The Science of the Christ: An Advanced Statement of Christian Science with an Interpretation of Genesis

Gestefeld, Ursula N. The Science of the Christ: An Advanced Statement of Christian Science with an Interpretation of Genesis. Chicago: Self, 1889.

Ursula N. Gestefeld had been an adoring student of Mary Baker Eddy’s until she felt ready to extend her own ideas beyond her teacher. Voorhees explains how their theological differences caused the rift between them, not a personal quarrel. (Voorhees, 2011, 34). In The Science of the Christ, Gestefeld argues that while Mary Baker Eddy and her text, Science and Health, are as they should be, she (Gestefeld) is the evidence of the natural progression of what the science of Christian Science should be (7). But Gestefeld’s theology, based on her eclectic theosophical worldview, differs from Eddy’s mature work. She distinguishes her own views from Eddy’s primarily in the realm of metaphysical realities. For example, she argues that the Objective and Subjective are halves of the same whole, just as a visible and an invisible side of an apple are the same whole (33). But the trajectory of her writing moved toward eclectic views, contrary to Eddy’s Christian particularism. She opposed Eddy’s strict boundaries for her Science, arguing that Eddy’s boundaries implied a call to follow person instead of Principle—a policy they both opposed (453).

ISBN-10: 0332487075
ISBN-13 (Softcover): 978-0259314363
ISBN-13 (Hardcover): 978-0332487076

This reference is written by an ‘independent’ Christian Scientist and is included in the bibliography because of its historical value. For further explanation, click here.