Paul W. Manuel: Christian Science

THE CHURCH OF CHRIST SCIENTIST

Dr. Paul Manuel—1995

I. History

A. Founder—Mary Baker Eddy (Martin 1977:111-120)

1 Early years

a. Mary Baker Eddy was born on July 16, 1821 in Bow, New Hampshire (Robertson 1966:31) to Mark and Abigal Baker, the youngest of five children (three brothers and two sisters; Judah 1967:259; Smith 1941:17).
b. She grew up in a strict Congregationalist home, and her childhood was marked by frequent illness.

2. Three marriages

a. She married George W. Glover in December 1843, but he died seven months later of yellow fever, leaving Mary pregnant.
b. She next married Daniel M. Patterson, a dentist, in June 1853, but later divorced him on the grounds of abandonment.
c. She then married Asa G. Eddy, who died of a coronary thrombosis. Mary challenged the autopsy report, insisting the cause to be "arsenic poisoning mentally administered."

3. Major influences

a. Phineas P. Quimby, an osteopathic mesmerist, supposedly cured Mary of an acute spinal ailment in 1862. She later plagiarized his work to write Science and Health.
b. Francis Lieber, a German American publisher, wrote The Metaphysical Religion of Hegel, which Mrs. Eddy also plagiarized in Science and Health.

4. Christian Science

a. On February 1, 1866, Mrs. Eddy was mortally injured in a sidewalk fall but rose "completely cured" on the third day after reading Matt 9:2, having "discovered" Christian Science.
Matt 9:2 ...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 are forgiven.

b. She later claimed that the attending physician, Dr. Alvin M. Cushing, had pronounced her "incurable," although he denied this in a sworn thousand-word statement.

5. Its dissemination

a. Science and Health

Mrs. Eddy published the first edition in 1875.

b. The Mother Church, Boston (CM: 17-18)

The church organized on April 12, 1879 (incorporated on August 23, 1879; Robertson 1966:32) with Mary Baker Eddy as pastor (ordained in 1881).

c. The Massachusetts Metaphysical College, Boston

The college operated from 1881-1889.

6. Her death

Mrs. Eddy died in Boston on December 3, 1910 (Smith 1941:131).

B. Present Organization

1. Chairman, Board of Directors
2. Membership 200,000-225,000 (in 1978; Plowman 1979:37)
3. Practitioners
4. Institution: Massachusetts Metaphysical College, Boston (defunct)
5. Publishing: The Christian Science Publishing Society, Boston 6 Periodicals

a. The Christian Science Monitor (daily)
b. Christian Science Sentinel (weekly)
c. The Christian Science Journal (monthly)
d. The Herald of Christian Science (monthly or quarterly, for non-English speaking peoples)
e. Christian Science Quarterly-Bible Lessons

II. Doctrine

A. Bibliology

1. Authority asserted: The Bible is authoritative.

a. "The Bible has been my only authority. I have had no other guide in the 'straight and narrow way' of Truth." (SH 126-29)
b. "as adherents of truth, we take the inspired Word of the Bible as our sufficient guide to eternal life." (SH 497-3)
c. "I plant myself unreservedly on the teachings of Jesus, of his apostles, of the prophets." (SH 269-22)

2. Authority denied: The Bible is insufficient.

a. The Bible

1) Its corruption

"The decisions by vote of Church Councils.. .the manifest mistakes in the ancient versions; the thirty thousand different readings in the Old Testament, and the three hundred thousand in the New—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." (SH 139-15)

2) Its inaccuracy

a) "The second chapter of Genesis contains a statement of this material view of God and the universe, a statement which is the exact opposite of scientific truth." (SH 52126)
b) "The second chapter of Genesis, which portrays Spirit as supposedly cooperating with matter in constructing the universe, is based on...error." (SH 522-25)

3) Its relevance

"The material record of the Bible...is no more important to our well-being than the history of Europe and America." (MW 170)

4) Its hermeneutics

"[T]he scriptures cannot properly be interpreted in a literal way." (MW 169)

b. Mrs. Eddy's writings

1) Science and Health

a) It discusses "the divine Principle of healing." (SH x-22) under various headings (e.g., prayer, atonement, marriage, physiology, creation).

b) It includes Key to the Scriptures, which consists of four sections:

i. A "spiritual interpretation" (SH 502-19) of Gen 1:14:16 (necessitated because "the Word, in its earliest articulations, often seems so smothered by the immediate context as to require explication"; SH 5014) and selected portions of Revelation
ii. A modification of Ps 23 where "LOVE" replaces "the LORD"
iii. A glossary of terms as according to Christian Science
iv. A collection of testimonies affirming "the healing efficacy of Christian Science and particularly concerning the vast number of people who have been reformed and healed through the perusal or study of this book." (SH p. 600)

2) Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896

These are reprints with some revision of assorted articles first published in The Christian Science Journal since April 1883 (MW x-6), grouped under various headings (e.g., addresses, letters, sermons, history, poems, testimonials).

3) The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany

This is similar to Miscellaneous Writings, but covering the period 1897-1910.

4) Retrospection and Introspection

This is an autobiographical narrative that relates events leading to her discovery of Christian Science.

