Christian Science: A Sourcebook of Contemporary Materials

Christian Science Publishing Society, The. Christian Science: A Sourcebook of Contemporary Materials. Boston: The Christian Science Publishing Society, 1990.

This sourcebook was compiled by the Christian Science Publishing Society as a response to many unanswered questions in public thought regarding Christian Science beliefs and practices in the late 1980s. It includes primary and secondary sources, as well as scholarly analytical work and personal statements of faith. All essays were written around the 1980s in response to contemporary questions and concerns. A stated assumption of the book is that “our world is better off with minorities than without them,” and that “all of us benefit from the exchange of religious ideas” (xiii). The most pressing questions of the time are addressed thematically by chapters that include a variety of views, plus further questions at each chapter conclusion. These include the Christian Science position on ecumenism (ch 3); the role of healing in the church in relation to Christianity and society (ch 4); the special challenges related to modern medicine and spiritual healing for children (ch 5); how the Christian Science church maintains its focus on individual salvation in the context of increasing social concerns (ch 6); a response to critics’ charges against Eddy concerning plagiarism, dependence on Phineas P. Quimby, and harmonialism (ch 7); and understanding divine Science in the context of ‘new physics’ (ch 8).

ISBN-10: 0875101976
ISBN-13 (Softcover): 978-0875101972
ISBN-13 (Hardcover): 978-0875102245