The debate over religious exemptions to vaccination requirements has increased awareness of "Christian Science," an organization that previously worked to pass similar exclusions in American law. Despite being extant for 142 years, the Christian Science notion is still a small and waning religious movement that few people are familiar with.
Here are three main things that make Christian Science Nursing different from the rest kinds of sciences:
Christian Science Nursing Is All About Spiritual Healing
The non-Christian religion of Christian Science was founded by Mary Baker Eddy, a native of New England. Eddy went to the Bible after suffering a serious injury in 1866, where she claimed to have found the principles of spiritual healing. According to her, spiritual healing is the "effect of comprehending God's all-power and love," not a supernatural occurrence. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts awarded Eddy and twenty of her followers a charter in 1879 to establish the "Church of Christ (Scientist)." In 1892, the organization adopted the moniker "Church of Christ, Scientist."
The Six Principles They Abide By
Christian Science Nurses don't have a religious credo, if by that phrase you mean doctrinal beliefs, said Eddy in response to the question. Eddy did, however, present six principles that succinctly encapsulate Christian Science's tenets:
- As believers in Truth, we rely only on the inspired ideologies of the Bible as the path to everlasting Life.
- They recognize and love the one ultimate, limitless God. We accept that God created man in the image and likeness of His only Son, Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost, or supernatural Comforter.
- Through the eradication of sin as well as the spiritual insight that rejects evil as illusory, we recognize God's pardon of sin. But for as long as the conviction persists, sin is punished.
- They recognize that the atonement of Jesus, which reveals man's unity with that of God via Christ Jesus the Way-shower, is evidence of divine, effective love. We also recognize that man can be saved via Christ, through Life, Truth, and Love, as shown by the Galilean Prophet's ability to heal the sick and triumph over death and sin.
- They accept that Jesus' death on the cross and resurrection helped to strengthen faith so that people might comprehend eternal Life, including the oneness of Spirit, Soul, and the nonexistence of matter.
- They formally commit to keeping vigil and praying for the same Mind to dwell within us as it did in Christ Jesus, to treat others exactly how they would want them to treat us, and to be kind, just, and pure.
The Pastor- A Pair of Books
Instead of the Bible, Eddy's Science and Health with Key references to the Scriptures is regarded as Christian Science's supreme textual authority. In the paper, Eddy claims that even though the Bible has been tainted and has "manifest mistakes," Christian Science is "unerring and Divine." But for the Church of Christ, Scientists, Science, Health, and the Bible (often the KJV) are seen as the "universal Pastor." On Sundays, readers deliver a sermon based on passages from the Holy Bible during worship sessions. Topical lectures from the pastor are a feature of their Wednesday services, and attendees are given time to "share how it has illuminated their unique relationship with that of God and has brought about restoration through prayer."
Thus, this is how science is different from Christian science.