This is #24 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 “Mortals and Immortals”. Look for other posts in the category “Lesson Sermon Subjects“.
Continue readingThere’s a new video series, featuring a number of former Christian Scientists sharing their experiences. Check out Leaving Christian Science Podcast.
An on-line discussion about the chapter “Fruitage” in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures prompted me to remember a game some who grew up in Christian Science played. You had to give a credible-sounding Christian Science testimony that used three random words that were given to you. Back in 2015, I turned this into a game we played in one of the ex-Christian Scientist groups I’m in on-line, and posted the results in this post. It’s been eight years now since that post, and a recent conversation prompted me to give this another go.
Continue readingI started this blog both as a critique of Christian Science, and to tell my own story (which is, in itself, a critique of Christian Science), and by doing so, to find my own healing from the effects Christian Science has had on me. So, I imagine a few of my regular readers who are apologists for Christian Science (and I know there are a few, based on my comments section and emails I receive), may wonder, is there anything about Christian Science that I think is good, or has been a positive influence on me? You might be surprised to find out that the answer is yes, albeit a conditional yes. There are not many, but there are a few.
Continue readingLiz Heywood is a bit of a rockstar in the ex-Christian Scientist community. Her story is hers, and hers only to tell, but it’s a doozy. I have never met her in-person, but back in my Boston days, while I still swam in the Krazy Sauce of Christian Science–working at The Mother Church, I would see her from a distance, as she would often picket on the street outside the church during its Annual Meeting.
Continue readingThis is #18 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 “God the Only Cause and Creator”. Look for other posts in the category Lesson Sermon Subjects.
Continue readingThis is #s 15 & 16 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 subjects are “Unreality” and “Reality”. Look for other posts in the category Lesson Sermon Subjects.
Continue reading
Misty morning on the Christian Science Plaza, Boston, Massachusetts. Image credit: Emerging Gently.
There can be little doubt, even among Christian Scientists, that the Christian Science church is in decline, and has been for many decades. According to the Wikipedia entry on “Church of Christ, Scientist” (that is the official name of the Christian Science church), the number of branch churches in the United States, the country where Christian Science originated, has been in steady decline since the end of World War II. That’s 78 years out of the 157 since Dear Leader Mary Baker Eddy took a tumble on the ice in Lynn, Massachusetts, folks.
Continue readingContinue reading“Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, nor yet for your body what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body more than raiment?”
(Matthew 6:25 – King James Version)
Image credit: evidence unseen (www.evidenceunseen.com).
My thoughts for this post have been rattling around in my brain for quite a while, and a discussion thread on Facebook with a couple of ex-Christian Scientist friends re-ignited my interest in this idea not too long ago.
I think Christian Science can, and sometimes does, make at least some people fundamentally dishonest. Now, before you run screaming, “my mom is the nicest, most honest person around, she’d never tell a lie!” hear me out. I’m talking about deeper honesty here, deeper than whether or not someone is telling you a lie. I’m talking about actions, and what one perceives to be right and true or not. Christian Science theology can have a way of blurring the lines between right and wrong for some people. Continue reading
Emerging Gently 