Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist)

A church founded in Boston by Mary Baker Eddy in 1879, built on the Bible and her book Science and Health, with no ordained clergy, no preacher and a belief that healing by prayer is open to all.

christianscience.com, Frequently asked questions

christianscience.com, What a Christian Scientist believes (the six tenets)

christianscience.com, The Church

christianscience.com, The Bible and Science and Health

christianscience.com, Mary Baker Eddy: Discoverer, Founder, and Leader

christianscience.com, Healing in Christian Science

christianscience.com, The Mother Church services

christianscience.com, Local churches

christianscience.com, Membership in The Mother Church (quoting Manual pp. 34-35)

christianscience.com, Christian Science practitioners

christianscience.com, Christian Science periodicals

christianscience.com, Annual Meeting: Messages from The Mother Church (2026 invitation letter from the Christian Science Board of Directors)

The Mary Baker Eddy Papers (The Mary Baker Eddy Library), editorial essay on the Manual of The Mother Church (G00030)

The Mary Baker Eddy Papers (The Mary Baker Eddy Library), Eddy to James A. Ackland, Oct. 24, 1879 (L12621), editorial note on the church's charter

Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (1910 text), Chapter XIV, Recapitulation, at sacred-texts.com

Mary Baker Eddy, Manual of The Mother Church, "Eighty-Ninth edition" (original publication 1908; Project Gutenberg eBook #18039)

Stephen J. Simurda, "A Leap of Faith," Boston Magazine, 15 May 2006

Baylor Religion Watch, 5 Feb 2021, summarizing Elise Wolff, Journal of Contemporary Religion (Oct 2020)

Baylor Religion Watch, 10 Jun 2024, summarizing Rolf Swensen, Nova Religio (Feb 2024)

Publishers Weekly review of Stephen Gottschalk, Rolling Away the Stone: Mary Baker Eddy's Challenge to Materialism (Indiana University Press, 2005), 31 Oct 2005

Indiana University Press, Rolling Away the Stone (publisher page, with author note)

Richard Bergenheim, "A chronicle of 20 eventful years in the life of Mary Baker Eddy," The Christian Science Monitor, 21 Feb 2006

Christian Science began with one woman's account of a healing and grew into a church in thirteen years. Mary Baker Eddy wrote a textbook, organized a church around it in 1879 and in 1892 gave it the form it keeps: a Mother Church in Boston, branch churches that govern themselves, and a Manual that she wrote. She died in 1910. The church grew through the first half of the twentieth century and has shrunk since. Scholars sympathetic to the church and scholars outside it disagree about how far.

Eddy's recovery

The church says that "in 1866, after reading one of Jesus' healings, she experienced a dramatic, quick recovery from life-threatening injuries caused by an accident." Eddy wanted to know how she had been healed. She studied the Bible and prayed, and concluded that spiritual healing rested on divine laws that anyone could apply.

Science and Health is published

Eddy's "notes from this deep study of the Bible turned into Science and Health, first published in 1875." It became the textbook of Christian Science. The church describes it as a book that "supports one's practical application of the Bible's message, without replacing the Bible itself."

A church is voted into being

At a meeting of the Christian Scientist Association on April 12, 1879, "on motion of Mrs. Eddy," the members voted "to organize a church designed to commemorate the word and works of our Master, which should reinstate primitive Christianity and its lost element of healing." The Manual's sketch dates the charter to June 1879 in its text and to August 1879 in a footnote. The Mary Baker Eddy Papers, edited from the church's own archive, give the date as August 23, 1879, under the name Church of Christ (Scientist).

Eddy accepts the call as pastor

The Manual records that "the members, twenty-six in number, extended a call to Mary Baker Eddy to become their pastor. She accepted the call, and was ordained A. D. 1881." Later the Manual would name the Bible and Science and Health as the church's Pastor and make her Pastor Emeritus.

The First Church of Christ, Scientist

On "the twenty-third day of September, 1892, at the request of Rev. Mary Baker Eddy, twelve of her students and Church members met and reorganized, under her jurisdiction, the Christian Science Church and named it, THE FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST." A deed of trust dated September 1, 1892, created the Board of Directors. This is The Mother Church.

The Christian Science Monitor

The church says the Christian Science Monitor was "founded in 1908 by Mary Baker Eddy, with this object: 'to injure no man, but to bless all mankind.'" The newspaper is still published, and the church's other periodicals carry reports of healing.

