World Religions for the 2010s:
A Primer for the Liberal Arts
(working title)
Christian Science - Church of Christ, Scientist
On Thursday, January 29, 2009, for our first presentation, Mr. Mozzer and Mr. Doug Paul of the Christian Science church in Willimantic, CT, (Christian Science in Connecticut (2008), First Church of Christ, Scientist
Willimantic, Connecticut USA, retrieved from http://www.christiansciencect.org/willimantic/) spoke about their religion. The church is centrally located on Main Street in Willimantic. There is also an older colonial style church about 1/2 mile from Main Street on Mountain Street, on the road south towards Lebanon, CT.
Mr. Mozzer is from Tolland, CT, about 15 north of Willimantic. Mr. Paul is from Canterbury about 8 miles east. Both have been readers at this church and both have been nearly life-long members of the Church of Christ, Scientist.
The discussion started with Mr. Paul asking about what they might know of the religion, responding that their church was not affiliated in any way with Scientology.
What is the name of the religion and how did it get its name?
It’s Science because it’s based upon a set of spiritual principles—laws relating to the nature of God and His creation—that can be applied with expected, consistent results.
Because Christian Science is based on the Bible, and Christian Scientists follow the teachings and ministry of Christ Jesus. In fact, the virgin birth, the crucifixion, the resurrection and ascension of Christ Jesus, and so on, are all central to Christian Science theology."
The Christian Science Board of Directors (2009). Frequently Asked Questions about Christian Science. Retrieved from http://www.christianscience.com/questions-christian-science-faq.html .
"Mary Baker Eddy (1821–1910) discovered the biblically based system of healing through prayer known as Christian Science, and established The Church of Christ, Scientist, to preserve and extend it."
The Christian Science Board of Directors (2009). Frequently Asked Questions about Mary Baker Eddy. Retrieved from http://www.christianscience.com/mary-baker-eddy-faq.html .
"We’re a young church with deep roots in early Christianity. Mary Baker Eddy founded the Church of Christ, Scientist in 1879 “to commemorate the word and works of our Master, which should reinstate primitive Christianity and its lost element of healing.” (Church Manual, page 17). Eddy grew up in the Congregational church in New England and loved and revered the life and teachings of Christ Jesus. She founded a church so that his healing works would be more universally understood and practiced."
The Christian Science Board of Directors (2009). About the Church. Retrieved from http://www.christianscience.com/about-church.html
Who started the religion? - provide some details on life of founder(s)
"Mary Baker Eddy (1821–1910) was an influential American author, teacher, and religious leader, noted for her groundbreaking ideas about spirituality and health, which she named Christian Science. She articulated those ideas in her major work, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, first published in 1875. Four years later she founded the Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, which today has branch churches and societies around the world. In 1908 she launched The Christian Science Monitor, a leading international newspaper, the recipient, to date, of seven Pulitzer Prizes."
The Christian Science Board of Directors (2009). About Mary Baker Eddy. Retrieved from http://www.christianscience.com/about-mary-baker-eddy.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Aei4Ttb4-g
What is the geographic range of religion?
According to an interactive directory database linked to this webpage, there are 2349 Christian Science sites in the United States and multiple sites in about 80 other countries.
The First Church of Christ, Scientist (2009). Directory of Christian Science Churches, Reading Rooms, and Practitioners. Retrieved from http://www.churchofchristscientist.org/worldwidedirectory/ .
The Church of Christ, Scientist, includes branch Churches of Christ, Scientist, as well as smaller organizations called Christian Science Societies. They’re all branches of The Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, and can be found in about 80 countries worldwide.
http://www.christianscience.com/branch-churches.html
Any holy books? - describe the literature
King James Bible
Winner of seven Pulitzer Prizes and widely respected for its unbiased and solution-minded journalism, The Christian Science Monitor is an international daily newspaper published Monday through Friday. Founded in 1908 by Mary Baker Eddy, it's now a multimedia website, and available as an e-mail edition, a PDA edition, and a downloadable PDF of the daily paper.
In an age of corporate conglomerates dominating news media, the Monitor is a uniquely independent voice in journalism. It does not rely primarily on wire services for its international coverage but has writers based in 14 countries, including Israel, China, Thailand, France, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Mexico, Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, Pakistan, Russia and India as well as throughout the United States.
http://www.christianscience.com/websites/christian-science-monitor.html
The Christian Science Sentinel The Christian Science Sentinel's articles, editorials, and firsthand accounts of healing show in practical terms how Christian Science can bring healing to any situation
http://www.spirituality.com/sentinel/index.jhtml
The Christian Science Journal contains instructive articles and verified reports of Christian healing, to help you understand the divine Principle, and apply the practice, of Christian Science.
Each Bible Lesson in the Christian Science Quarterly focuses on a particular subject, such as “God,” “Mortals and Immortals,”, “Love,” and “God the Preserver of Man.” There are 26 subjects in all, each appearing twice a year. The passages from the Bible and Science and Health are different each time a subject appears, providing fresh insights and an ongoing course of Bible study.
http://www.spirituality.com/bible-lesson/index.jhtml
OTHER PUBLISHED WRITINGS OF MARY BAKER EDDY - http://www.christianscience.org/PWIntro.html
http://www.christianscience.com/pdf/Science-and-Health-with-Key-to-the-Scriptures.pdf
http://www.churchofchristscientist.org/readingroom/products.jhtml
what language(s) are used in the religion?
