Christian Science

This is one of the Christian movement that claim to the apostolic continuity.  The movement hold itself as a return of early apostolic assembly with special focus on its lost element of healing.

      Based on this claim, numerous adherents flock on the congregations of the movement to seek for Yahoshea Meshiyach and his way of thought that is generally termed as Yahosheanism.

      Christian Science is one of the famous movements that drew their roots from the protestant Christian revivals known as the Second Great Awakening (1800 – 1830) which breed numerous religious groups in the United States of America.

     The era gave rise to what is known as metaphysical family amongst Christendom.  Some of the groups include the Christian Science, the Unity School of Christianity, the United Church of Religious Science and later liberal version that gave rise to the New Thought etc.

     By the nature and definition of the metaphysical family, it is a philosophic ideology that regard all matter as emerging from the cause or principle of the universe that are variously referred as the Divine Mind, Truth, Love, Life, Spirit, Principle, God etc.

      These movements marry elements of Christology with those of Plato, Hinduism and Transcendentalism.  The movement is often referred as the mind cure, mental healing, metaphysical healing or mental science movement.  They drew such label because they focus much on healing from the mind or thought rather than widely accepted medical cure.

      As a result of counter-productive character of medical cure or practices, many mental scientists or groups began to gain prominence as they argue that sickness was simply a repercussion of non-proper  connection to the Divine Mind or absence of right thinking attitudes.

History Of The Movement

The tenets of the movement had its root from a New England mental healer known as Phyneas Parkhurst Quimby  (1802-1866) whose thesis is identified as “Quimbism”.  The Quimbism was known with the philosophical thesis of its founder as “The Truth is the Cure”.

      Reords bear that Quimby was a mesmerist – a thesis that was developed by Fronz Mesmer (1734-1815).  He was a German Physician who held that the universe is filled of fluid through which bodies exercises influence over others and that this fluid can be used in healing.  Mesmerists called this occurrence as “manual magnetism”.

      Quimby leant this mental science through Charles Poyen from French and he applied it through healing method by melting of his hand and rubbing them on the stomachs and heads of his patients.

     Furthure accounts of Quimby held that he later abandoned mesmerism and embraced the thought that suggestions was a cardinal factor towards cures.  He came to the conclusion that disease was merely a belief and that there is no intelligence, power or action in matter rather the real life depend on the spiritual world.

      Quimby held that the spiritual or scientific men is an embodiment of spirit, wisdom, principle, Truth, Mind and Science which connot be sick but becomes overwhelmed by the matter of the natural man and false belief.

      Metaphysical Quimby regarded the healings of Yahoshea Meshiyach by a technical application or address to the cause of the ailments but not of addressing the mortal or physical body that was effected.

Mary Baker Eddy's Involvement

The theory of Quimbyism became outspoken and attracted many patients to him for cure.

     One of the patients of Quimby was Mary Baker Eddy who was the founder of Christian Science and often credited of establishing the movement based on the unpublished manuscripts of Quimby.

     Mary Baker Eddy witnessed protracted ill-health right from her childhood.  She was under ill health of chronic indigestion and spinal inflammation.  These ailments kept her in sickly condition and sometimes lead to her loss of consciousness with quick recovering.

     Account surrounding her livelihood held that she spent most of her earning towards medical cure that yielded no much of positive results.

      As she contacted Phineas Quimby in 1862, she felt better and became overwhelmed by the healing pattern of Quimby, Eddy concluded the efficacy of Quimby's healing in this way, “The truth which he establishes in the patient heals him… and the body, which is full of light is no longer in disease”.

      Quimby was too generous that he developed manuscripts and encouraged his patients or students to make copies of the works.  Some of the articles were published post-homously as the Quimby manuscripts (1921).

Formation Of The Group

There were two separate accounts over the moment of realization of mind healing by Mary Baker Eddy.  The first was centred on her childhood challenge of indigestion that defile medical therapies but was released by Quimby's metaphycial therapy.

      The next and the most held was her fall in Lynn in 1866.  In her biography, Retrospection and Introspection(1991), Eddy attributed formation of the Christian Science to her fall in Lynn.

     The record held that due to unsafe condition of the streets in Lynn, she slipped and felled,, causing serious personal injuries from which she had little prospect of recovery.  The medical officer that gave her the first treatment accounted that she was carried into his office in an insensible condition.

      The doctor reported that her injuries were internal and of serious nature and therefore pronounced it as incurable and that Eddy could not survive three days because of the injury.

