Spring Break
Faith and healing, meaningful pursuits for Christian Scientists
Religion at Hopkins
Issue date: 11/15/07
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On the first floor of the Rotunda, there is a small room with homey couches and a plethora of books and magazines. On the window reads "Christian Science Reading Room." It is in this room where the Christian Scientists of the surrounding area go to participate in readings on the teachings of their faith.
Jerry Taylor, who heads the Reading Room and leads the Sunday School, said her faith is a science.
"The science and health book is a textbook, a book of rules," she said of Mary Baker Eddy's Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, which, along with the King James Bible, form the two main texts of the religion.
"If you obey the rules you can demonstrate it."
Mary Baker Eddy, affectionately called Ms. Eddy by her followers, founded Christian Science in 1879 in Massachusetts.
"Ms. Eddy dedicated this book to simple seekers of truth," Taylor said.
"Christ Jesus said you should know the truth and the truth should make you free. And the truth in my interpretation is the spiritual sense. That's the truth - having the spiritual sense of yourself. And you walk as some transparent thing of God."
The Reading Room is active Mondays through Fridays and a librarian is always on staff to help the people find Biblical passages and engage in discussion.
The main beliefs of Christian Scientists are that healing comes by spiritual means, creation is entirely spiritual and matter does not exist. For them, God is synonymous with principle, soul, mind, spirit, life, truth and love.
Christian scientists refer to God as "Father-Mother" rather than the traditional "Father" because they believe both men and women were created in God's image.
Spiritual healing, the central tenet of Christian Science, posits that one cannot receive outside aid for sicknesses.
Most members of the Christian Science faith reject medical help for their diseases. Some of the members even refuse to get vaccinated. However, it is not the church that tells them to do so.
Jerry Taylor, who heads the Reading Room and leads the Sunday School, said her faith is a science.
"The science and health book is a textbook, a book of rules," she said of Mary Baker Eddy's Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, which, along with the King James Bible, form the two main texts of the religion.
"If you obey the rules you can demonstrate it."
Mary Baker Eddy, affectionately called Ms. Eddy by her followers, founded Christian Science in 1879 in Massachusetts.
"Ms. Eddy dedicated this book to simple seekers of truth," Taylor said.
"Christ Jesus said you should know the truth and the truth should make you free. And the truth in my interpretation is the spiritual sense. That's the truth - having the spiritual sense of yourself. And you walk as some transparent thing of God."
The Reading Room is active Mondays through Fridays and a librarian is always on staff to help the people find Biblical passages and engage in discussion.
The main beliefs of Christian Scientists are that healing comes by spiritual means, creation is entirely spiritual and matter does not exist. For them, God is synonymous with principle, soul, mind, spirit, life, truth and love.
Christian scientists refer to God as "Father-Mother" rather than the traditional "Father" because they believe both men and women were created in God's image.
Spiritual healing, the central tenet of Christian Science, posits that one cannot receive outside aid for sicknesses.
Most members of the Christian Science faith reject medical help for their diseases. Some of the members even refuse to get vaccinated. However, it is not the church that tells them to do so.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Lucie Lehmann-Barclay
posted 11/18/07 @ 1:15 PM EST
This is a fair presentation of Christian Science, but a few "corrective" comments may be in order. 1) It is not the practitioner who determines if a healing has taken place, but the patient. (Continued…)
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