, professionals who are committed to theministry of healing. This ministry involvesconsultation with the sick, discussion ofChristian Science principles, and prayer. Inaddition to treating physical ailments, practi-tioners often treat alcoholism, anxiety, stress,family difficulties, and other such problems. Allpractitioners listed in Christian Science periodi-cals have undergone an intensive two-weekcourse of training and are committed to full-time ministry. Consultation with a practitioneroften occurs over the telephone, and he or shenormally receives a modest Science nurses complement thework of practitioners with nonmedical physicalcare. They provide spiritual support; feed andbathe patients; help patients use canes, walkers,and wheelchairs; prepare meals; and provideother nonmedical care.

10 Especially important istheir mission of maintaining a mental atmo-sphere conducive to spiritual healing. ChristianScience nurses do not receive any informationabout medication or physical therapy as part oftheir training. (See Pain control and palliativecare, below.)More than thirty Christian Science nursinghomes and sanatoria are located in the UnitedStates and Canada. Most major health insurancecompanies cover the cost of Christian Sciencecare, including practitioners fees; unreimbursedpayments are deductible as medical expenses forthe purposes of federal income tax Scientists, sole reliance on ChristianScience treatment is clearly preferred over theuse of medicine and medical treatments,although individual Christian Scientists arepermitted to decide for themselves which kind of care they receive. Christian Science teaches,however, that while both medicine and ChristianScience seek the healing of the patient, they reston very different bases and are therefore incom-patible with each other in practical situations.