During the 19th-20th centuries, many religions and religious teachings were founded in the USA along with mainstream religions in order to proclaim the definite sacred principles and rules and to attract more followers. Mary Baker Eddy established the Church of Christ, Scientist, in 1879.
The first church was founded in Boston, and it is known today as the Mother Church. In spite of the fact the first churches proclaiming the principles of Christian Science were founded in the USA, the religion has a lot of followers who establish churches in many other countries round the world.
The Christian principles presented in the Bible are combined with the scientific ideas and form the basics of Christian Science.
Thus, Christian Science depends on the idea of the divine healing which is supported with references to the Scriptures and divine law, and according to the religion’s principles, there are no organic diseases that is why the healing of a person depends on his or her spiritual development.
The new church founded in Boston attracted a lot of followers because it provided people with the idea that it was possible to overcome any problems and physical diseases basing on preaching, praying, and faith along with following the principles of the religious life.
According to the principles set by Mary Baker Eddy, the source of the healing is in the spirituality and concentration on Christ (Hemeyer, 2010). Thus, “the words ‘Christian’ and ‘Science’ in this church’s name each tell us something important about it.
It is a church focused on Jesus, the Christ”, and as a result, focusing on the faith, it is possible to overcome all the material and physical problems (Corbett & Hemeyer, 1997, p. 167). From this point, the followers of Christian Science aim to combine the ideas of Christianity and science in order to achieve the definite goals.
Furthermore, the attitude to the traditions and ideals of Christianity is rather controversial because the followers of the church reject a lot of principles which are typical for the Christians such as the ideas of Trinity, sin, and the human nature.
Christian Science attracted followers basing on rejecting the concepts of evil and illness. Thus, the church proposed the way to overcome all the problems and fears from which Americans suffered during a long period of time.
Adopting the idea that Christ is good and the healing is based on the faith, the church’s followers declared the easiness of the principles of Christian Science. The founders of the church also accentuated the democratic character of not only the faith but also of the church as institution (Hemeyer, 2010).
This position helped distinguish Christian Science among the other religious organizations and cults with the strong hierarchy. Today, Christian Scientists (members of the Church of Christ, Scientist) “maintain a low public profile.
They do not seek converts by missionary activity, but they do maintain Christian Science Reading Rooms where people can go and read the Bible as well as Christian Science literature”, and Christian Science churches are known as self-supporting organizations (Corbett & Hemeyer, 1997, p.166).
However, the number of followers continues to grow, and the church develops basing on the strict Church Manual and a set of principles the majority of which reject the basic Christian norms and concepts because of their non-scientist character.
It is important to pay attention to the fact that there are no traditional pastors in the church, and services are conducted by the persons who perform the roles of lectures or readers, interpreting the principles presented in the Bible and in Science and Health.
The teachings are based on developing the ideas of the persons’ self-awareness, the role of their spirituality in overcoming diseases, and the role of spirituality and mind to control and treat their bodies.
Furthermore, rejecting the traditional medicine and different methods to treat bodies, the followers of the church are inclined to use techniques proposed by alternative medicine.
All the ideas stated during the regular readings in the church are followed without questioning because the followers of the church should realize all the principles prescribed without any deviation. Moreover, the principles proclaimed within Christian Science are stated as only true (Corbett, 2013).
Christian Science attracts a lot of women because much attention is paid to the women’s issues, and the founder of the church Mary Baker Eddy developed the principles of the religion basing on her own experience.
Thus, it was stated that Mary Baker Eddy overcame several diseases when she started to read the Bible and to pay attention to the definite details in the Scriptures (Hemeyer, 2010).
Developing the idea of the superiority of spirituality, faith and mind over the body, Mary Baker Eddy proposed the reading of the Bible and its clear and correct interpretation as the major way to cope with the negative physical powers and body’s illnesses.
The faith is the first step to the healing (Hemeyer, 2010). According to the principles of Christian Science, it is important to reject the traditional medical treatment and focus on the alternative ways based on the spiritual fundament in order to achieve the divine healing and treat the body.
The single source of authority used in Christian Science is the Bible. However, the followers also refer to Mary Baker Eddy’s Science and Health as the source of the real experience which supports the possibility to achieve the physical healing with the help of the spiritual practices.
That is why, the range of spiritual practices used as treatment is rather wide. Moreover, readers in the church pay much attention to interpreting the Bible through discussing a lot of metaphysical definitions (Hemeyer, 2010). From this point, science in relation to the Christian church founded by Mary Baker Eddy should be discussed with references to metaphysics.
The fact that the followers of the church focuses on the divine healing rather than on the use of medical treatment is controversial because Christian Scientists reject the right to receive the necessary medical help and put their health and lives at risk. The only source of the healing is the faith and praying.
Thus, the Church of Christ, Scientist, was founded by Mary Baker Eddy in Boston in 1879. Today, the principles of Christian Science are followed in many countries because they provide the chance for people to receive the physical healing with the help of the spiritual growth and development.
Moreover, the ideas of the church are shared by many women because they refer to the personal experience of the church’s founder Mary Baker Eddy. A lot of controversies associated with Christian Science are based on the fact that followers reject the traditional medicine and do not use medical treatment even for children.
References
Corbett, J. M. (2013). Politics and religion in the United States. USA: Routledge.
Corbett, J. M., & Hemeyer, J. C. (1997). Religion in America. USA: Prentice Hall.
Hemeyer, J. C. (2010). Religion in America. USA: Prentice Hall.