Freedom and Responsibility: Christian Science Healing for Children

First Church of Christ, Scientist, The. Freedom and Responsibility: Christian Science Healing for Children. Boston: The First Church of Christ, Scientist, 1989.

This book was published by the Christian Science Church in the late 1980s, near the end of the decade of highly publicized losses of children among Christian Scientists, as a response from the Church to the press. Although Christian Scientists had been practicing a religious teaching which embraces spiritual healing over a hundred years, these losses resulted in prosecution of parents and stimulated discussion of related religious, ethical, legal, and constitutional issues. “And they have caused much soul-searching among Christian Scientists” (vi). The book consists of a compilation of articles written in both Christian Science materials and the public press, organized around these questions: 1) What health care do Christian Scientists provide their children? 2) What is the evidence for Christian Science healing? 3) Should Christian Science healing for children be accommodated in law? 4) How would restricting Christian Science healing for children affect society? The articles compiled within these chapters cover a broad range of issues, such as: the level of government involvement in personal beliefs; the spiritual conviction that relates to healing; the role of medicine; attitudes towards family; and the future of religion. A 16-page appendix titled “An Empirical Analysis of Medical Evidence in Christian Science Testimonies of Healing, 1969-1988,” reports findings from an in-house research project on Christian Science healing accounts.

ISBN-10: 0875102093
ISBN-13 (Softcover): 978-0875102092