      To the surprise of all, Eddy rise from her bed on the third day and later regained her normal functions as a person.  She started teaching of the Quimby's healing method to raise fund for the payment of her apartment.

      Eddy advertised for students in a spiritualist magazine – the banner of light with promise of teaching of the principle of science that will heal ailments without aid of medicine.  This call was responded by students whom she taught the science she learnt from Quimby that equally healed her of her numerous ailments.

      Eddy called the healing method as moral science. She later named it in various ways as the Divine Science, metaphysical science, metaphysical healing, the Christ-cure, the Truth-cure and finally Christian Science.

      In Lynn, Massachusetts, Eddy was injured from the fall and claim to be healed to having read a Bible passage about one of the saviour's healing.  The Christian Scientists calls it the “Fall in Lynn” and views it as the origin of their religion.

      The Christian Science began as a study centre at Lynn with students applying to learn under Eddy and she charged them some amount.  Her nature of studies was based on the manuscripts which she allowed her students to copy but with restriction that they must not show it to outsiders.  By the agreement, a student that shows the manuscript to a non-student will pay 10 percent of the proceeds they earn from the practice annually and to pay serious penalty if they fail to practice or teach it to other people.

      The whole exercise boiled down to formation of the students of Eddy into the Christian Scientists Association.

Foundation And Authority

In 1875, Eddy published her famous book called the “Science and Health” which her movement held at high esteem along the Bible.

      The book – Science and Health went through many revisions and was alleged to be a reproduction of Quimby's unpublished manuscripts as well as being influenced by James Henry Wiggin (1836-1900) who was a Unitarian Clergyman who acted as the editor of the 16th edition of the book.

      In the book, Science and Health, she argued that sickness is an illusion that can be corrected by prayer alone.  The book is the central text of the Christian Science along with Bible.

      In 1879, Eddy and twenty five followers established the Church of Christ (Scientist). In 1894, the movements Mother Church, the first Church of Christ, (Scientist) was built in Boston – Massachusetts.

Belief And Practices

The practices of the church were defined by Eddy who recognized the inspired word of the Bible as sufficient guide to eternal life. She acknowledged the existence of one creator, his son whom she identified as Jesus Christ in line with the Bible and the Holy Ghost.

     There are major doctrinal differences between the Christian Science movement and those of the traditional Christianity.  She had her self-made version of some Christian vocabularies as includes to the trinity, divinity of Yahoshea, atonement and resurrection.

      Eddyism holds that Yahweh is not a person but a force, principle or cause which she called, “Mind, spirit, soul, principle, life, truth and love.

      The principal factor of their religious conviction is that spiritual world is entirely good and the material world that envelope evil, sickness and death is an embodiment of illusion.  She held that mortal man is perfect idea of Divine Mind while mortal mind is a mistaken view of man.

      The Christian Scientists hold to the belief that all healing are 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”.

      Eddyism is non Trinitarian, she saw Yahoshea Meshiyach as two separate forms.  “Meshiyach” which it term as “Christ” is the synonym for Truth while “Yahoshea” which it term as “Jesus” is the first person to fully manifest it.

      Some of the major differences between Christian Science and mainline Christianity is its concept that Heaven and Hell are states of mind. The movement term Yahoshea's death as a illusion because though it appeared as he died, but went into state of consciousness.

      The movement argue that impalement of Yahoshea was never a divine sacrifice and that atonement is not a bribe of Yahweh by offerings.  It equally holds that the Holy ghost is the Christian Science.

Admirers And Critics

Christian Science seal includes the cross and crown and words of the New Testament.  The movement had lots of admirers and critics. For example, in 1907, Mark Twain made comments on the religious thought, “she had delivered to them a religion which has revolutionized their lives, banished the glooms that shadow them, and filled them and flood them with sunshine and gladness and peace, a religion which has no hell, a religion whose heaven is not put off to another time, with a break and a gulf between, but brings here and now, and melts into eternity as fancies of the waking day melt into the dream of sleep”.

      Equally, the movement was often referred to as a cult.  One of the famous critics of Eddyism was the same Mark Twain who published many material articles against the Christian Science.  In one of his criticisms, he wrote, “The secret history of Eddypus, the world Empire in which Christian Science replaces Christianity and Eddy becomes the Pope”.

