Confronting the Cults – Christian Science

Purely by coincidence,
I had just begun planning to write this
article on Christian Science, when I saw a write-up in our local
newspaper inviting people to attend a series of seminars on "Self
Worth and Healing Spiritually." The speaker from USA, was said to
be full-time in the practice of Christian Science healing.

Sounded good – but then, all error has its attraction.
Christian Science is the leader of the Mind Science movement, and
has morphed into a relatively benign denomination of quiet faith
from its great decline in the 70’s where financial, moral
and spiritual corruption amongst its leaders brought the movement
to its knees.

Mary Baker Eddy

Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science, was born in
New Hampshire in 1821. After her husbands’ death of yellow
fever after 7 months of marriage, Eddy relied consistently on the
drug morphine for the rest of her life, marrying twice more in
the process.

Her philosophy was basically copied from the ideas of Dr P P
Quimby, who was reputed to have healed Eddy of spinal
inflammation through the technique of mental healing he called
the "Science of Man" and also "Christian Science." She was also
influenced by Francis Lieber, and she copied his commentary
concerning George Hegel’s "Hegelian Dialectic" that the
Mind is universal, the first and only cause of all that really
is.

The "First Church of Christ, Scientist" website, a statement
published by the Christian Science Publishing Society, and
Eddy’s book "Retrospection and Introspection" all
say that after Mary Baker Eddy suffered a fall she was pronounced
incurable and given 3 days to live. Then when reading the Bible,
she read of one of Jesus’ healings and she was instantly
healed, and thereby, she spent the next few years searching the
Scriptures to understand the principle behind her healing. She
named this discovery "Christian Science."

Unfortunately, all 3 testimonies are untrue. The attending
physician, Dr Alvin Cushing, denied under oath she was ill,
saying she enjoyed ‘robust health.’ Also, Julius
Dresser received a letter 2 weeks after her fall and miraculous
healing with Eddy saying "I am slowly failing." The letter also
contained inaccuracies of medical error when she stated the
Doctor had applied ether and chloroform to her in an unconscious
state.

Eddy lived with Horace Wentworth’s mother between
1867-1870. He made the following statement which no Christian
Scientist has challenged. He said – "As I have seen the
amazing spread of this delusion, and the way in which men and
women are offering up money and the lives of their children to
it, I feel I have a duty…to make it known. I desire only
that people who take themselves into Christian Science…
shall do so in the full knowledge that it is not divine
revelation but simply the idea of an old-time Maine
healer."

Wentworth’s comment on financial greed, is supported by
Eddy herself who announced – "The Bible, Science and
Health with Key to the Scriptures, and my other published
works are the only proper instructors for this hour. It shall be
the DUTY of all Christian Scientists to circulate and SELL as
many books as they can. If a member… shall fail to OBEY
this injunction, it will render him liable to LOSE his membership
in this church…"

It is without surprise we find then, a host of heretical
beliefs underpinning this so-called "Christian" denomination,
which in actuality, qualifies as a cult many times over. Here are
some:

• WHO IS GOD? - God is divine principle.
• INFALLIBILITY OF SCRIPTURE - Scripture is
  not without error.
• SIN & EVIL - Does not exist. An
  illusion.
• EXISTENCE - There is no literal, physical
  existence of material. In other words, its all imagination and
  mind perception.
• VIRGIN BIRTH - God is indivisible, therefore
  could not have entered man, so Jesus was born of the Virgin
  Mary’s thoughts.
• BLOOD OF CHRIST - No efficacy to cleanse
  sin.
• MIRACLES - The sick are not healed by
  declaring there is no sickness, but by knowing there is
  none.
• SALVATION - Man as God’s idea is
  already saved.

The chief attraction of Christian Science is its professed
power over the mind and therefore, sickness and infirmity. Peace
of mind, at least for a short time, can be had in following these
ideas. This shows us why Christian Scientists can appear happy
and able to cope with life. When they are faced with evil and
sin, they deny its reality, even asserting that death is an
illusion.

Nevertheless, we must remember that each Christian Scientist
is unsaved, and caught up in another of satan’s monumental
webs of deceit and lies. This ultimately separates them from the
truth of their need for a Saviour who can wash away all sin
through the precious Blood that was shed on Calvary.