Eddy dies

Mary Baker Eddy died in 1910. The Manual she wrote stayed as the church's governing document, and the church looks to her as "the leader of this Christian movement" while saying that she "does not replace the unique role of Christ Jesus, whom we look to as the Savior."

The high-water mark

A 2006 article in Boston Magazine gave about 3,000 branch churches and societies in the United States in 1950, about 1,400 by 2006, and about 8,300 practitioners in 1960 against about 1,700 in 2006. The same article cites "knowledgeable church sources" for a membership of no more than 60,000 worldwide in 2006. Those sources are not named, so the figure is the writer's report.

Gottschalk's study of Eddy

The historian Stephen Gottschalk, a Christian Scientist who once worked for the church, published Rolling Away the Stone: Mary Baker Eddy's Challenge to Materialism (Indiana University Press, 2005), a study of Eddy's last two decades. A Publishers Weekly review said Gottschalk argued that Eddy "should be taken seriously as a religious innovator" who meant "to reform all of Christianity from within," and it noted "a clear pro-Eddy bias at times." The Christian Science Monitor's reviewer said Gottschalk held that Christian Science is "deeply and irreversibly Christian in nature" rather than a form of the mind-cure of the day.

Decline in the branches

Elise Wolff's research (Journal of Contemporary Religion, October 2020), as summarized by Baylor Religion Watch, counts U.S. branch churches falling from about 1,300 in 1995 to about 800 in 2015 and describes how the church has adapted to its decline.

A larger lay and local role

Rolf Swensen (Nova Religio, February 2024), as summarized by Baylor Religion Watch, describes the church moving toward larger lay and community roles in its branches as numbers fall.

Annual Meeting, June 8

The Christian Science Board of Directors invited members to the Annual Meeting of The Mother Church for Monday, June 8, 2026, in Boston and online, with the theme "Ye are the light of the world." The letter was signed by the five directors named below.

Mary Baker Eddy

Discoverer and founder. She wrote Science and Health (first published 1875) and the Manual, was called as the church's pastor in 1879 and ordained in 1881, and founded the Monitor in 1908. The church says "Eddy was also very clear that she was not to be personally worshiped," and asked people to follow her "... only so far as she follows Christ."

The Christian Science Board of Directors

Five directors conduct the affairs of The Mother Church under the Manual: Moji George, Scott Preller, Mary Alice Rose, Beth Schaefer and Keith Wommack, who signed the 2026 Annual Meeting letter. The Manual says the Board is to consist of five members. The Manual also provides a President, elected each year by the Board for a one-year term. The church's pages read here do not name the current President.

Stephen Gottschalk

An independent scholar of Christian Science thought and a former member of the church's Committee on Publication. His The Emergence of Christian Science in American Religious Life (1973) and Rolling Away the Stone (2005) are the best-known scholarly accounts from inside the movement, with the bias a reviewer noted.

Sources to weigh. The Mother Church's own pages give no membership count. The numbers in this chapter come from a magazine article, a scholar's research as summarized by a university news service, and one reviewer's reading of a book. They show direction, not a precise count.

The Manual. The Manual is the church's governing book. The edition quoted here is the Project Gutenberg text, headed "Eighty-Ninth edition," with an original publication date of 1908 and a 1947-1948 officer list. The Mary Baker Eddy Papers say the 89th is the current edition, finalized by Eddy before her death, and that "no further revisions to By-Laws have been made since Eddy's passing." So the by-laws quoted here are the ones in force, though the officer list is long out of date. The church's own Membership page quotes the Manual's membership rules, and that quotation matches the Gutenberg text.

Titles. The Manual says that "in the year eighteen hundred and ninety-five" members gave Eddy the name "Mother," and later directs Christian Scientists to drop it. It also records that the church's officers offered her the church building as a testimonial and that she declined.

What the sources do not give. No source read here records the date of Eddy's death beyond the year, the current practitioner count, or the name of the current President of The Mother Church, who serves a one-year term.

The Bible and Science and Health together, as the church's two sources.

The first of the six tenets says: "As adherents of Truth, we take the inspired Word of the Bible as our sufficient guide to eternal Life." The church says that "everything to know about Christian Science can be found in the Bible and Science and Health," and it describes Science and Health as a book that opens up the Bible without replacing it. The Manual goes further. In Article XIV Eddy ordains the Bible and Science and Health together as Pastor over The Mother Church, and says they "will continue to preach for this Church and the world." The church's services are built entirely from readings in the two books. A member of The Mother Church must believe in "the doctrines of Christian Science, according to the platform and teaching contained in the Christian Science textbook." The tenets, which are printed on pages 496 and 497 of Science and Health, summarize the teaching.

