“Christian Science and its Christian Origin”

Paulson, Shirley. “Christian Science and its Christian Origin.” Acta Comparanda Subsidia II (2015): 19–27.

Paulson provides a defense of Christian Science as Christian, citing two main points: 1) There is not a single identity that defines Christian practice or theology, rather, from earliest times, there were Christianities, of which Mary Baker Eddy’s Christian Science is one expression. That expression includes elements of ante-Nicene, third-century allegorical interpretation, a Protestant emphasis on biblical authority, and Calvinist/Puritan influences—all grounded in Eddy’s deep love for the Bible and the church; 2) Eddy was “a Christian reformer, seeking to revitalize the Bible’s practical, transformative power” (20). This second element of Eddy’s Christianity was born out of her life experience of illness, poverty and great loss. She searched the scriptures for its practical healing efficacy. For Eddy, “The redeeming, healing power of Christ was … a palpable presence, rather than an eschatological hope” (23). “The evidence of her love for the virgin birth, her devotion to the healing works of Jesus, her faith in the atonement of Christ, and the important role of Jesus’s resurrection as one of the primary theological foundation blocks for Christian Science is overwhelming in her life and writing” (26).

ISSN: 0779-9853