TLEM
True Light Educational Ministry
Then
you will
know the Truth and the Truth will set you free ( John
8:32)
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WHAT
ABOUT CHRISTIAN SCIENCE?
A
challenge to orthodox Christianity is that of the Church of Christ, Scientist.
It attracts many from all walks of life with its theology and stress on
healing. Many have left denominational churches to become Christian Scientists
because of a "healing" experience. It is against their rules to
publish the number of members. The membership figures vary from one quarter of
a million to over a million members. Yet most of the members, and most
Christians, are unaware of their true teachings.
Mary
Baker Eddy founded the Church of Christ, Scientist in 1866, in Massachusetts.
To understand the teachings of this group, one first needs a background of its
founder, Mrs. Eddy. As a child and young woman, Mrs. Eddy suffered from a
spinal weakness that affected her mentally and physically. She sought
treatment from P.P. Quimby. Mr. Quimby was a self-professed healer who applied
hypnosis and the power of suggestion in affecting his cures. He also practiced
a type of mind cure that included dipping his hands in water and then rubbing
the patient's head. She received a great deal of benefit from Quimby's
treatment for a short period. Although she lapsed back into her poor physical
state, his methods of treatment intrigued her. After her visits, she would
spend much time writing down the things she learned from Quimby and her
conclusions.
In 1866,
she fell and claimed that she was given only three days to live. On the third
day she read Matthew 9:2 and was miraculously healed. This, she said, was her
discovery of Christian Science. Yet her attending doctor, Dr. Alvin M.
Cushing, swore under oath that he never believed or said that she was in any
danger of dying. Interestingly this doctor treated and administered medicine
to her for bodily ailments on four separate occasions. She gave credit,
however, to the ideas of Phineas Parkhurst Quimby. Interestingly Quimby called
his method of healing, "The Science of Health" or Christian Science.
Unfortunately P.P. Quimby died soon after treating Mrs. Eddy and her praise
for him ceased.
From
1866 to 1882, Mrs. Eddy taught the principles of Christian Science for large
fees. She published her book "Science and Health" in 1875 and
officially formed the Christian Scientists. In 1879, she incorporated it as
the Church of Christ, Scientist. She moved to Boston and established the
Massachusetts Metaphysical College, where she taught from 1881 to 1889.
Before
looking at the teachings, a couple of other facts should be noted about Mrs.
Eddy. Her first husband, George Washington Glover, died of yellow fever in
1844. She gave birth to a son a few months later. She sent the child, named
George, off to school and to live with relatives. Her second husband, Daniel M
Patterson, left her after 13 unhappy years. Her third husband, Asa Gilbert
Eddy, died of a heart attack in 1882. Mrs. Eddy contested the autopsy report
and claimed he died of "arsenic poisoning mentally administered."
She found a Dr. C.J. Eastman, who lacked medical credentials, to prove her
claim. She needed this report to prove she was an expert healer. Mrs. Eddy
amassed a large fortune from the members of the church. She demanded all
Scientists regularly promote and sell her books. She required each member to
purchase the new editions of her Science and Health, though the changes were
negligible. When she died, her personal fortune was valued at over 3 million
dollars, yet none of her money went to charity.
TEACHINGS
OF CHRISTIAN SCIENCE
Christian
Science claims the Bible is basic to its teachings. The followers are
encouraged to read and study the Bible, but only in the light of their
publication "Science and Health with Keys to the Scriptures." (This
is common with many similar groups. The Bible becomes superseded by another
authority as the final word in solving doctrinal matters.) Mrs. Eddy claimed
that the Bible was her only authority, yet she emphasizes thousands of
mistakes that she says crept into the text.
The key
to the teaching of Christian Science is accepting the fact that life is an
illusion. God is divine Mind, and mind is all that truly exists. God does not
have a mind, but rather He is mind. We are not a reality, but a dream in God's
mind. Sin does not exist but is just a figment of the imagination. Thus
salvation is accomplished when one stops believing there is such a thing as
sin.
Christian
Science denies the Trinity, and the fact that Jesus is truly God. They claim
that Jesus never died on the cross and became alive in the tomb. Since evil
does not exist, the idea of the death of Jesus on the cross for our sins is
unnecessary. This idea of life and evil being illusions carries over into
their healing practices. The teaching on healing is that illness also is an
illusion. Mrs. Eddy denied the reality of sickness and death, although she was
sick most of her life and died in 1910.
Christians
should be aware of the teachings of the Christian Science. While they use the
Bible in their worship services, the real source of authority is the work of
Mary Baker Eddy, particularly "Science and Health." These writings
systematically repudiate every important biblical doctrine. God is impersonal
and they deny the deity of Jesus Christ. Since sin, evil, sickness, and death
are only illusions of the Mortal Mind, man is not sinful.
Christian
Science appeals to many because it promises healing. It capitalizes on
people's fear of sin, disease, old age and death. Because some people are
healed does not make the system right. Many groups including Satanists claim
similar results. Christians who have the opportunities to work with Christian
Scientists should demonstrate from the Bible that Jesus is God and Savior of
the world. Bible statements should be contrasted with the teachings of Science
and Health. They should be made to realize that they are gambling their
eternal destiny on the hope that Mary Baker Eddy is right and Jesus is wrong.
They have very little to gain if Mrs. Eddy is right and everything to lose if
Jesus is right.
For
Additional Information Contact
True
Light Educational Ministry
P.O. Box
310
Shirley,
NY 11967
Telephone
(631) 395-4646
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