As adherents of Truth, we take the inspired Word of the Bible as our sufficient guide to eternal Life.

Everything to know about Christian Science can be found in the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. There are no secret teachings or doctrines in Christian Science.

I, Mary Baker Eddy, ordain the BIBLE, and SCIENCE AND HEALTH WITH KEY TO THE SCRIPTURES, Pastor over The Mother Church

The church's own phrase for the textbook. The church calls Science and Health "the textbook of Christian Science" and says the Bible Lessons "are made up solely of citations from these books." The weekly Lesson-Sermon is therefore a reading from two books chosen by the church for all branches, not a message composed by a local speaker.

Membership. The Manual's rule on membership reads: "The Bible, together with Science and Health and other works by Mrs. Eddy, shall be his only textbooks for self-instruction in Christian Science, and for teaching and practising metaphysical healing." The church quotes this rule on its Membership page.

Authority in the Manual. The Manual regulates readings, the order of service, discipline, music, the Sunday School, Reading Rooms and the relation of branches to The Mother Church. It is the church's rule for its own life, and the church describes the Mother Church's work as defined "by the Church's governing document, the Manual of The Mother Church, written by Mary Baker Eddy."

Saved through Christ as Truth and Love, by understanding; baptism is a daily inner cleansing, not water.

The fourth tenet says: "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." The third tenet speaks of God's forgiveness "in the destruction of sin and the spiritual understanding that casts out evil as unreal." The church teaches that each person is "inherently pure, good, and spiritually made in the image and likeness of a loving God," and that "we are not born sinners." It reads Jesus' atonement as showing that everyone is "at-one" with God, and it holds that the belief in sin is punished while the belief lasts. Baptism is not a rite with water. The church says: "In Christian Science, baptism and communion are understood to be a daily spiritual practice, more than a symbolic act." It describes baptism as "purification from all error," a cleansing of thoughts, aims and desires from materialism and selfishness that goes on every day. The question asks how a person is saved. In their own words, salvation comes by understanding the spiritual truth Jesus showed.

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.

In Christian Science, baptism and communion are understood to be a daily spiritual practice, more than a symbolic act.

We believe that each individual is inherently pure, good, and spiritually made in the image and likeness of a loving God—we are not born sinners.

No water. The church describes baptism as a daily cleansing, and the Manual text read here does not mention baptism at all. The church holds that the emphasis is on private prayer, quoting Science and Health: "pray in secret and let our lives attest our sincerity."

Atonement. The church says: "Jesus' atonement showed his great love for humanity. His willingness to go through the crucifixion—followed by the resurrection—proved hate to be powerless and life to be in God."

Moral promise. The sixth tenet is a 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."

Communion is moment-by-moment prayer; the branches hold two services a year, and The Mother Church none.

The church says that communion is "prayer between God and an individual that goes on moment-by-moment." Branch churches also hold "communion services twice a year," and on those days the congregation hears a Bible sermon on the subject "Sacrament," "to learn more spiritual lessons from the biblical accounts of Jesus' crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension," with time for quiet prayer. The Manual sets the dates: "the second Sunday in January and July of each year," with the tenets read at that service. For The Mother Church itself the Manual says: "The Mother Church of Christ, Scientist, shall observe no more Communion seasons." The question assumes a bread and a cup taken weekly by the baptized. In their own words the church does not teach that. Neither the Manual text nor the church's pages read here describe any bread or cup, and the church calls communion a spiritual practice, "more than a symbolic act."

Communion: prayer between God and an individual that goes on moment-by-moment. Christian Science churches also hold communion services twice a year.

The Mother Church of Christ, Scientist, shall observe no more Communion seasons.

The Communion shall be observed in the branch churches on the second Sunday in January and July of each year, and at this service the Tenets of The Mother Church are to be read.

What the twice-yearly service is. The church describes it this way: "During this service, we listen to a Bible Sermon on the subject 'Sacrament' that has been studied throughout the week, to learn more spiritual lessons from the biblical accounts of Jesus' crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. There is time during the service to quietly pray and think about how to be a better follower of Christ Jesus."

A gap in the record. The pages read here do not say who may take part in a communion service. This chart therefore makes no claim about access.

No ordained clergy; Readers are lay members; each branch governs itself under the Manual.