5) Manual of The Mother Church

It contains the rules and by-laws of The Mother Church as well as general instructions for branch churches and individual members.

6) Other works by Mary Baker Eddy include:

a) Christ and Christmas (poems)
b) Christian Healing
c) Messages to The Mother Church
d) No and Yes
e) The People's Idea of God
f) Poems
g) Pulpit and Press
h) Rudimental Divine Science
i) Unity of Good

c. Mrs. Eddy's authority

"No human pen nor tongue taught me the Science contained in this book, SCIENCE AND HEALTH; and neither tongue nor pen can overthrow it." (SH 110-17)

For a new member, "The BIBLE, together with SCIENCE AND HEALTH and other works by Mrs. Eddy, shall be his only textbooks." (CM 34-12)

B. Theology

Pantheistic: God is an impersonal force.

a. According to Christian Science

1) "God is infinite, the only Life, substance, Spirit, or Soul, the only intelligence of the universe, including man." (SH 33011)
2) "...God is All-in-all." (SH 33 1-11)
3) "He is divine Principle." (SH 331-18)
4) "What is God? God is incorporeal, divine, supreme, infinite Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, Love." (SH 465-8)

b. According to Scripture

Matt 22:37 ...Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

John 4:24b ...worship him....

1 Pet 3:21b ..Jesus Christ... 22a is on the right hand of God, having gone into heaven....

2 Anti-Trinitarian: God is a single force.

a. According to Christian Science

"The theory of three persons in one God (that is, a personal Trinity or Tr-unity) suggests polytheism, rather than the one ever-present I AM." (SH 256-9)

"Life, Truth and Love constitute the triune Person called God." (SH 331-26)

b. According to Scripture

Three persons were at Jesus' baptism. Matt 3:16 ...Jesus...went up straightway from the water...and he saw the Spirit of God descending...upon him; 17 and lo, a voice out of the heavens, saying, 'This is my beloved Son."

Three persons part of Jesus' commission. Matt 28:19 ...baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Three persons part of Paul's benediction. 2 Cor 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.

C. Christology

1. Deny his deity: Jesus is not God.

a. According to Christian Science

"The Christian who believes in the First Commandment is a monotheist. Thus he virtually unites with the Jew's belief in one God, and recognizes that Jesus Christ is not God, as Jesus himself declared, but is the Son of God." (SH 361-9)

b. According to Scripture

John 1:1c ...the Word was God.

John 8:58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was born, l am.

John 10:30 I and the Father are one.

2. Deny his incarnation: God did not physically become man.

a. According to Christian Science

1) "The Virgin-mother conceived this idea of God, and gave to her ideal the name of Jesus." (SH 29-17)
2) "Jesus was the offspring of Mary's selfconscious communion with God." (SH 29-32)
3) "The Christ is incorporeal, spiritual." (SH 332-11)
4) "Mary's conception of him was spiritual." (SH 332-26)

b. According to Scripture

John 1: 14a And the Word become flesh and dwelt among us....

Heb 10:5b ...a body didst thou prepare for me.

3. Deny his hypostatic union: Jesus was not both very God and very man.

a. According to Christian Science

1) "By these sayings Jesus meant, not that the human Jesus was or is eternal, but that the divine idea of Christ was and is so and therefore antedated Abraham; not that the corporeal Jesus was one with the Father." (SH 333-32)
2) "Jesus is the human man, and Christ is the divine idea." (SH 473-15)
3) "Jesus ...was not Christ." (MW p. 84)

b. According to Scripture

John 20:3 lb ...Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God....

Acts 17:3b ...this Jesus, whom I proclaim unto you, is the Christ....

2 John 7 For many deceivers are gone forth into the world, even they that confess not that Jesus Christ cometh in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.

4. Deny his death: Jesus did not die on the cross.

a. According to Christian Science

1) "His disciples believed Jesus to be dead while he was hidden in the sepulchre, whereas he was alive." (SH 44-28)
2) "Jesus' students, not sufficiently advanced fully to understand their Master's triumph, did not perform many wonderful works, until they saw him after his crucifixion and learned that he had not died." (SH 45-32)
3) "Jesus' unchanged physical condition after what seemed to be death was followed by his exaltation." (SH 46-20)

b. According to Scripture

John 19:33 ...they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already....

Rom 5:8 ...God commendeth his own love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Rom 10:9 ...if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

1 Cor 15:3b ...Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures.

Rev 1:18b ...I was dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore....

5. Deny his atonement: Jesus' death was not efficacious for sin.

a. According to Christian Science

1) "One sacrifice, however great, is insufficient to pay the debt of sin." (SH 23-3)
2) "Does erudite theology regard the crucifixion of Jesus chiefly as providing a ready pardon for all sinners who ask for it and are willing to be forgiven? Then we must differ." (SH 24-20)
3) "The efficacy of the crucifixion lay in the practical affection and goodness it demonstrated for mankind." (SH 24-27)
4) "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 as he went about his Father's business." (SH 25-6)

b. According to Scripture

Rom 5:9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, shall we be saved from the wrath of God through him.

