WHAT ARE THE ESSENTIAL POINTS OF CHRISTIAN SCIENCE?
The teachings
of Christian Science are carefully laid out in a systematic order
in the
textbook Science and Health, although that system is not so
easily recognized. Also,
some statements may seem contradictory. But,
once a student comes to see that
Mrs. Eddy handles each subject from
different levels, or points of view, the contra-
dictions disappear.
A statement written from the point of view of absolute pure
Science,
or God, for instance, would be different from words intended to lift
a reader
from a mortal sense of life up to a more spiritual viewpoint.
For instance, Christian
Science teaches that there is "no sin."
But, it also teaches we must turn from sin, deny
it, heal it. It is
that pure Truth of the unreality of sin from God's perspective, that
gives
us the authority, or law, to deny sin's supposed reality for
those of us experiencing a
limited mortal vision.
The best way to
learn Christian Science is through careful study of its textbook,
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, and the immediate application
of
what you learn. To give you an idea of its basic teachings, however,
I have collected
a number of citations from Science and Health, which
outline some of the most
essential points, and have listed them in
the order they appear in the book. These are
followed by a few citations
from other writings.
Some essential points of Christian Science are:
"The
Christian Science God is universal, eternal, divine Love, which changeth
not
and causeth no evil, disease, nor death." (S&H 140)
"Human
will-power is not Science. Human will belongs to the so-called material
senses, and its use is to be condemned. Willing the sick to recover
is not the
metaphysical practice of Christian Science, but is sheer
animal magnetism. Human
will-power may infringe the rights of man.
It produces evil continually, and is not a
factor in the realism of
being." (S&H 144)
"The chief stones in the temple of Christian
Science are to be found in the following
postulates: that Life is
God, good, and not evil; that Soul is sinless, not to be found in
the body; that Spirit is not, and cannot be, materialized; that Life
is not subject to
death; that the spiritual real man has no birth,
no material life, and no death." (S&H 288)
"This is the doctrine
of Christian Science: that divine Love cannot be deprived of its
manifestation,
or object; that joy cannot be turned into sorrow, for sorrow is not
the
master of joy; that good can never produce evil; that matter can
never produce mind
nor life result in death. The perfect man -- governed
by God, his perfect Principle --
is sinless and eternal." (S&H
304)
"Two essential points of Christian Science are, that neither
Life nor man dies, and
that God is not the author of sickness." (S&H
349)
"In Christian Science, substance is understood to be Spirit,
while the opponents of
Christian Science believe substance to be matter.
They think of matter as something
and almost the only thing, and of
the things which pertain to Spirit as next to nothing,
or as very
far removed from daily experience. Christian Science takes exactly
the
opposite view." (S&H 349-350)
"This conviction, that there
is no real pleasure in sin, is one of the most important
points in
the theology of Christian Science." (S&H 404)
"Neither animal
magnetism nor hypnotism enters into the practice of Christian
Science,
in which truth cannot be reversed, but the reverse of error is true.
An
improved belief cannot retrograde. When Christ changes a belief
of sin or of sickness
into a better belief, then belief melts into
spiritual understanding, and sin, disease,
and death disappear. Christ,
Truth, gives mortals temporary food and clothing until
the material,
transformed with the ideal, disappears, and man is clothed and fed
spiritually. St. Paul says, 'Work out your own salvation with fear
and trembling:'
Jesus said, 'Fear not, little flock; for it is your
Father's good pleasure to give you
the kingdom.' This truth is Christian
Science." (S&H 442)
"A Christian Scientist's medicine is Mind,
the divine Truth that makes man free.
A Christian Scientist never
recommends material hygiene, never manipulates. He does
not trespass
on the rights of mind nor can he practice animal magnetism or hypnotism.
It need not be added that the use of tobacco or intoxicating drinks
is not in harmony
with Christian Science." (S&H 453)
"That
evil or matter has neither intelligence nor power, is the doctrine
of absolute
Christian Science, and this is the great truth which strips
all disguise from error.
(S&H 454)
"The superiority of spiritual
power over sensuous is the central point of Christian
Science."
(S&H 454)
"Self-abnegation, by which we lay down all for Truth,
or Christ, in our warfare
against error, is a rule in Christian Science.
This rule clearly interprets God as
divine Principle, -- as Life,
represented by the Father; as Truth, represented by the
Son; as Love,
represented by the Mother. Every mortal at some period, here or
hereafter,
must grapple with and overcome the mortal belief in a power opposed
to God." (S&H 568)
"My first plank in the platform of Christian
Science is as follows: 'There is no life,
truth, intelligence, nor
substance in matter. All is infinite Mind and its infinite
manifestation,
for God is All-in-all. Spirit is immortal Truth; matter is mortal
error.
Spirit is the real and eternal; matter is the unreal and temporal.
Spirit is God, and
man is His image and likeness. Therefore man is
not material; he is spiritual.'"
(Mis. 21 -- this is also known as
"The Scientific Statement of Being" and can be
found in S&H on
page 468)
"This is Christian Science: that mortal mind makes sick,
and immortal Mind makes
well; that mortal mind makes sinners, while
immortal Mind makes saints; that a
state of health is but a state
of consciousness made manifest on the body, and vice
versa; that while
one person feels wickedly and acts wickedly, another knows that
if
he can change this evil sense and consciousness to a good sense, or
conscious
goodness, the fruits of goodness will follow, and he has
reformed the sinner."
(Mis. 219)
"The heart that beats mostly for
self is seldom alight with love. To live so as to
keep human consciousness
in constant relation with the divine, the spiritual, and
the eternal,
is to individualize infinite power; and this is Christian Science."