The church says: "There is no ordained clergy in Christian Science, and its church organization differs from traditional hierarchical denominations." It has two forms. The Mother Church in Boston is governed by officers, including a Board of Directors, under the Manual. Each branch church is "governed democratically by its members." The Manual says that The Mother Church "shall assume no general official control of other churches, and it shall be controlled by none other," and that each branch "shall be distinctly democratic in its government, and no individual, and no other church shall interfere with its affairs." The people who lead worship are two Readers, one to read the Bible and one to read Science and Health; in The Mother Church the Manual makes them a man and a woman. Branch Readers are elected by the congregation. Alongside them are practitioners, who pray with the sick full time, and teachers, who give an annual Primary class. Practitioners and teachers are listed in the Directory, and the church says listing requires "verified references and evidence of healing." The pastor, in the church's terms, is the Bible with Science and Health.

There is no ordained clergy in Christian Science, and its church organization differs from traditional hierarchical denominations.

Each branch is governed democratically by its members.

The Mother Church of Christ, Scientist, shall assume no general official control of other churches, and it shall be controlled by none other.

Officers. The Manual lists the church's officers as a Pastor Emeritus, a Board of Directors, a President, a Clerk, a Treasurer and two Readers. In the printing read here Eddy is Pastor Emeritus. The Board of Directors "shall consist of five members." In 2026 its members were Moji George, Scott Preller, Mary Alice Rose, Beth Schaefer and Keith Wommack.

Practitioners and teachers. The church describes practitioners as "in the public ministry of praying for and with patients" and teachers (C.S.B.) as practitioners who "teach an annual class." Christian Science nurses give "practical, non-medical care," and the church calls it "a religious vocation that is distinct from registered or licensed medical nursing."

A fixed order of hymns, silent prayer, the Lord's Prayer and a Lesson-Sermon read from two books; no personal preaching.

Every service follows one order. The church lists "Hymns sung by the congregation," "Silent prayer followed by the Lord's Prayer from Christ Jesus, with its spiritual interpretation by Mary Baker Eddy," a "Weekly Bible Lesson-Sermon read by two lay members of the church," closing readings and benediction, and a musical prelude and postlude. There is "no personal preaching." The Manual asks that the music "shall not be operatic, but of an appropriate religious character and of a recognized standard of musical excellence," and provides for an organist and a soloist. Wednesday evening services add a topic chosen by a local lay member and time for testimony. The church says that "every church service is considered to be a healing service." Prayer is addressed to God, and the church speaks of God as "Father-Mother" and as "infinite Love itself."

What's distinctive about Christian Science services is that there's no personal preaching.

Silent prayer followed by the Lord's Prayer from Christ Jesus, with its spiritual interpretation by Mary Baker Eddy

The music in The Mother Church shall not be operatic, but of an appropriate religious character and of a recognized standard of musical excellence

The Wednesday meeting. It follows "a similar format, but with a topic chosen by a local lay member, who selects readings from the Bible and Science and Health to address it. The congregation is then invited to share their own experiences, testimonies of healings, and remarks on Christian Science."

Music. The Manual says that "music from the organ alone should continue about eight or nine minutes" before a service and that a soloist sings a hymn in the order of service. The church's pages say the congregation sings hymns.

The Holy Ghost is the divine Comforter; healing by prayer is taught as lawful and open to all believers today.

The second tenet says: "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." The pages read here do not speak of tongues or the other gifts. What the church does teach is that healing is open to everyone now. It quotes John 14:12 and Mark 16:17 ("These signs shall follow them that believe") and says: "These statements were not just for Jesus' disciples—they are for all of us." It describes its prayer as reliance on God, "the divine Mind," and denies that healing comes by the human mind: "The human mind, mind over matter, or positive thinking, are not factors in spiritual healing." Members hold that healing is a lawful outcome of better understanding, and the church publishes verified testimonies.

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.

Christian Science is distinct from these practices because it relies on God, the divine Mind, as the source of redemption and healing.

Christian Scientists do not accept suffering as God's will.

Healing and the doctor. The church answers a common charge directly: "There is a misperception that Christian Scientists aren't allowed to visit doctors. In fact, Christian Scientists are free to choose their own form of healthcare—whether it is spiritual healing, medical care, or some other method." It also states that "The Church does not preach or dictate specific stances" on social and political questions.

The Holy Ghost. The pages read here name the Holy Ghost in the tenet and nowhere describe the Holy Spirit as a person who dwells in believers. The church also says that "Christian Science also understands God to be Father-Mother."

Life is eternal; death is not the end of life, and the dead go on growing spiritually. No return of Christ or day of judgment appears in the sources read.

