Probation After Death

This is #23 in a series of posts looking at the 26 Christian Science Weekly Bible Lesson subjects, chosen by Mary Baker Eddy, and rotated twice per year. These lessons are the sermon at each Christian Science church worldwide, and are read by Christian Scientists daily. Today’s subject is “Probation After Death”. Look for other posts in the category “Lesson Sermon Subjects“.

I am sure plenty of my constant readers probably saw this title in the newsfeed or the home page of this blog and thought, “ugh, this one isn’t for me!” I wouldn’t blame you. The title is not exactly uplifting, is it? As a kid in Sunday School, I lumped this one in with Everlasting Punishment, and Adam and Fallen Man as the “downer subjects”. The lesson sermons were, according to Mary Baker Eddy, supposed to form the core of Sunday School instruction. So, twice per year, three weeks in a row, we had these uplifting topics to grapple with as kids. They, among others, were some of the weird lessons you learned as a kid growing up in Christian Science, and is among the ways in which a childhood spent in Christian Science makes many of us weird, and somewhat jaded. I covered the other two subjects in this group a few years ago, now I’ll have a go at this one.

This subject, along with the other two I mentioned, have a lot of similarities as far as the areas of Christian Science theology that they cover is concerned. So it’s no surprise that, in the order of appearance of the Lesson Sermon subjects, they appear together, starting with today’s subject, then following with Everlasting Punishment, and then Adam and Fallen Man. As I recall with the lesson sermon cycle, you got these ones in the spring and autumn. Interestingly, these are the seasons that are associated with birth and death. Now, when I look at these subject titles as a former Christian Scientist almost 14 years out of the faith, I shake my head at how weird and absurd Christian Science is.

My recollection of the other two subjects, especially Adam and Fallen Man, is that they focus a lot on the Creation narratives from the Bible, and the concept of original sin. Today’s subject delves deeper into the ideas in Christian Science surrounding death, and what death is in Christian Science theology.

What is death (according to Christian Science)?

Death, according to the teachings of Christian Science, is an illusion. According to Christian Science theology, life is eternal, with no beginning and no end. So, how do we get into “Probation After Death” if death is not real? Oh yes, contradictions are one constant in Christian Science.

You can’t deny that people die, even if Mary Baker Eddy says it’s all an illusion. You can’t get past the fact that you will never see or talk to them again after they die, so there needs to be a way around this while still maintaining the idea that life is eternal and death never really happens. So, in a nutshell, what we call death is merely a transition to some other “plane” of existence or life. According to Christian Science, those who have died have merely continued on somewhere else, in some other realm of existence, and that’s why you can’t see them anymore. Perhaps it is in another dimension or universe as some people theorize. This is why Christian Scientists act very strange, sort of blasé, when faced with the death of someone close to them. I have talked about this reaction in greater detail in this post.

There is a thought that if one was sufficiently elevated spiritually in their thought, they could overcome death, and truly experience the eternality of life, and you would not miss your loved ones, because you were always all together. I remember hearing that thought being tossed around when I was still in Christian Science. Even after my mother’s death, when I hadn’t yet left Christian Science, I pondered that thought with my Dad, theorizing that since time was a human concept, Mom was in some sort of state or realm where there was no time, and we were with her there, and to her no time had passed. Weird, I know, but it gave me some comfort at the time. I also remember, and here we go with contradictions again, one of the members of the Christian Science Board of Directors proudly proclaiming that some day, the full “majesty” of Christian Science would be realized, and we would “raise the dead”, as it is proclaimed on the seal of Christian Science.

By the way, Mary Baker Eddy did not overcome death. She is very much dead, and you can visit her ornate gravesite at Mt. Auburn cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She died in 1910, at 89 years of age. Nobody has seen her since, so I think it is safe to say we never will.

What is “Probation” after death?

This is where we get into an aspect of Christian Science theology that I have not really touched on much, and that may be unfamiliar to some who have never been Christian Scientists. It’s not really obscure though, and it makes sense when you think about the explanation of what death is according to Christian Science theology that I just discussed.

As I have said, Christian Science views death as a “transition” from one plane of existence to another, like moving from one room into another. So, it is not really death in the way we think of it, as the complete end of life. According to Christian Science theology, life is eternal: it doesn’t have a beginning or an ending. I remember often being told, after someone I knew had died, that they had, “merely gone on to a new place,” like simply into another room.

When it comes to what life is and what death is, Christian Science borrows somewhat from some eastern Asian philosophies. The beliefs regarding death, where it is merely a transition from one plane of existence to another, have roots in eastern Asian traditions like Buddhism, where life and death are a continuum, and you experience countless cycles of birth and death until you gain enlightenment.

It is important to know that in Christian Science theology, there aren’t multiple “lives”, there is only the one that you have, and that the “real” “you” is what is referred to as “immortal man”, as opposed to “mortal man” which just dies. For example, think of it like a journey across the United States, except that there aren’t just 50 states, there is an infinite number of states. Let’s pretend that right now, you’re in California. When you “pass on” to the next plane of existence (die), you’re just crossing the border into Nevada, then onward you go from there to the next state and so on. Since life is eternal, to the Christian Scientist, it is important to note that you were also in a different state before you got to California, and a different state before that one too, and so on.

In general, according to Christian Science theology, you exit the process of death pretty much where you were when you died; just in a different plane of existence. To use my previous analogy, if you are soaking wet right now in California, you’ll be soaking wet when you wake up in Nevada as well, until you dry yourself off. In other words, death is not an escape from anything you need to resolve in this life: those stay with you until you resolve them. This is the idea behind the “probation” after what is referred to as death.

Concluding thoughts

I have found this aspect of Christian Science theology to be relatively easy to explain. It is not too dissimilar to many other ideas of the afterlife that are put forward by various faiths and philosophies. While Christian Scientists may take issue with my idea that their views on the afterlife borrow from eastern Asian philosophies, I don’t think that can be denied, and critical biographers of Mary Baker Eddy have also pointed out how she borrowed from Asian philosophies in her formulation of some aspects Christian Science theology.

What really happens after we die? The only honest answer to that question is that we do not know. Nobody does. If someone says they do, they’re lying, or just parroting what they have been taught by someone else. Atheists will tell you that there is nothing, it’s just “lights out”. Christians will tell you that Jesus and your loved ones await you in heaven, or Satan awaits you in hell depending on your level of righteousness in this life. Muslims hold a similar view. Buddhists view life and death as a continuum, similar to the Christian Science view. Maybe one of these is correct, maybe none are.

What is my belief? I don’t have a belief. I will find out when the time comes. What I do think might be possible, and this comes from some reading I have done on scientific research into what consciousness is, points to the idea that consciousness may be some form of organized energy. If so, then the first law of thermodynamics, which states that energy can neither be created or destroyed comes into play, and this organized energy then does continue to exist after death, but it is transformed, or dissipated. Science has yet to figure it out. So for now, it’s just an idea of what might happen.

For me, it would be nice to think that my parents, my younger brother and older sister, and my aunts and uncles who have died still continue on in some way, and that my friends and family and me will as well. But honestly, I don’t know. They do remain alive with me in my memories of them, and that is what I really know I have.