     Mark Twain described Eddy as a grasping, sordid, penurious, famishing for everything she sees – money, power, glory – vain, untruthful, jealous, despotic, arrogant, insolent, pitiless where thinkers and hypnotists are concerned, illiterate, shallow, incapable of reasoning outside of commercial lines, immeasurably selfish”. He continues “From end to end of the Christian Science Literature not single (material) thing in the world is conceded to be real, except the Dollar”.

     Though, Twain criticized the movement but concluded that the mind cure therapy was “the king back of it is wholly gracious and beautiful”.

Challenges Of The Movement

Truly, the records of Eddy's livehood is characterized by physical challenges, her provocative attitude towards issues of life, exorbitant charges to her students and numerous court actions against her students, relations and establishments.

      The movement faced various challenges as it appeared as opposing the hegemony of the clergy and medical establishment.  One of its major challenges is the allegation that Eddy's Health and Science is the unpublished manuscript of Quimby.

      To get herself across these allegations or criticism, Eddy employed tacit approach to establish herself and the movements. She  was totally handy over her tuition fees and such made her relationship with her students to appear unfriendly.

      She argued with some earlier practices of Quimby with regard to mesmerism.  She used the content of mesmerism  and her concept of malicious magnetism which she conclude as act of mesmerism to discipline majority of her students or partners.  Her life was occasioned by plots and counter plots as she sought for absolute and unquestionable conformity from her students or partners.

      Mesmerism is grouped as one of the negative spiritual practices that is helpful to witchcraft or hypnotism and Eddy saw it as a central figure of negative spiritism.

      The movement hold that sickness is an error brought into existence by erroneous thinking.  The group hold that treatment to ailments is expected to rely on the Christian science prayer than medical treatment.

      The next important aspect of the church's practices is the issue of testimonies which feed into people's tendency to rely on the presumptions of the Christian science methods.

      The church made publication of thousand of such testimonies from 1900 to 1989.

      The church equally trained Christian Science practitioners who were certified by the church to charge fees for Christian Science prayers.  These practitioners equally teach classes on the method of healing and other mind enrichment exercise.

      The movement hold that medical treatment is acceptable when one cannot pray.  It equally gave some relieve to certain patients to use medical cure.

      The movement run into various deadlocks with American Medical Association  based on its stance against medical cure.  Some of the dead members  of the body attracted court action against the adherents or the movement as they were frequently accused of carelessness by allowing cases that could be managed by medical treatment to cause death of their members or children.

      The movement spread fastly through its journal that were handled by the Christian Science publishing society.  such journal include the Christian Science monitor, Christian Science Sentinel, the monthly Christian Science Journal and the Herald of Christian Science.

Conclusion

The Christian Science is a metaphysical movement of the Christian theology that claims to hold the perfect doctrines of Yahosheans with regards to healing of ailments.

      The movement is a study group that rely mainly on healing outside of the  use of medicine.  The healing is mostly based on mental powers.

      Truly, the movement is a classical works of Quimby and Baker Eddy in their quests to develop alternative cure to human ailments.

      The movement has no relationship to the early apostolic assembly which though healed patients but not in the form of the  Christian Scientists.

      In Yahosheanism, adherents are taught without charges or payment to tuition fees. Healing are made natural without any addition to application to prayers and laying of hands upon patients.

      In Christian Science, many scientific terms are developed as healing methods with inclusion of prayers.

      Basically, the Yahosheanism is totally of Hebrew traditional belief while Christian Science is based upon Creek/Roman theological background.  The Christian Scientists holds to Roman Church practices as sunday rest, cross as sign of salvation, Holy Ghost etc.  These Romanian practices utterly cut it off from its claim of apostolic continuity.

      The movement may have helped to ease some religious fanatism upon its adherents but its root is totally anti-Semitic and therefore cannot be the true religion from Yahweh.

      Christian Science may share some vital creeds with Yahosheanism but such do not gave it the warrant to claim to be the Yahoshea's ministry.  For example, the belief of mind healing and illusions of the matter synchronizes with Yahohean thoughts.

      The concept that Divine mind is the healer, that sickness is error thinking, that naming of sickness could turn thoughts into physical symptoms and that recording of ages might reduce the human life-span are shared amongst Yahosheans and Christian Scientists.

      One of the major differences between the religious communities is that Yahosheanism is led by the comforter – Prophet Yahmarabhi while Christian Science is led by Mary Baker Eddy and both religious leaders work differently in many ways and their concept are incompatible.

      Those who have ears should hear this and thus says the real conscience or moral religion.