The church says: "Christian Scientists view Life as eternal. Christian Scientists see Jesus' victory over death as proof that death is not the end of life. Individuals continue on after death continuing to learn and grow spiritually." It adds: "We cannot communicate with those who have died, but as we all continue to grow spiritually, we will eventually recognize and see each other after death." The fifth tenet reads the cross and the empty tomb as serving "to uplift faith to understand eternal Life, even the allness of Soul, Spirit, and the nothingness of matter." The third tenet says that "the belief in sin is punished so long as the belief lasts." The church's pages read here say nothing about Christ's return, a bodily resurrection of the dead or a final judgment day.

Christian Scientists view Life as eternal.

We cannot communicate with those who have died, but as we all continue to grow spiritually, we will eventually recognize and see each other after death.

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.

What this chart does not say. The church may teach more about the end of the age in Science and Health than its public pages state. This chart quotes only what the church's pages and the Manual text say, and it makes no claim about what the textbook says beyond what is cited.

Healing by prayer and the practitioner

Healing is the church's central work, carried out by prayer, often with a full-time practitioner.

The church calls healing "a central one in Christian Science." It says, "We turn to God in prayer for help and healing, including for physical needs," and "Christian Science practitioners are in the public ministry of praying for and with patients to help bring healing to their lives." Healing covers physical, mental and moral health. "Every church service is considered to be a healing service," and testimonies of healing have been published since 1883. The church says its members "are free to choose their own form of healthcare."

We turn to God in prayer for help and healing, including for physical needs.

Christian Science practitioners are in the public ministry of praying for and with patients to help bring healing to their lives.

Christian Scientists are free to choose their own form of healthcare—whether it is spiritual healing, medical care, or some other method.

Is any among you sick? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save him that is sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, it shall be forgiven him.

And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are in health have no need of a physician; but they that are sick.

Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas salute you.

Here the church stands near the New Testament. James tells the sick to ask for prayer, and the church prays for the sick and counts healing a Christian duty. That is a practice many churches have let lapse. Two things differ from the pattern. James names the elders of the church, who pray and anoint, not a class of full-time practitioners with a directory. And the church grounds healing in the claim that sickness is unreal, which is not the ground James gives. The church's own statement that members may choose medical care is closer to Scripture than a ban would be: Jesus said that the sick need a physician, and Luke is called "the beloved physician." Where a person relies on prayer alone, the question is whether the church's teaching on matter and sickness has led them to do so, and the next distinctive weighs that teaching.

Controversies. Public disputes about children and adults who relied on prayer alone are recorded in court reports and news coverage. This chart has not gathered those sources and states no particular case. It records only the church's own position, quoted above.

Matter, sin, sickness and death as unreal

The tenets speak of evil as unreal and of the nothingness of matter; people are not born sinners.

The third tenet speaks of "the spiritual understanding that casts out evil as unreal." The fifth speaks of "the allness of Soul, Spirit, and the nothingness of matter." The "scientific statement of being" in Science and Health, which the Manual has read near the close of every Sunday service, says: "Spirit is the real and eternal; matter is the unreal and temporal." The church teaches that people are "not born sinners" and that "sin isn't something to be ignored. It can be overcome through an understanding of one's innate innocence as a child of God." Through Jesus' resurrection and ascension, the church says, "we can overcome sin, sickness, and death in our own lives."

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.

Sin isn't something to be ignored. It can be overcome through an understanding of one's innate innocence as a child of God.

There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all. Spirit is immortal Truth; matter is mortal error. Spirit is the real and eternal; matter is the unreal and temporal.

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father), full of grace and truth.

That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we beheld, and our hands handled, concerning the Word of life (and the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare unto you the life, the eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us); that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you also, that ye also may have fellowship with us: yea, and our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ:

Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: and every spirit that confesseth not Jesus is not of God: and this is the spirit of the antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it cometh; and now it is in the world already.

for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God;

The apostles stake their witness on what they handled: the Word "became flesh," and John writes of "our hands handled" the Word of life. They name the confession of Jesus Christ come in the flesh as the test of the Spirit of God. A textbook that says "there is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter" cannot give that confession its plain sense, and the risen Lord himself answered it: "handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye behold me having." Paul says "for all have sinned," and John says that to claim no sin is to deceive ourselves, so the teaching that people are not born sinners and that sin is unreal runs against both. The church does take sin seriously in practice, and says the belief in sin is punished. But the New Testament does not treat sin as a mistaken belief to be cast out by understanding. It treats it as guilt, which only the cross answers.

Where they agree. The church holds that God is wholly good, that God does not create evil, that Jesus overcame death, and that suffering is not God's will. Those are not what Scripture's verdict falls on. The verdict falls on the statement that matter, sin, sickness and death are not real, because the apostles' own proclamation rests on a real body, a real cross and a real grave: "if Christ hath not been raised, then is our preaching vain" (1 Corinthians 15:14).

Their best text. A member will cite "God is a Spirit" (John 4:24) and "the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:18). Both are true, and neither says the seen is unreal. Paul's "temporal" means passing, not illusory, and the same Spirit-God made the Word flesh. The verdict stands on the texts above.

Jesus and "the Christ"

The church affirms the divinity of the Christ but does not equate Jesus with God.

The church says: "While Christian Science affirms the divinity of the Christ, it does not equate Jesus with God." The second tenet acknowledges "His Son, one Christ." The church speaks with love of Jesus, whom it calls the Savior, and also of "Christ Jesus the Way-shower." It says that Mary Baker Eddy "does not replace the unique role of Christ Jesus, whom we look to as the Savior."

Christian Scientists have a deep love and reverence for Jesus, expressed in how we follow his teachings and example. While Christian Science affirms the divinity of the Christ, it does not equate Jesus with God.

She does not replace the unique role of Christ Jesus, whom we look to as the Savior.

Who is the liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, even he that denieth the Father and the Son.

And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.

for in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily,

The apostles do not give divinity to "the Christ" while holding it back from the man Jesus. Peter says to the man before him, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God," and John asks, "Who is the liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ?" Thomas says to the risen Jesus, "My Lord and my God," and Paul writes that in him "dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." The church honors Jesus in plain terms, and the verdict does not rest on its devotion but on its own sentence, that it "does not equate Jesus with God." The texts make the man Jesus himself the Christ and God, so a teaching that places divinity in the Christ and not in Jesus cannot stand beside them.

Cautions. This chart does not say that Christian Scientists reject Jesus or call him unimportant. The church says the opposite. It says only what the church says about the relation of Jesus and the Christ.

Their best answer. A member may say that "Christ" is a title and not a surname. That is true, and it is the point: Peter gives the title to the man, "God hath made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom ye crucified" (Acts 2:36).

Mary Baker Eddy as Discoverer

Eddy is the Discoverer and Founder whose book completes the church's teaching; she is not to be worshiped.

The church calls Mary Baker Eddy the Discoverer of Christian Science. It says "the Bible was her only guide," that her notes became Science and Health, and that she "ordained" the Bible and her book as Pastor. It adds: "Eddy was also very clear that she was not to be personally worshiped. She asked that people follow her '... only so far as she follows Christ.'" The Manual's sketch says the church was voted in 1879 "to reinstate primitive Christianity and its lost element of healing." The reviewer of Gottschalk's book writes that he argued Eddy meant "to reform all of Christianity from within."

Eddy was also very clear that she was not to be personally worshiped.

to organize a church designed to commemorate the word and works of our Master, which should reinstate primitive Christianity and its lost element of healing.

God, having of old time spoken unto the fathers in the prophets by divers portions and in divers manners, hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds;

But though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach unto you any gospel other than that which we preached unto you, let him be anathema.

I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto them, God shall add unto him the plagues which are written in this book: and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book.

Now these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and Apollos for your sakes; that in us ye might learn not to go beyond the things which are written; that no one of you be puffed up for the one against the other.

The church deserves credit on two points. It does not worship its founder, and it says the aim of 1879 was to restore the primitive church. The New Testament shares that aim. But the New Testament knows only one final word, spoken "in his Son" at the end of these days, and it warns against any gospel "other than that which we preached unto you." A discoverer who completes the apostolic message with a book that governs how Scripture is read has added to it. The verdict does not turn on the founder's character or sincerity. It turns on the fact that a church which names a second book Pastor beside the Bible has gone beyond what is written.

Her sincerity. The church's account of Eddy's life stresses illness, loss and a lifelong study of the Bible. Publishers Weekly calls Gottschalk's book an "intellectual biography." This chart does not weigh her sincerity. It weighs the claim that her book stands beside the Bible.

Testimony meetings and the lay Readers

A sermon read from two books, and a Wednesday hour for members to give testimony of healing.

The church says that "Wednesday testimony meetings held in churches around the world give attendees the opportunity to share healing experiences every week." At each meeting a local lay member chooses a topic and selects readings, and then "the congregation is then invited to share their own experiences, testimonies of healings, and remarks on Christian Science." On Sundays the sermon is read by two lay Readers, and the church says: "A sermon from the books—not a preacher."

