Five Things you should
know about Christian Science
A. Kruse
1.) The Origin of Christian Science has been highly
criticized.
Walter Martin wrote, “According to an authorized
statement published by Christian Science Publishing Society
of Boston, Eddy, after a fall on a slippery sidewalk
February 1, 1866, was pronounced ‘incurable’ and given three
days to live by the attending physician, Dr. Alvin M.
Cushing. The third day, allegedly her last on earth, Eddy
(the statement makes out) cried for a Bible, read Matthew
9:2, and rose completely healed. Thus the statement claims
‘she discovered’ Christian Science” (157). However, in later
years Dr. Cushing was questioned under oath, and claimed
that Mrs. Eddy was in fact very healthy that year that she
claimed to be close to death. He said that he hadn’t found
her in a crippled state, but that she was rather healthy
when he made his doctor calls. There are also many other
claims that prove Mrs. Eddy’s fall to be false. So the way
that Mrs. Eddy claimed to discover Christian Science is
falsehood to the core.
True Christianity is based on truth which is the Word of
God, and more specifically Jesus Christ Himself. John 14:6,
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the
life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me”. Jesus is
the truth, and He is the only way to God the Father! The
Bible is true, and we can trust in it. All discovered
science and history does not contradict the Bible or prove
it to be false, but rather coincides with it. This should
strengthen the fact in our mind that the Bible is truth.
2.) Believers in Christian Science teach that there is
no physical universe.
One of the core beliefs of Christian Science is that
there is no physical universe. There is no matter, for mind
and matter are opposites and cannot exist together. It is
either one or the other that is a reality. So Mrs. Eddy
concluded that mind exists rather than matter, because
matter is evil, mind is good. She also taught that God could
not have created matter since He is the “divine Mind” (Tanis
49). Though it is hard to follow this logic, Mrs. Eddy
believed this to be true and taught many others her life
philosophy.
However the Bible teaches that matter is reality. God
created the universe in seven days and said that it was good
(Genesis 1:31). Though He was not the creator of evil (as
Christian Science also teaches), He has provided redemption
for all mankind which includes the forgiveness of our sins.
Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God.” (See Romans 5:12) Because of mankind’s
sinfulness we fall short in every area. However, God sent
His Son Jesus Christ, to take our sin upon Him when He died
upon the cross. We must only receive this free gift of
salvation by faith, believing in Jesus and His work on the
cross. Philippians 2:8 says, “For by grace are ye saved
through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of
God”.
3.) Christian Scientists teach that pain & sickness
originate in the mind.
As a child Mary Baker suffered from an unusual disease
causing her to lapse into fits of hysteria. This continued
until the end of her life. She also suffered from a spinal
illness. On her quest for true and lasting healing she
encountered Dr. Quimbly later in her life. She claimed to
have been healed by this man, and went on to advocate and
even plagiarize many of his ideas and teachings. One of the
core beliefs which Christian Science teaches is that there
is no physical universe. Hence, there is no sickness or
pain, or even sin unless it is first originated in the mind.
Mrs. Eddy taught that if a person is sick it is because
he/she thinks it to be so. She also taught that death is an
illusion and not a reality or fact of life. Mrs. Eddy came
to this conclusion through this “logical” means: God is all,
God is mind, and therefore mind is all (Tanis 50). This is a
pantheistic view of the world, that God is all and in all.
Though this is not a true logical process, it was Mary’s
way of molding the Bible to fit her personal belief system.
However, the Bible is truth, God should be our standard to
which we look. Instead of trying to fit Him into our mold or
standards, we are to measure ourselves against God and His
Word. Though Mrs. Eddy incorporated the Bible in many areas
of her teaching, she also distorted it in many ways. One way
was through making mind God, and thereby turning the focus
off of God and onto the circumstances surrounding life.
Rather in our Christian life we are to focus and Christ and
His example, not on ourselves and our temporary problems. 1
Peter 2:21 says, “For hereunto were ye called: because
Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye
should follow His steps.”
4.) Eddy's book, Science and Health with Key to the
Scripture, claims that it alone is the only true
interpretation of Scripture.
Mrs. Eddy claimed to have received this piece of
literature as direct revelation from God. She also declared
that Revelation 12 was describing herself because this
revelation she had received was indeed the key to the
Scriptures. Kenneth Boa states, “She also said that the
ideas contained in it were original with her and that
plagiarism is wrong. A closer look as Science and Health
with Key to the Scriptures reveals, however, that Mrs. Eddy
plagiarized the ideas and writings of others. The
manuscripts of P. P. Quimbly and his ideas were the true
basis for her work” (84). There are also many other authors
the Mary Baker Eddy copied from, making it obvious that her
writings were not inspired, by the one true God of heaven.
In vast contrast the Bible stands true to its every claim.
The Bible is the inerrant and completely original. 2 Timothy
3:16 declares, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of
God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, and instruction in righteousness:” The Greek
word for inspiration in this verse is theopneustos which
means God breathed.
5.) The theology of Christian Science denies the deity
of Jesus Christ.
Mrs. Eddy taught that since God is good and perfect, and
matter is evil, then God could not have indwelt man or
become man at any time. They believe that there is no way
all the qualities of God could be encapsulated in one man.
Their explanation of Jesus Christ is that he was a good
prophet who walked the earth, a figment of Mary’s
imagination or thought life (Martin 163). This goes against
the truth of Scripture that teaches that Christ walked the
earth and is deity. He is the Son of God. The only One who
is able to take away the sin of the world (John 1:29), and
did so by dying on the cross for our sin. He is not just a
figment of imagination, but is Jesus Christ the Son of God,
whose life is recorded of by many ancient historians (such
as Josephus), and also in the Bible.
Sources:
Tanis , Edward J. . What the Sects Teach . Grand Rapids :
Baker Book House , 1958. Baker Eddy, Mary Science and Health
with Key to the Scriptures . Boston : The First Church of
Christ , 1971. Boa , Kenneth . Cults, World Religions, and
You . Wheaton, IL : Victor Books , 1977. Martin , Walter.
The Kingdom of the Cults . Minneapolis, MN : Bethany House,
2003. Holy Bible . New York : Oxford, 1982.
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2 Tim 4:2
Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season;
reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
KJV
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