Primary Religious Texts: Science and Health and the Bible

The Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures:

Christian Science does not have any clergy, but instead the Bible and Science and Health are the Pastor of the church. Both books are read during communal services and during private prayer. During Sunday services, passages from Science and Health and the Bible are read.

Science and Health:

Science and Health is one of the most important texts of the Christian Science religion. Mary Baker Eddy wrote it after studying the Bible for many years following her healing from a near-death health scare. Mark Twain was an adamant critic of Eddy’s authorship of Science and Health. He claimed that she exhibited a poor writing style in all her previous writings, which was vastly different from the writing style used in Science and Health.

The first edition of Science and Health was first copyrighted in 1875, and ultimately went through more than four hundred revisions before 1910, when Eddy died. The book is divided into three sections. The main section consists of 500 pages and makes up the bulk of the book. The second section called, “Key to the Scriptures”, examines various parts of the Book of Revelation and Genesis and consists of a glossary of Eddy’s own interpretations of words that are commonly used in the Bible. The last 100 pages of the book contain the testimonies of people who claim to have been healed after studying either parts of the book or the book in its entirety.

Science and Health is often referred to as the textbook of Christian Science. It presents a metaphysical view of Christianity, in which death, sin, and disease are not real, as they are not of God. Furthermore, it states that by striving towards an understanding of the world as God’s perfect creation, these untrue beliefs are completed eliminated from one’s experience.

The Bible:

The Bible is key to the practice and study of not only Christian Science but also its system of healing. Mary Baker Eddy not only found guidance through the teachings of the Bible, but also found what she believed to be the spiritual laws of healing and health that can be found in Jesus’s teachings and works.

Mary Baker Eddy notes in Science and Health that, “The Bible has been [her] only authority,” and “her only textbook,” and “contains the recipe of all healing.” Along with Science and Health, the Bible is used for self-instruction, Sunday school, and the weekly Bible Lessons which consist of sections from both books. The weekly Bible Lesson is also read as the Sunday sermon that is used in Christian Science churches throughout the world.