Some Famous Christian Scientists

From the top left: Joan Crawford, Stansfield Turner, Doris Day, William H. Webster, Ginger Rogers, Cecil B DeMille, Jean Stapleton, Mickey Rooney, and Robert Duvall.

Ellen DeGeneres: A Critic of Christian Science

Ellen DeGeneres is easily one of the most recognizable faces on television worldwide. She is a renowned television host, stand-up comedian, and actress. She is currently the host of The Ellen DeGeneres Show. In addition to this, she has hosted the Primetime Emmys and Academy Awards and has starred in numerous movies such as Finding Nemo, Mr. Wrong, and The Love Letter.

Growing up, Ellen was raised in a devout Christian Science family. However, Ellen is currently not a practicing member of the faith, and is a critic of the religion. She is in disagreement with many of the practices and beliefs, which the religion holds to be important. For example, growing up as a Christian scientist, she had no form of medical training. For example, in high school she was not allowed to attend any science classes. She never had a shot or even was able to take any pills or medicine until she was 13 years old. She was forced to attend to church, and to go to testimonies every Wednesday night.

Although Ellen is not a fan of the Christian Science faith or organized religion for that matter, she is still very much in touch with her spirituality. Ellen believes in seeing God in everything around her, and believes that it’s not just life after death that should be good, but also the lives that we live on Earth. She believes that God is benevolent, and that one has a choice to live in joy or not.

Virginia Harris: One of Christian Science's Most Influential Contemporary Figures

Virginia Harris was the founding Trustee of The Mary Baker Eddy Library for the Betterment of Humanity, Chair of The Christian Science Board of Directors between 1990 and 2004, and the Publisher of The Writings of Mary Baker Eddy. She was extremely important in increasing the availability of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures and raising awareness of the ideas held important by Mary Baker Eddy throughout her life. The creation of The Mary Baker Eddy Library allowed for a vast collection of 19^th and early 20^th century letters and artifacts to be available for the public’s use.

Harris has extensive knowledge of Christian Science and Mary Baker Eddy, and has spoken at length on both subjects. She was part of the faculty on Harvard Medical School’s Spirituality and Healing in Medicine symposium from 1995-2004, addressing hundreds of healthcare professionals on Christian Science. She has had numerous interviews with well-known newspapers and networks, such as The New York Times, NPR, and The Los Angeles Times.

In addition to this, Virginia Harris has made significant contributions to The Christian Science Board of Directors, the five-member governing Board for the religion. She attempted to amass a new appreciation for the teachings of Christian Science by allowing easy access to the documents of the Church as well as establishing a new stream of dialogue with a variety of important thinkers on the relationship between thought and healing.

Harris is an authorized teacher and practitioner of Christian Science. Just recently she was elected to the Christian Science Board of Lectureship to speak solely to healthcare and medical professionals about the practice of Christian Science healing and spiritual healing. She is an extremely important advocate for and representative of the religion.

Mary Baker Eddy: The Founder of Christian Science

Mary Baker Eddy is the founder of Christian Science. She founded the Church of Christ, Scientist in 1879 after much study of the healings and teachings of Jesus Christ.

Mary Baker Eddy lived her early life in New Hampshire, living with parents who strongly emphasized God’s presence in everyday life and the importance of the study of Scriptures. Growing up, Eddy was often sick, and tried to alleviate her pain through different methods such as dietary cures, spiritualism, hydropathy, mesmerism, and other techniques but had no success. One cold night when she was in her 40s, she fell on an icy street and was taken to a nearby house with serious injuries. After three days she was not improving and it was thought that she was going to die. On her deathbed, she asked for her Bible. After reading a story about Jesus Christ healing a man with a withered hand, she began to be cured, surprising her doctor, friends, and family. Eddy continued studying the Bible, and as a result was healed of all her injuries without the help of any medication.

Eddy didn’t stop there, as she truly wanted to understand the reason behind her inexplicable healing, and ended up taking endless notes on the scientific reasoning behind Jesus’s healings. Eddy studied the Bible for three years, and gained a new appreciation for Jesus’s teaching and demonstration and the concepts of metaphysical healing and spiritual Science (in essence, Christian Science).

After those years of study, Eddy eventually wrote a textbook on Christianly scientific healing, called Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. It was published in 1875, and has sold more than 10 million copies worldwide. Just by reading Science and Health many people have been healed of their own illnesses.

In 1879, Eddy founded the church, and ordained Science and Health and the Bible as pastor of the church. A typical sermon consists of the reading of a weekly Bible Lesson, which is then studied throughout the week and read aloud on Sundays. Nowadays, the headquarters of the Christian Science Church is located in Boston, Massachusetts, and local “branch churches” can be found throughout the world.