(Miscellany 160)
HAVE CHRISTIAN SCIENTISTS ANY RELIGIOUS CREEDS?
Mrs.
Eddy answers this in Science and Health: "They have not, if by that
term is
meant doctrinal beliefs. The following is a brief exposition
of the important points,
or religious tenets, of Christian Science:
--
"1. As adherents of Truth, we take the inspired Word of the Bible
as our sufficient
guide to eternal Life.
"2. We acknowledge and adore
one supreme and infinite God. We acknowledge
His Son, one Christ;
the Holy Ghost or divine Comforter; and man in God's image
and likeness.
"3. We acknowledge God's forgiveness of sin in the destruction of
sin and the
spiritual understanding that casts out evil as unreal.
But the belief in sin is punished
so long as the belief lasts.
"4.
We acknowledge Jesus' atonement as the evidence of divine, efficacious
Love,
unfolding man's unity with God through Christ Jesus the Way-shower;
and we
acknowledge that man is saved through Christ, through Truth,
Life, and Love as
demonstrated by the Galilean Prophet in healing
the sick and overcoming sin and
death.
"5. We acknowledge that the
crucifixion of Jesus and his resurrection served to
uplift faith to
understand eternal Life, even the allness of Soul, Spirit, and the
nothingness of matter.
"6. And we solemnly promise to watch, and pray
for that Mind to be in us which
was also in Christ Jesus; to do unto
others as we would have them do unto us; and
to be merciful, just,
and pure." (S&H 497)
HOW CAN CHRISTIANITY ALSO BE A SCIENCE?
Christianity,
as demonstrated by Christ Jesus, is based upon God's laws. These
divine
laws can be studied, put into practice, and demonstrated as Truth
on a
consistent basis by those spiritually prepared and working from
an understanding
of God, rather than from belief or blind faith.
Christian
Science is a Science because it is a body of knowledge and facts that
can be studied and analyzed. It explains and demonstrates the nature
and essence
of all Being and the relationship between God and His
infinite ideas. It sets aside
all human theory, opinion, beliefs,
religious creeds and dogmas, and accepts as true
only those facts,
rules, and laws which can be understood both spiritually and
scientifically,
and proven true by demonstration.
Christian Science is a Science because
it teaches the scientific classification of all
true ideas, and the
identification of these ideas with the one Divine Mind. Only those
effects that can be traced back to the one true Cause, God, are classified
as real.
Christian Science teaches the classification of all false
concepts, and the identification
of these errors with their source:
the carnal, mortal mind and its beliefs of the five
physical senses.
Those effects that cannot be traced back to the one true Cause, God,
are classified as unreal.
Mrs. Eddy defends and explains her use of
the term "Science" in these citations:
"Late in the nineteenth century
I demonstrated the divine rules of Christian Science.
They were submitted
to the broadest practical test, and everywhere, when honestly
applied
under circumstances where demonstration was humanly possible, this
Science showed that Truth had lost none of its divine and healing
efficacy, even
though centuries had passed away since Jesus practised
these rules on the hills of
Judaea and in the valleys of Galilee."
(S&H 147)
"In Christian Science mere opinion is valueless. Proof
is essential to a due estimate
of this subject. Sneers at the application
of the word Science to Christianity cannot
prevent that from being
scientific which is based on divine Principle, demonstrated
according
to a divine given rule, and subjected to proof. The facts are so absolute
and numerous in support of Christian Science, that misrepresentation
and
denunciation cannot overthrow it. Paul alludes to 'doubtful disputations.'
The hour
has struck when proof and demonstration, instead of opinion
and dogma, are
summoned to the support of Christianity, 'making wise
the simple.'" (S&H 341)
"This age is reaching out towards
the perfect Principle of things; is pushing towards
perfection in
art, invention, and manufacture. Why, then, should religion be stereo-
typed,
and we not obtain a more perfect and practical Christianity? It will
never do
to be behind the times in things most essential, which proceed
from the standard of
right that regulates human destiny. Human skill
but foreshadows what is next to
appear as its divine origin.
Proportionately as we part with material systems and
theories, personal
doctrines and dogmas, meekly to ascend the hill of Science, shall
we reach the maximum of perfection in all things." (Mis. 232)
"Christian
Science differs from material science, but not on that account is
it less
scientific. On the contrary, Christian Science is pre-eminently
scientific, being
based on Truth, the Principle of all science." (S&H
123)
"If Christendom resists the author's application of the word
Science to Christianity,
or questions her use of the word Science,
she will not therefore lose faith in
Christianity, nor will Christianity
lose its hold upon her. If God, the All-in-all, be
the creator of
the spiritual universe, including man, then everything entitled to
a
classification as truth, or Science, must be comprised in a knowledge
or understanding
of God, for there can be nothing beyond illimitable
divinity.
"The terms Divine Science, Spiritual Science, Christ Science
or Christian Science,
or Science alone, she employs interchangeably,
according to the requirements of the
context. These synonymous terms
stand for everything relating to God, the infinite,
supreme, eternal
Mind. It may be said, however, that the term Christian Science
relates
especially to Science as applied to humanity." (S&H 126)
"If mathematics
should present a thousand different examples of one rule, the proving
of one example would authenticate all the others. A simple statement
of Christian
Science, if demonstrated by healing, contains the proof
of all here said of Christian
Science. If one of the statements in
this book is true, every one must be true, for not
one departs from
the stated system and rule. You can prove for yourself, dear reader,
the Science of healing, and so ascertain if the author has given you
the correct