Eph 1:7 ...we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses....

1 John 1:7b ...the blood of Jesus...cleanseth us from all sin.

D. Anthropology

1. Deny existence of matter: Physical things are not real.

a. According to Christian Science

1) "...God...never created matter." (SH 335-7)
2) "Matter is a human concept." (SH 469-3)
3) "MATTER [is] Mythology...illusion...the opposite of Truth ... that which mortal mind sees, feels, tastes, and smells only in belief." (SH 591-8)

b. According to Scripture

Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Ps 146:5 Happy is he...whose hope is in Jehovah his God: 6 Who made heaven and earth ... Who keepeth truth forever."

2. Deny human material part: Man is not a physical being.

a. According to Christian Science

"Man originated not from dust, materially, but from Spirit,spiritually." (MW p. 57)

b. According to Scripture

Gen 2:7 ...God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

3. Deny human frailty: Sickness is not real.

a. According to Christian Science

1) "Man is never sick, for Mind is not sick and matter cannot be." (SH 393-29)
2) "...sickness is not real." (SH 394-1)
3) "In Science, no breakage or dislocation can really occur."
(SH 402-15)
4) "There is no disease." (SH 421-18)

b. According to Scripture

Matt 4:24 ...they brought unto him all that were sick, holden with divers diseases and torments...and he healed them.

Matt 11:4b ...Go and tell John the things which ye hear and see: 5 the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up....

John 11:3b ...Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.

4. Deny human sin: Man is not sinful.

a. According to Christian Science

1) "Evil has no reality." (SH 71-2)
2) "The belief of sin, which has grown terrible in strength and influence, is an unconscious error in the beginning." (SH 188-4)
3) "...we shall learn that sin and mortality are without actual origin." (SH 281-23)
4) "...Soul is sinless." (SH 288-23)
5) "...there is no sin." (SH 447-24)
6) "Man is incapable of sin." (SH 475-28)
7) "Soul is the divine Principle of man and never sins." (SH 481-28)

b. According to Scripture

Ezek 18:4b ...the soul that sinneth, it shall die.

John 16:8 And he, when he is come, will convict the world in respect of sin....

Rom 3:23a for all have sinned....

Rom 5:12b ...all sinned.

1 John 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

E. Soteriology

Works required: Man's salvation involves his works.

a. According to Christian Science

1) "...divine Principle never pardons our sins or mistakes till they are corrected." (SH 11-12)
2) "Every pang of repentance and suffering, every effort for reform, every good thought and deed, will help us to understand Jesus' atonement for sin and its efficacy." (SH 19-17)
3) "Final deliverance...is not reached...by pinning one's faith without works to another's vicarious effort." (SH 22-23)
4) "The atonement requires constant self-immolation on the sinner's part." (SH 23-4)

b. According to Scripture

Rom 3:28 ...a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.

Eph 2:8 ...by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not of works, that no man should glory.

F. Ecciesiology

1. Exclusive church: Only Christian Scientists may join.

a. According to Christian Science

"This Church will receive a member of another Church of Christ, Scientist, but not a church member from a different denomination until that membership is dissolved." (CM 3418)

Note: This degree of exclusivity is common even in orthodox churches; therefore, the verses below apply only to its most extreme expressions.

b. According to Scripture

2 Pet 1:20 ...no prophecy of scripture is of private interpretation.

Jude 3b ...the faith...was once for all delivered unto the saints.

2. Deny effectiveness of prayer: Prayer changes nothing.

a. According to Christian Science

1) "The mere habit of pleading with the divine Mind, as one pleads with a human being, perpetuates the belief in God as humanly circumscribed—an error which impedes spiritual growth." (SH 2-18)
2) "Prayer is not to be used as a confessional to cancel sin. Such an error would impede true religion." (SH 5-22)
3) "God is not influenced by man." (SH 7-23)

b. According to Scripture

Ps 32:5b ...I will confess my transgressions unto Jehovah, and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.

Ps 34:6 This poor man cried, and Jehovah heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.

Phil 4:6 ...in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

Jms 5:15 ...the prayer of faith shall save him that is sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, it shall be forgiven him.... 16a ...therefore...pray one for another, that ye may be healed.

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

G. Eschatology

1. Deny a physical death: Death is not a real experience.

a. According to Christian Science

"Life is real, and death is an illusion." (SH 428-3)

b. According to Scripture

John 11:14 Then Jesus therefore said unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.

2. Deny a literal Satan: Satan is not a real person.

a. According to Christian Science

"DEVIL [Satan is] ...error...a belief in sin, sickness, and death; animal magnetism or hypnotism." (SH 584-17)

b. According to Scripture

Job 1:6 Now it came to pass on the day when the sons of God came to present themselves before Jehovah, that Satan also came among them.

Matt 4:1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

3. Deny a literal heaven: Heaven is not a real place.

a. According to Christian Science

"Heaven is not a locality, but a divine state of Mind." (SH 291-13)

b. According to Scripture

Matt 6:9b ... Our Father who art in heaven....

Rev 12:7 And there was war in heaven ... and the dragon warred with his angels; 8 and they prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven.