The Christian Science Church Service Must Change

King James Only
As a second reader in my branch church I took very seriously the manual requirement to read understandingly, and be well educated. I am well educated. But the imperative to read understandingly, I found challenging. In discussing this with other people and I’ve discovered something and I’d like to share it with you. I’m surprised to have discovered that Christian Scientists don’t seem to understand how difficult the King James is to understand by people who aren’t familiar with it. Think about how hard you think the King James is to understand. Now I want to share with you my personal experience with this.
For the past ten years I’ve been studying my lesson from translations other than the King James. For the past three years, from the English Standard Version published in 2001, and available in our Reading Room. I love to study my lesson this way. I find that I understand the ideas behind the lesson sermon quickly and simply this way. I rarely have to look up a passage in other resources to understand its meaning. Often I will do research to delve deeper into the background, but I generally I’m getting the spiritual ideas promptly and easily.
When I was elected second reader I began reading from the King James to prepare for Sundays. I found this to be challenging. I needed to research every passage to be sure I understood what the words were saying because the language is so difficult to follow. So before I could even begin to understand the meaning I had to get through the language. Studying the lesson became much less pleasant and more time consuming.
After all the work I would be able to understand the lesson, but then as reader I needed to read it understandingly. That’s where the trouble kicked in. I know how hard I had to work to figure out the language, much less the meaning. As a reader my job was to convey meaning through language. As a dedicated student and healer in Christian Science I’ve spent years learning to understand the meaning. The newcomer my find the meaning to be the most amazing thing they’ve ever experienced. But if the language isn’t clear how they get to the meaning? Again I need to stress that the language isn’t clear. It may be to you who’ve been studying it for years, but I have not been, and it’s not clear to me.
I’ve started listening more intently in church and on the Mother Church bible lesson broadcasts to hear how others read understandingly. What I’ve found is that I rely heavily on the study that I’ve done during the week to piece together the sermon on Sunday. When the Scriptural selection isn’t a passage I’m familiar with, I’m usually left clueless. I honestly can’t follow its message. And this is true on Wednesdays too.
For a long time now I’ve been wondering why I continue to come to a service I can’t understand. I think it’s because of my commitment to the Truth and the church and the healing movement of the church. But I shouldn’t expect a newcomer to have that commitment. And why should they? There are plenty of studies to show that Americans are generally unchurched and therefore unfamiliar with any Bible, but particularly the King James. In a Gallup poll 61% felt that the Bible should be easier to read than it is.
What about the fact that we’ve always read the King James only and that all English speaking churches use the King James exclusively? Let’s go to our leader on this. In a letter in Miscellaneous Writings she says that “ The Rules and By-laws in the Manual... were not arbitrary opinions nor dictatorial demands, such as one person might impose on another. … They sprang from necessity, the logic of events, — from the immediate demand for them as a help that must be supplied to maintain the dignity and defense of our Cause…” Mis 148:8 In the manual Mrs. Eddy ordained the pastor as follows, “ Ordination. SECTION 1. I, Mary Baker Eddy, ordain the BIBLE, and SCIENCE AND HEALTH WITH KEY TO THE SCRIPTURES, Pastor over The Mother Church,” Man 58:4-7 What an opportunity to state that the King James should be the only authorized version in our English speaking churches. But she didn’t.
Another opportunity to make her preference known was when a letter was sent into the sentinel in 1910, when she was the editor, asking what the order of services was in the Mother Church. She may have seen from the “logic of events” that this would be the time to state once and for all that all Bible passages are read from the King James. But she didn’t. And this order of services is now in the appendix of the manual.
I’ve gone to the Mary Baker Eddy library and looked up every use of the words “King James”. There’s only one, it’s just a letter to the printer who appeared to be changing some quotes before publishing and she wrote that they should be kept as she wrote them. All quotes in Science and Health are from the same translation, the King James. This was to ensure that anyone following along in the Bible wouldn’t have to have a whole library of translations to keep up.

In summary here are some ideas I’d like you to take with you to think about:
1. Don’t underestimate how trained you’ve become in understanding the language of the King James because you’ve been studying it for many years. Newcomers to the church services are likely to be unfamiliar with the King James. So we can assume it’s difficult to get past the language to get a clear understanding of the message of the sermon. If you argue that a receptive mind can get past the language to get the message, then by that argument we should really be reading it in Greek and Hebrew. But why should anyone have to struggle to get the meaning when easily understandable translations are readily available?
2. Remember the manual is the only authority for our church, and Mrs. Eddy prayed long and hard about everything in it. She didn’t make the King James a requirement. So by making it a strong priority in our churches, do we think she just overlooked it, assuming she meant to do it but forgot? There’s strong evidence that she didn’t. Are we comfortable making up pseudo-rules that Mrs. Eddy didn’t intend?
3. It is difficult for children and those without advanced educations to follow this archaic language so they may be less inclined to study their lesson. Also, it may seem unpleasant for young people graduating from the fluid interactions and discussions in Sunday school to be presented with such and old fashioned, lofty, and unfamiliar sounding church service.
4. Until the 1950’s the King James was the most read Bible in society. After that it became the least read. That’s also when the decline of the Christian Science membership began.
5. Christian Scientists say, “you can read from translations all week so why should it matter on Sunday?” That’s counterintuitive, because a newcomer isn’t going to be studying their lesson all week, they’re going to come to a Sunday service. Wouldn’t it make sense to read from the King James during the week if you like then have a clear translation on Sunday?
6. Some say the King James is the most pleasant to hear read aloud and many of you would choose the King James because you consider it to be the best of all English Bibles because of its use of poetic devices. Can you concede that the pleasantness of the King James is a matter of opinion rather than fact, and that it’s possible that pleasantness and literary excellence aren’t more important that readability and clarity in our services.
7. “As adherents of Truth, we take the inspired Word of the Bible as our sufficient guide to eternal Life.” Man 15:3 If we accept this then can we claim that there’s one particular literal word of the Bible that’s more sufficient than another? What would have us cling so passionately to one set of words? Words don’t heal, ideas do.
8. The publishing Society sells many different translations in the Reading Room that could be used in our church services without breaking anything but tradition. Have you ever considered this? If you have, is it important to you? Why?

I want you to know that I love the word of God. I hope you read these ideas with the love and respect that I’ve presented them.