Wednesday testimony meetings held in churches around the world give attendees the opportunity to share healing experiences every week.

The congregation is then invited to share their own experiences, testimonies of healings, and remarks on Christian Science.

What is it then, brethren? When ye come together, each one hath a psalm, hath a teaching, hath a revelation, hath a tongue, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.

preach the word; be urgent in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.

speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;

Here the church is nearer the pattern than most. Paul describes an assembly in which "each one hath a psalm, hath a teaching, hath a revelation," and the Wednesday meeting lets ordinary members speak. The lay Readers also fit the New Testament's lack of a clergy class. What is missing is the work the apostle commands: "preach the word." The church's choice to have no preaching, and to read the same passages in every branch, means no one explains the Bible to the assembly from the Bible. A sermon that is only read, drawn from a book that frames the Bible, replaces teaching with reciting.

What it keeps. Scripture is read in full at each service, and the church teaches children the Ten Commandments, the Sermon on the Mount and the Lord's Prayer in Sunday School.

The test is the same for every body: what the New Testament shows the first-century church doing and teaching, set beside what the church holds today. Christian Science is not a body on this site's lineage chart, so each placement here rests on the rubric's rungs, and the reason is given with it. Christian Science stands nearest the pattern where it has no clergy and where its branches govern themselves. It stands furthest where it adds a book to the Bible and denies the reality of what the apostles handled.

Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness: that the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work.

Beloved, while I was giving all diligence to write unto you of our common salvation, I was constrained to write unto you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints.

The church says it takes the Bible as its "sufficient guide," and that claim is right. But the Manual ordains the Bible and Science and Health together as the church's Pastor, services read both, and a member must hold the doctrines of the textbook. Scripture is complete: "every scripture inspired of God" furnishes the man of God "completely unto every good work," the faith was "once for all delivered," and any gospel beyond what the apostles preached is under a curse. A second book that stands beside the Bible, with by-laws governing the church's life, takes the top rung on the rubric for an added book and for what the institution supplies, and the Manual makes the textbook's doctrines a condition of membership, with excommunication under its by-laws. This is not close to the line.

Credit. The church says there are "no secret teachings," publishes its tenets and invites visitors to read. Eddy's own request that she not be worshiped is to her credit. These do not remove the fact that the church's second book is named Pastor and is read as the sermon every week.

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

And Peter said unto them, Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Or are ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.

On the rubric's ladder for the purpose of baptism, a body that has no baptism in entry takes the last rung, and the two other questions (who is baptized and how) have no answer where nothing is performed. The first church preached "Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins," and Paul describes those baptized as "buried therefore with him through baptism into death." Christian Science says baptism is a daily cleansing of thought. Its account of sin goes further than the rite: where Paul says "for all have sinned," the church says that people are not born sinners and that evil is unreal. Salvation by understanding takes the place of forgiveness through a death.

Credit. The church sets a high moral standard. The sixth tenet promises to be "merciful, just, and pure," and the church says the cleansing of thoughts and aims is daily work. That moral earnestness is real and it is a good thing. But Scripture puts the believer into Christ by baptism and holds up the cross, not understanding, as the ground of forgiveness.

For I received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread; and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, This is my body, which is for you: this do in remembrance of me. In like manner also the cup, after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood: this do, as often as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim the Lord’s death till he come.

And upon the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul discoursed with them, intending to depart on the morrow; and prolonged his speech until midnight.

And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and the prayers.

The apostolic church broke bread on the first day of the week, and Paul passed on the Lord's own words: "this do in remembrance of me." Christian Science teaches communion as moment-by-moment prayer. The Mother Church holds no communion service, and at the branches' twice-yearly service the Manual has the congregation "kneel in silent Communion," with no bread and no cup. Where the meal is not kept, how often and who may take it have no answer, and the omission is charged once, as an ordinance omitted, so the placement scores what the church teaches communion is: silent prayer put in the place of the bread and the cup, as among the Friends. That removes the proclamation the Lord commanded, for "as often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim the Lord’s death till he come."

The church's reason. The church says its emphasis is on private prayer rather than public displays of worship. That is a conviction, but the Lord's command in the upper room, and the church's practice in Acts, set the pattern of a common meal every first day.

And when they had appointed for them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they had believed.

For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that were wanting, and appoint elders in every city, as I gave thee charge;

Take heed unto yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit hath made you bishops, to feed the church of the Lord which he purchased with his own blood.

