Skip to content
Csbibliography

Annotated Bibliography of Christian Science

Academic and Other Literature

  • Home
  • About
    • About the ABCS Project
    • Support Opportunities (Donate)
    • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Annotations
    • Search Information
    • Category Search
    • Keyword Search
    • Advanced Search
    • Standard Search
    • Authors/Editor List
    • Title List
    • Recently Added
    • Search Support
  • Resources
    • The Book
    • Online Resources
    • ABCS Blog
    • Suggest Resources
  • Contact
Annotation Resource

“Christian Science’s faith healing practice in the United States and Canada: an overview from a historical and legal perspective”

“Christian Science’s faith healing practice in the United States and Canada: an overview from a historical and legal perspective”

Issaoui, Nawal. “Christian Science’s faith healing practice in the United States and Canada: an overview from a historical and legal perspective.” Acta Comparanda Subsidia II (2015): 29–42.

Issaoui questions the limits of the legal accommodations that allow Christian Science practitioners and/or parents to rely on spiritual means in treating Christian Scientists. Their ambiguity leaves unanswered questions. She begins her investigation with several late 19th-century cases brought by the American Medical Association. The first case claimed Christian Science practitioners were practicing medicine because they were being paid for services rendered and it was therefore illegal because they did not have a license; the second case deduced that Christian Science practitioners were not practicing medicine because their practice did not involve drugs. Seeing a need, the Christian Science Church then began a successful decades-long lobbying of state legislatures to get accommodations in the law that would recognize spiritual healing as an alternative to conventional medical treatments. However, some highly publicized court ‘child-death cases’ in the 1980s and 1990s, where parents were prosecuted, exposed the limits to these exemptions. Issaoui elaborates on one specific trial and its legal arguments, as well as the impact of that trial on the Christian Science Church and as a precedent for the courts. Always the issue is finding a balance between the religious right to practice Christian Science healing and the State’s responsibility to prevent child endangerment.

ISSN: 0779-9853

 

Issaoui, Nawal

Related Annotations:

Annotations related by category:
  • Availability: Online - Academic Credentials or Fee
  • Controversy: Child Cases
  • Official Christian Science Publication: No
  • Publication Date: 2011-2020
  • Resource Types: Article
  • Subjects: Healing and Health
  • Subjects: Legal and Constitutional Issues
Annotations related by keyword:
  • Christian Science Treatment
  • Ethics
  • Practitioner
More by authors or editor(s):
  • Issaoui, Nawal

Comment on this resource: Cancel

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Search Home

Search application instructions and overview.

Search Support

Questions? We've got answers.

Category Search

Select subject, person, organization and/or controversy to provide a subset of annotation results. The results page includes the ability to further limit your search.

Keyword Search

Select one or more specific keywords to provide a subset of annotation results. The results page includes the ability to further limit your search.

Advanced Search

Select from all search options to obtain very specific results.

Standard Search

Might yield a mix of relevant and irrelevant results, but could be very helpful if you are looking for a specific term not included in any of the other types of searches.

Annotations by Author
Annotations by Title
Most Recent

View the 30 most recently added annotations.

New Since the Book

View new annotations available here that were not included in the book.

Suggest a Resource
Donate via PayPal

Scholarly Works on Christian Science is the nonprofit corporation that produces the ABCS website. We rely on donations to keep the bibliography updated and available to the public. If you find this site useful we hope you'll consider donating to support the work. Donate via PayPal by clicking the button above or send a check to:

Scholarly Works on Christian Science
420 Conway Meadows Drive
St. Louis, MO 63017

© 2022 and later by Scholarly Works on Christian Science, all rights reserved.

Privacy Policy is here. Cookie Policy is here. Comment Policy is here.

This material was printed from the Annotated Bibliography of Christian Science website produced and maintained by Scholarly Works on Christian Science (https://csbibliography.org). All rights reserved.