Christian Scientists understand their healing method to be based solely on the healing power of God, not of the human mind. Christian Science treatment relies on the regenerative power of Spirit, God, and is wholly Biblical and Christian in its approach to the healing of disease.
Do Christian Scientist see doctors?
Aug 02, 1990 · Christian Science treatment relies on the regenerative power of Spirit, God, and is wholly Biblical and Christian in its approach to the healing of disease. What may be hard for some to understand...
Why I left Christian Science?
Nowhere in Science And Health does Eddy state that Christian Scientists should not use medicine or consult physicians. In fact, in one passage, she says "If patients fail to experience the healing power of Christian Science, and think they can be benefited by certain ordinary physical methods of medical treatment, then the Mind physician [by ...
What are the beliefs of a Christian Scientist?
Apr 10, 2020 · A Christian Scientist can call on a Christian Science practitioner to pray with them and or a Christian Science nurse to provide non-medical nursing, such as feeding and bandaging.
What are Christian Science beliefs?
Nov 19, 2021 · In the Christian Science’s home country, 34 states offer various levels of exemption from liability for parents who refuse medical treatment for …
Do Christian Scientists believe in medical treatment?
Christian Scientists generally forgo most kinds of medical treatment because they choose to rely solely on Christian Science treatment, both for themselves and for their children. (See “Treatment of children,” above.)
What is a Christian Science treatment?
Christian Scientists understand their healing method to be based solely on the healing power of God, not of the human mind. Christian Science treatment relies on the regenerative power of Spirit, God, and is wholly Biblical and Christian in its approach to the healing of disease.Aug 2, 1990
Do Christian Scientists get blood transfusions?
BLOOD TRANSFUSION - The Christian Scientist would have no objection to blood transfusion as such. However, they would regard it as a material method of treatment, and therefore in conflict with their reliance on spiritual means of healing alone.
Do Christian Scientists believe in germs?
He does not believe in germs or the existence of illness, which they consider a dreamlike state. The faith's guiding textbook forbids mixing medical care with Christian Science healing, which is a form of transcendental prayer intended to realign a patient's soul with God.Mar 24, 2010
What is the religion that refuses medical treatment?
Jehovah's Witnesses and Christian Scientists are the two most common religious doctrines that may dictate treatment refusal, limitation, or preference for prayer.
Can Christians drink?
Excessive consumption of alcohol is a sin against God. It is not possible to drink heavily, to be addicted to alcohol, or to drink for the purpose of being drunk and to do so in a Godly way. Any time that you do, you stray from His path.
What do Jehovah Witness use instead of blood transfusion?
Multiple transfusion alternatives have been developed, and many are generally acceptable to a Jehovah's Witness patient, including tranexamic acid, prothrombin complex concentrate, and fibrin glue.
Is Jehovah's Witness?
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity....Jehovah's WitnessesFounderCharles Taze RussellOrigin1870s Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.Branched fromBible Student movementSeparationsJehovah's Witnesses splinter groups12 more rows
Who said to abstain from medicine?
The folklore that Mary Baker Eddy, in her book Science And Health, directed her followers to abstain from all use of medicine has been accepted as fact for far too long.
What is the book Science and Health?
The book Science and Health is acknowledged by the leaders and members of the Christian Science Church to be the complete explanation of Christian Science. Its author spent many years writing and revising this book, in which she lays out all the principles of Christian Science. Nowhere in Science And Health does Eddy state ...
Who chooses what passages to include in the lessons?
Those who choose what passages to include in the lessons are selected by the leaders of the Church in Boston. A very limited number of passages from Science and Health -- and from the Bible, for that matter -- are chosen for the lessons and are used repeatedly, year after year, with little variation.
Does Eddy's book prohibit the use of medicine?
Despite widespread belief that Eddy's book prohibits the use of medication, nowhere in Science and Health does she state that followers of Christian Science are not to use medicine or go to doctors.
Do scientists read the Bible?
I think it's fair to say that most Christian Scientists read only the passages from Science And Health that are included in the weekly Bible Lessons. These readings include passages from the Bible and from Science and Health and are supposed to be read by Christian Scientists daily. Those who choose what passages to include in the lessons are selected by the leaders of the Church in Boston.