Tend the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not of constraint, but willingly, according to the will of God; nor yet for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;

The church deserves credit here: it has no ordained clergy and no priestly class, and the Manual says The Mother Church "shall assume no general official control of other churches." That is near the New Testament's self-governing congregations. But the pattern also has elders, "appointed for them elders in every church" (Acts 14:23), and Christian Science has none; its pastor is a book, two Readers lead its services, and one Manual and the Board's Directory bind every branch to a single pattern, which by itself gives the middle of the scale. This chart moves it one step further out, because the founder's word binds doctrine: Eddy ordained her own textbook co-Pastor with the Bible, membership requires a believer in its doctrines, and her by-laws, unrevised since her death, provide for excommunication. An elder is to be "holding to the faithful word which is according to the teaching" (Titus 1:9), and even an apostle wrote, "Not that we have lordship over your faith" (2 Corinthians 1:24).

Wording. The reader should not take "no clergy" for "plurality of elders." The New Testament church had no clergy class, and it did have a plurality of elders in each congregation, who taught and oversaw. A lay Reader who reads a fixed text is not an elder.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts unto God.

The church credits prayer to the Father and sings hymns, and a large part of its service is Scripture read aloud. That is close to the pattern. Two things depart from it. The Manual provides for an organist and a soloist, and the singing that Paul commands is "one to another," with the heart, by the congregation. And the order of service is fixed for every branch, with a Lord's Prayer given with an interpretation by Eddy, and a rule against personal preaching, though Timothy is told to "preach the word." On the rubric this lands on the middle rungs for music, for a mandated form and for prayer to the Father with an added text.

Credit. Silent prayer, the Lord's Prayer and the reading of the Bible in every service are plainly good. The church also lets members speak at the Wednesday meeting, which echoes Paul's picture of the assembly.

how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation? which having at the first been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed unto us by them that heard; God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders, and by manifold powers, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will.

Love never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall be done away; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall be done away.

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

The church teaches that healing is open to all believers today, on the strength of Mark 16:17 and John 14:12, and it names the Holy Ghost or "divine Comforter." Scripture says that the great salvation "was confirmed unto us by them that heard" with "signs and wonders, and by manifold powers," and that tongues and prophecies "shall cease." The signs belonged to the apostles' witness, and they are not a method that any believer can apply by understanding. The church's pages also describe God as Love and divine Mind and do not speak of the Spirit as a person who lives in believers. The placement is authored. It is not on the far edge because the pages read here do not mention tongues or ask members to seek signs.

Test the spirits. John adds: "believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits." Every body is weighed by that rule, including this one.

So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: it is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: it is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

But now hath Christ been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of them that are asleep.

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

And inasmuch as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this cometh judgment;

The apostles hold three things the church's pages do not state: the dead will be raised in a body, Christ will return, and judgment follows death. Paul builds his answer to Corinth on a real resurrection: "now hath Christ been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of them that are asleep." The church reads the resurrection as lifting faith "to understand eternal Life," and says the dead keep growing spiritually. The author of Hebrews says that "it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this cometh judgment." The church's hope of a continuing life is sincere, but its account of the end does not match the apostles' account of a raised body and a coming Lord.

Limits of the record. Because the pages read here say nothing of the return of Christ or the last judgment, this verdict weighs the teaching the church states, together with its denial that matter and death are real.

Christian Scientists stand with the New Testament in several things. They pray in secret, and they read the Bible aloud at every service. They have no ordained clergy, and their branch churches govern themselves, with no hierarchy over them. They hold that healing is part of Christian life, and James supports that. They let members choose their care, and they do not worship their founder. They teach children the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount. They also set a moral standard: "to be merciful, just, and pure." The Wednesday meeting lets ordinary members speak, as Paul describes (1 Corinthians 14:26).

The test falls hardest where the church is most distinct. It names a second book Pastor beside the Bible, and Scripture is complete. It teaches that matter, sin, sickness and death are unreal, and the apostles stake everything on a Word who became flesh, a real cross and a raised body. It will not equate Jesus with God, though Thomas called the risen Jesus "My Lord and my God" and Paul says the fulness of the Godhead dwells in him bodily. It keeps no baptism in water and no weekly supper, and the Lord commanded both.

These verdicts rest on the text, not on the sincerity of the people. The church's prayer and its moral discipline are real. The way back is the one the church itself names in its first tenet: the Bible alone as the sufficient guide.

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