Christian Science is a teaching regarding the efficacy of spiritual healing according to the interpretation of the Bible by Mary Baker Eddy, in her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. Students of Christian Science are usually, though not always or necessarily, members of the Church of Christ, Scientist. In one sense Christian Science might be regarded as the practice of alternative medicine, but its adherents believe that it is much more than that. It involves a belief in the possibility of healing wrong-doing deriving from humanity's sense of separation from God (encapsulated in the term "sin") and also of overcoming death itself (the result of sin). At the core of Christian Science is the teaching that illness is an illusion caused by faulty beliefs, and that prayer heals by replacing erroneous thoughts with spiritual (true) ideas. Consequently, healing (and health care) is attempted not through physical manipulation of patients' bodies through drugs, surgery, or otherwise, but rather through prayer and spiritualization of thought. Christian Science practitioners claim that it is both therapeutic (i.e. curative) and preventative .

Furthermore, Christian Science deals with ontology, which is described by its founder Mary Baker Eddy as "the science of the necessary constituents and relations of all being" . It is a metaphysical system, in that it deals with things at a level beyond the apparently physical phenomena, at the level of thought. Its claims to be able to heal are documented in issues of the Christian Science Journal and the Christian Science Sentinel, sometimes supported by confirming observations of medical practitioners who were involved in a case prior to Christian Science being applied.

Mary Baker Eddy discovered this method of healing when she was healed of an injury in 1866. She felt that the method of healing must have been that used by Christ Jesus to heal

The 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,

• From Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy.

Key points in Christian Science Healing

The basis of Christian Science healing is the view that "man" (i.e. the male/female spiritual being who appears as individual human beings) is the reflection or expression of a wholly good and perfect God, and therefore is perfect him/herself. There is more to it than this. For example, Christian Scientists believe that God is loving, not hateful, that he loves each and every individual, because God is the Creator of all.

Another important point in Christian Science is that sickness is the result of either fear, ignorance, or sin. Therefore, by eliminating the cause, the effect will disappear. The basis by which to eliminate the cause is the opposite. So, replacing fear with trust in an all-good God; replacing ignorance with the understanding of man's real relation to God as the perfect and loved child of God; and ceasing to sin or cherish a sinful sense in one's thought, will bring about healing. Suffering can occur only whilst one believes in the supposed reality of a problem; if one changes their belief to a different point of view, then a different phenomenon is observed. The (conscious or unconscious) belief that sickness is real or has power is what seems to make one sick, but to understand that sickness is not real, and that it cannot have any power, eliminates the seeming sickness.

Christian Scientists regard the material world as a kind of consensual illusion which is due to a misperception of the true, spiritual world, which is wholly perfect. Such a misperception can, they believe, be re-adjusted by the re-orientation of thought, or prayer in Christian Science terms, whereby the illusion can be, at least partially, dispelled. The result is healing. Eventually, the spiritual realm will appear in its true glory as indicated in Chapter 21 of the Book of Revelation.

Criticism of Christian Science

Christian Science has been criticised by sceptics from the very beginning. Mark Twain devoted an entire book to the topic, in which he scathingly attacked not only the belief itself, but also its practitioners. (However, there was some ambivalence in his approach to Christian Science healing.) Christian Science is considered to be a religion, rather than a medical science, by most medical practitioners. It is criticised by some mainstream Christians for its theological deviations (most basically its teaching of the illusory nature of the material world and the unreality of evil). At the same time its claims to be scientific are subject to question, since it is not clear how Christian Scientists could prove that a healing that was claimed to be the result of prayer, actually was such. Furthermore, Christian Science offers no mechanism whereby its teachings could be falsified, and consequently its claim to scientificity can be questioned according to the influential (though not universally accepted) views of the philosopher of science Karl Popper.

Response to Criticism

In response to such criticisms, Christian Scientists argue that their beliefs are philosophically consistent and theologically coherent (e.g. they avoid the theological problem of evil) as well as being practically applicable in healing. They cite the Bible (Mark 16: 17-18) as an indication that belief in God should be demonstrated in healing. Since Christian Scientists do not interpret the creation story in the Book of Genesis literally they have no problem with, e.g., the Theory of Evolution. Christian Scientists regard the Theory of Evolution, even if true, as referring to the illusory, mortal realm rather than to the realm of spiritual perfection, of which the material world is a counterfeit. Furthermore, Christian Scientists have no problem with contemporary Geology, Cosmology, or Biology and argue that their teachings may throw some light on the perplexing paradoxes of quantum mechanics, with particular regard to the Copenhagen Interpretation. Christian Science Christian Science Kristana Scienco Science chrétienne Chiesa Scientista Keresztény Tudomány (felekezet) Christian Science クリスチャン・サイエンス Christian Science Kristen Vetenskap 基督教科學派