What was the first Christian science book?
The first history of Christian Science appeared in McClure's magazine in 14 installments from January 1907 to June 1908, preceded by an editorial in December 1906. The essence of the articles, which included court documents and affidavits from Eddy's associates, was that Eddy's chief concern was money, and that she had derived Christian Science from Quimby. The material was also published as a book, The Life of Mary Baker G. Eddy and the History of Christian Science (1909). It became the key source for most non-church histories of the religion. The editor-in-chief assigned five writers to work on the series, including the novelist Willa Cather as the principal author. The book was kept out of print from early in its life by the Christian Science church, which bought the original manuscript. It was republished in 1971 by Baker Book House when its copyright expired, and again in 1993 by the University of Nebraska Press.
How many Christian scientists were there in the US in 1936?
At the height of the religion's popularity in 1936, a census counted c. 268,915 Christian Scientists in the United States (2,098 per million).
How did Eddy's new thought and Christian science differ?
New Thought and Christian Science differed in that Eddy saw her views as a unique and final revelation. Eddy's idea of malicious animal magnetism (that people can be harmed by the bad thoughts of others) marked another distinction, introducing an element of fear that was absent from the New Thought literature.
What was the fastest growing religion in the 20th century?
Christian Science went on to become the fastest-growing American religion in the early 20th century. The federal religious census recorded 85,717 Christian Scientists in 1906; 30 years later it was 268,915.
What is Eddy's science and health?
Eddy's Science and Health reinterprets key Christian concepts, including the Trinity, divinity of Jesus, atonement, and resurrection; beginning with the 1883 edition, she added with a Key to the Scriptures to the title and included a glossary that redefined the Christian vocabulary.
What was the metaphysical family?
Several periods of Protestant Christian revival nurtured a proliferation of new religious movements in the United States. In the latter half of the 19th century these included what came to be known as the metaphysical family: groups such as Christian Science, Divin e Science, the Unity School of Christianity, and (later) the United Church of Religious Science. From the 1890s the liberal section of the movement became known as New Thought, in part to distinguish it from the more authoritarian Christian Science.
Who said science is all Quimby?
Bates and Dittemore, the latter a former director of the Christian Science church, argued in 1932 that "as far as the thought is concerned, Science and Health is practically all Quimby," except for malicious animal mesmerism.
Where is the Church of Christ Scientist?
The Church of Christ Scientist was founded in 1866 in Boston and looks to prayer for healing. Lance Madison is part of the church in Washington state, and he spoke to KUOW’s Angela King. Lance Madison: Christian Science is based squarely on the Bible. The founder of the church was a New England woman named Mary Baker Eddy.
What does Jesus say about healing?
Jesus words, “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also,” are to us a promise of healing for us right here and now. And she took those words to heart, and Christian Science believes that healing in the spirit of Jesus, words and works is instrumental to Christian practice.
Is Robert Redfield affiliated with the Church of Christ Scientist?
Correction, 10 a.m., 4/10/2020: In our broadcast, we incorrectly said CDC director Robert Redfield was affiliated with the Church of Christ Scientist. He is not. One thing that's been helping some people get through the pandemic is their faith. The Church of Christ Scientist was founded in 1866 in Boston and looks to prayer for healing.
Note on This Case Study
Religions are embedded in culture, and are deeply impacted by questions of power. While reading this case study about Christianity and life as a member of a minority religion in America, think about who is in power and who lacks power.
Additional Resources
A Christian Scientist describes the theology behind his faith-healing (published by official Church of Christ, Scientist): http://bit.ly/2sVqzw4
Discussion Questions
Why might such a small group of Christians, which many other Christians see as a radical fringe group, still have major power influencing US law?
What do Christian scientists believe?
Christian Scientists. Christian Scientists believe that the primary method of healing should be through prayer, and many members have in the past been against modern medical treatments. There have been measles outbreaks among Christian Scientists, and studies have shown that mortality levels were high.
Why don't Jehovah's Witnesses eat blood?
