Christian Science

Christian Science, a religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, in particular the healings attributed to him in the New Testament. According to Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of the faith, Christian Science grew out of her lifelong study of the Bible. Eddy's belief that God is the loving and all-powerful Father of all people impelled her to question the fundamental reality of the evils and frailties of human life.

Eddy was born in Bow, New Hampshire, in 1821 to devout parents. She attributed her sudden recovery from a severe injury in 1866 to her “glimpse of the great fact” that life is in and of Spirit (God). She believed spiritual life to be the sole reality of existence. Eddy spent the remaining 45 years of her life searching for a fuller understanding of her insight and its practical applications. Throughout her search she remained convinced that salvation included obedience to Jesus's command to heal the sick. Eddy believed that Jesus's healings were not miraculous interruptions of natural law, but the operation of God's power, seen as spiritual law.

Eddy taught her students that through prayer they could avail themselves of this spiritual law and dispel sickness and the discords of human experience. Thus, Christian Scientists turn to prayer rather than conventional medicine to heal illness. When Christian Scientists need help in their prayer they often turn to registered practitioners who work full-time in the practice of Christian Science healing. Some practitioners are also teachers authorized by the church to hold classes instructing pupils in the principles of Christian Science.

In 1875, Eddy published the first edition of her textbook, Science and Health (in later editions Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures). In 1881, two years after founding her church, she moved to Boston, Massachusetts. The membership of the church grew rapidly, and a substantial church building was completed in 1895, with a much larger extension completed in 1906. Meanwhile, Christian Science was spreading to other parts of the United States and the world. By 1911, the year after Eddy's death, there were some 1190 churches and societies (units with fewer members than churches) in the United States and 72 in other, mostly Protestant, countries. Growth continued through the first quarter of the 20th century. After 1950, however, the movement seemed to decline somewhat, according to listings of churches and societies in the church periodicals (it is church policy not to issue membership statistics).

In 1892, Eddy reorganized the Boston church and renamed it The First Church of Christ, Scientist, or The Mother Church. It is run by a self-perpetuating board of directors. The form of organization is prescribed in the Manual of The Mother Church (1895, last revised 1908), written by Eddy. Local churches are designated as branches of The Mother Church; each branch is self-governing, although its mode of organization and operation must be consonant with the Manual of The Mother Church.

Doctrines and worship follow the principles laid down by the founder. Science and Health, revised by Eddy several times, with the final edition published in 1906, is the basic textbook of Christian Science. In 1895, Eddy established the Bible and Science and Health as “Pastor” of the Christian Science Churches. Thus, sermons by individual pastors were replaced by topical lessons consisting of selected passages from these two works. The lessons are studied during the week by students of Christian Science and then read aloud during Sunday services by two elected lay members of each local congregation. Churches also hold weekly testimonial meetings, at which congregation members relate experiences of healing and regeneration.

Other official activities of the Christian Science church are conducted by a Board of Lectureship, a Committee on Publication (the church's public information office), and the Christian Science Publishing Society, which issues The Christian Science Journal (a monthly magazine that includes directories of churches, practitioners, and teachers), the Christian Science Sentinel (a weekly magazine), the Christian Science Monitor (a highly regarded international daily newspaper), and The Herald of Christian Science (a magazine issued both monthly and quarterly in a variety of languages and in English Braille).