What is scientific religion?

Nathan Talbot | from the Christian Science Sentinel

Jesus taught us that the religion of the Christ is authentically scientific because it reveals practical Truth in all its ultimate certainty.

Christian Scientists may find a variety of ways to answer that question for a newcomer. But none of those ways may be quite as simple and clear as the way a newcomer answered it a few weeks ago for a Christian Scientist.

Here’s the way the conversation took place. People of many faiths who visit Boston stop at The Mother Church for a guided tour. A couple studying at a university in the midwestern United States brought their eight-year-old son to town for his birthday. The family is originally from overseas, and the husband’s research is in cancer and head injuries.

He shared these thoughts, as recalled by the guide, at the end of the tour: “I was involved in a serious automobile accident four years ago with severe head injuries, and was given heavy doses of medicine. The pain increased, so I was required to increase the medication, but with this came horrible side effects. It was interesting to be both researcher and patient. I realized that I couldn’t keep up with the medication, because of how awful I was feeling in other parts of my system. I stopped altogether and began praying. What you’re sharing today about science and the absolute conviction of God to heal without medicine is real to me. I’ve been thinking there must be some system that heals with these laws. This is it!”

The family was eager to read Mary Baker Eddy’s book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, which reveals what was being sensed to be a scientific religion. According to his own thoughtful words, it feels as though this gentleman was acknowledging something real to him—a system of spiritual laws that can be relied on with reasonable assurance to heal.

I’ve often thought of a few words in the Bible that can help answer, in a unique phrase, the question “What is scientific religion?” The book of John explains, “The Word was made flesh” (John 1:14), and Mary Baker Eddy put forward the parallel phrase, “Truth … rendered practical” (Unity of Good, p. 39).

For many people, science is the search for the truth.

For many people, science is the search for the truth. And genuine religion is the practical care that flows from divine Truth. For me, the tourist who sensed “This is it” was discovering Truth and connecting it with healing, with liberty. I believe Christ Jesus described scientific religion when he affirmed, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). No uncertainties or doubts. Just “shall”! And Mrs. Eddy insisted, “When the Word is made flesh,—that is, rendered practical,—this eternal Truth will be understood; and sickness, sin, and death will yield to it, even as they did more than eighteen centuries ago” (Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, p. 182).

It isn’t unusual for a Christian Scientist to describe God as Principle. This teaching, fully explained in Science and Health, reveals spiritual precepts as laws of Principle. Students may liken Principle to the laws of mathematics. This comparison can be very helpful in explaining God’s nature. If you make a mistake in your checkbook, you can appeal to the laws or principle of math and correct it.

But to describe God’s nature in the context of Principle or law may, to some, feel a little chilly. After all, the laws of math really don’t care about you in your struggle to find the checkbook mistake. But God does care about you. He is not only the law of Principle, but also the changeless and intelligent law of Love. This law puts its arms around you, so to speak, and nurtures your well-being, removes your fears, lifts off your frustrations. Thinking of God as Principle can be spiritually powerful, especially if we realize that Principle is enduring Love.

It is true that scientific religion has a God whose reality and goodness rest on changeless and eternal divine law. There is always a law of God that we can uncover to help us overturn every kind of mortal limitation. No wonder the Psalmist sang in his heart, “O how I love thy law! it is my meditation all the day” (Ps. 119:97).

Religion that rests on provable spiritual truths is practical.

Religion that rests on provable spiritual truths is practical. The Word is made flesh. It is dependable. It is liberating. We can rely on it. No difficulty can withstand its problem-solving nature. Whatever the challenge—lack of companionship, money, fulfillment, harmony, health—there is nothing we will ever face as we move through the centuries that will stump scientific religion. There is inevitably a law of God that can be applied through prayer to defeat every evil. Scientific religion is rooted in the conviction that God is always here for us. And that His presence carries an undeniable blessing.

But what about times when people pray earnestly and don’t see healing? Let’s say they base their prayers on a conviction that God’s laws of healing are absolutely certain. Does scientific religion become less than scientific in some cases?

We all have much to learn in divine Science. And it seems to me that Christ Jesus taught us an important lesson once when he failed to heal a case—that is, failed in his first attempt (see Luke, chap. 5). In this instance, he taught us that the religion of the Christ is authentically scientific because it reveals practical Truth in all its ultimate certainty. This infallibility includes uncovering and defeating errors that would appear to oppose Truth’s certainty.

The Bible explains that on this occasion, a man bedridden with paralysis was lowered through the roof since there seemed no other way to reach Jesus. The master healer reached out to the man and forgave his sins. But the man was not healed. He still was unable to get up and walk. This didn’t mean Jesus’ approach to healing had become unscientific. But it did illustrate how a religion based on divine law isn’t defeated when a healing doesn’t happen. The great law of divine Love cares enough to keep shining, providing us the opportunity to discover whatever is needed to go forward with the healing.

In this case, Jesus turned to those standing around him. He “perceived their thoughts” (Luke 5:22). In other words, Jesus discerned the mental state that was resisting the scientific basis of his ability to heal. Those hidden thoughts were arguing, insisting, screaming, “You have no right to do this!” Jesus was a kind of unstoppable, unsinkable Titanic. He melted that iceberg of mental resistance obstructing the way. Then he turned to the man and called on him to rise and walk. This time, the man did so immediately.

We are capable of learning to demonstrate every law of good.

Science and Health explores the full range of scientific religion and its healing effect. It confirms Jesus’ insistence that we would do the works that he did (see John 14:12). It explains how we are capable of learning to demonstrate every law of good, as well as recognize any state of thought that must at times be uncovered and overturned. In many respects, this Science requires a lifetime of learning. And yet, anyone can begin to see measurable and reasonable results in the consistency of healing. Some families have successfully practiced it for five, and even six, generations.

Scientific religion isn’t cold or abstract. It is forgiving, compassionate, caring, discerning, persistent, and filled with joy. It is scientific because it is as certain as God is. We grow in our ability to help ourselves and help others through scientific prayer as we find the humility to say, “This is it!”

Nate Talbot practices and teaches Christian Science healing. He is Clerk of The Mother Church and a member of the Christian Science Board of Directors. He lives in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.