Just be firmly resolved not to eat the blood, because the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the flesh. - Deuteronomy 12:23. That’s just one of several Old and New Testament scriptures used by Jehovah’s Witnesses to explain why their religion refuses to accept blood transfusions. cnn/alberto mier.
What does the Swans do?
The Swans have since dedicated their lives to tracking and exposing child deaths due to medical maltreatment . On its website, the church states that members should “turn for assistance in healing to a Christian Science practitioner, Christian Science nurse, or find aid from a Christian Science nursing sanatorium.”.
Do Amish people seek medical attention?
An Amish horse-drawn buggy. Though the religion does not forbid its members from seeking medical attention, many Amish are reluctant to do so unless absolutely necessary. They believe that God is the ultimate healer, and they are likely to turn to folk remedies, herbal teas and other more “natural” antidotes.
Do Seventh Day Adventists have medical issues?
In fact, Seventh-day Adventists have no issue with standard medical treatment but do emphasize a holistic approach to health, which they practice in their not-for-profit Adventist hospital system, with divisions around the world.
Did Prince have surgery?
Pop icon Prince was a Jehovah’s Witness, and it was widely speculated that he may have avoided surgery for a painful hip because of his religion. Hip replacement surgery commonly requires a blood transfusion during or immediately after. His autopsy, however, showed a scar on his left hip.
Does Copeland believe in medical treatment?
Copeland is not the first evangelical to call for limited medical treatment. Some fundamentalists don’t believe in medications or psychological treatments for mental illness . Small groups of faith healers believe that prayer can heal and shun conventional medical support.
What was the lump in the actor's throat?
When the actor finally went to the doctor in 2014 for a big lump in his throat — he was also having a hard time swallowing and woke up in a pool of his own blood a few times — he was told it was cancer.
Did Michael Douglas have cancer?
Several years ago, Kilmer was photographed wearing scarves and tabloids speculated about his health. His co-star in The Ghost and the Darkness, Michael Douglas, let slip to reporters he had cancer. But Kilmer denied it, saying he had “no cancer whatsoever.”.
Summary
Christian Science is a set of beliefs and practices associated with members of The First Church of Christ, Scientist. Adherents are commonly known as Christian Scientists or students of Christian Science, and the church is sometimes informally known as the Christian Science church. It was founded in 19th-century New England by Mary Baker Eddy, who wrote the 1875 book Scienc…
Overview
Several periods of Protestant Christian revival nurtured a proliferation of new religious movements in the United States. In the latter half of the 19th century these included what came to be known as the metaphysical family: groups such as Christian Science, Divine Science, the Unity School of Christianity, and (later) the United Church of Religious Science. From the 1890s the liberal section of t…
History
Mary Baker Eddy was born Mary Morse Baker on a farm in Bow, New Hampshire, the youngest of six children in a religious family of Protestant Congregationalists. In common with most women at the time, Eddy was given little formal education, but read widely at home and was privately tutored. From childhood she lived with protracted ill health. Eddy's first husband died six months after t…
Healing practices
[A]ll healing is a metaphysical process. That means that there is no person to be healed, no material body, no patient, no matter, no illness, no one to heal, no substance, no person, no thing and no place that needs to be influenced. This is what the practitioner must first be clear about.— Practitioner Frank Prinz-Wondollek, 2011.
Church of Christ, Scientist
In the hierarchy of the Church of Christ, Scientist, only the Mother Church in Boston, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, uses the definite article in its name. Otherwise the first Christian Science church in any city is called First Church of Christ, Scientist, then Second Church of Christ, Scientist, and so on, followed by the name of the city (for example, Third Church of Christ, Scientist, London). W…
See also
• Efficacy of prayer
• Faith healing
• Principia College
• Therapeutic nihilism
Citations
1. ^ PBS, August 2008: "The church estimates it has about 400,000 members worldwide, but independent studies put membership at around 100,000."
2. ^ The book was originally just called Science and Health, the subtitle with a Key to the Scriptures was added in 1883 and was later amended to with Key to the Scriptures.
Further reading
• Church of Christ, Scientist, christianscience.com
• Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, christianscience.com
• New York Times archives: "Christian Science"; "Mary Baker Eddy".