The Herald of Christian Science, published in 13 languages other than English, lists churches and societies that conduct services in a particular language
http://www.christianscience.com/branch-churches.html
are there any divisions among the faithful?
Our Leader,
Mary Baker Eddy,
writes:
“In reality there is,
and can be, but one
school of the Science of
Mind-healing. Any
departure from Science
is an irreparable loss
of Science. . . .
“A slight divergence
is fatal in Science.”
—Rudimental Divine Science
pp. 16:15-17; 17:1 only
http://www.endtime.org/standard/vol14no1.html
The "Boston school" — Hanna and Knott
The "Chicago school" — Kimball and Young
http://www.endtime.org/2schools/2schools.html - Christian Science Endtime Center
do faithful form communities?, how & when do they meet?
Mary Baker Eddy, who published the Christian Science textbook in 1875, established what became known as The Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1879. Under the system of government she detailed in the Manual of The Mother Church, all other Christian Science churches and societies (currently numbering about 2,000) around the world are branches of The Mother Church. Together, The Mother Church and its branches comprise the Church of Christ, Scientist.
The Mother Church, located near the corner of Massachusetts and Huntington Avenues in Boston’s Back Bay, holds Sunday services at 10 o’clock in the morning and at 7 o’clock in the evening (the evening service, omitted in July and August, is a repetition of the morning service).
In addition to Sunday services, The Mother Church holds Wednesday testimony meetings at noon and 7:30 p.m. At these meetings, which also include readings from the Bible and Science and Health, those attending can explain how Christian Science has helped and healed them.
http://www.christianscience.com/church-of-christ-scientist.html
describe a religious service. Please include internet links to examples.
http://www.churchofchristscientist.org/bostonactivities/sundayservice.jhtml#serviceinfo
what is the role of music, dance, art in the religion?
http://www.spirituality.com/shop/catalog/category.jhtml?rid=700003&navAction=jump&navCount=0
describe the religious calendar. What is the religion's sacred times?
do the faithful have dietary restrictions or prohibitions?
do the faithful have dress restrictions or distinctive clothing? Is special jewelry or make-up worn? Any special rituals at home?
"Sometimes people do what is stylish. They wear the clothes that are on the cutting edge, develop and decorate their bodies according to what’s fashionable, wear their hair according to the latest craze. That’s fine, but there’s a deeper style. It could be described as Christliness. Jesus’ life, or maybe we could even say lifestyle, was characterized by the Christ. This was his spirituality, his innocence and purity, his Godlikeness, his humility. He expected all his disciples, even those today, to follow this lifestyle. That is, he understood how natural it is for everyone to express compassion, patience, gratitude. He saw in each individual a genuine spiritual Christliness—and this more authentic view of identity actually transformed people’s lives. It healed them of sickness, freed them from sensuality, raised them from the dead."
from Talbot, Nate. The prayer of Christian Science. http://www.christianscience.com/blogs/articles-sentinel/the-prayer-of-christian-science/
how is the religion organized?, describe its leadership.
http://www.churchofchristscientist.org/lectureplanning/church_manual.jhtml
Order of Sunday Church Service - http://www.churchofchristscientist.org/bostonactivities/orderofservices.jhtml
describe the nature of the sacred/divine in the religion.
"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."
Eddy, Mary Baker (18 ). The Tenets of Christian Science from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. page 496–497, http://www.christianscience.com/christian-science-tenets.html
describe the nature of the good & evil in the religion.
http://www.christianscience.com/do-christian-scientists-ignore-evil.html
"Evil is a negation, because it is the absence of truth. It is nothing, because it is the absence of something. It is unreal, because it presupposes the absence of God, the omnipotent and omnipresent. Every mortal must learn that there is neither power nor reality in evil." (Science and Health 186:11-15)
describe the nature of the good life & ethical behavior in the religion.
beliefnet. Christian Science-Christianity-Faith & Practices. What Christian Scientists Believe. http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Christianity/Christian-Science/index.aspx
what is the role of social activism in the religion?
These are terrible problems that need addressing, and this is the reason Mary Baker Eddy founded the newspaper The Christian Science Monitor—to alert the world to these problems and to invite solutions.
The Christian Science Journal, Christian Science Sentinel, and The Herald of Christian Science, along with Churches of Christ, Scientist, regularly offer healing responses to these problems as well as ideas to help each individual address them through prayer.
http://www.christianscience.com/questions-christian-science-faq.html#poverty-racism-genocide-famine
describe the nature of the afterlife in the religion.
Not as places or as part of an afterlife, but certainly as a state of mind. Christian Science theology does not include a final judgment day. Every day each individual can make a new choice that determines the path he or she is on—a path away from God or towards Him.
http://www.christianscience.com/questions-christian-science-faq.html
how does the religion envision the end of time?
http://www.christianscience.com/pdf/Science-and-Health-with-Key-to-the-Scriptures.pdf , pages 558, see page 572