Monday, March 16, 2009
Church #11: Christian Scientists
In 2000, I became a Christian at the age of 23. Two years later, I was working at one of the largest churches in the country. After two more years, I left that job to help start a brand new church. Four years later, I stopped attending church. So...no church, to attending church, to working in a church, to starting a church, to leaving the church - all in less than eight years. Now, I am visiting 52 churches in 52 weeks in order to redefine my faith. This is reflection 11 of 52.
Much like last week (the Jehovah's Witnesses), I knew very little about Christian Scientists. They certainly have no connection to the Church of Scientology, and they are definitely a branch of Christianity (believe in Jesus, use the Christian Bible, etcetera).
From what I could tell, the Christian Scientists have nothing to do with science. I couldn't find a Periodic Table of Elements anywhere. Contrary to what my friend, Jason, suggested, communion was not taken from a beaker. Nary a Bunsen burner was involved in the whole operation.
This was a journey of confusion - one that left me with more questions than answers.
But first, some details: The main room was actually pretty nice - very Catholic looking. Traditional pews sat about 400 people, and there were exactly 24 people in attendance. That's right...24 people.
Let's stop here and chat.
Twenty-four people? I believe small churches can be wonderful and spiritual and meaningful, but shouldn't it be a sign when you open your doors to the masses and twenty-four people show up? And, to be honest, I am being gracious with that number. Three of the twenty-four were up front speaking. And I was there. One guy was the greeter. And at least three people stood up to pass the collection bag around. So, sixteen is a more accurate number.
And it's not like this is a brand new church plant. They have been around for years - at least the past fourteen years that I have been hanging around Clifton. That's about one new person per year. Not good.
The service itself could not have been more boring. They could have tried, but they would have failed. And no one spoke to me - not once. Now, I may have had a, "If you speak to me, I will bite off your ear" facial expression, but still, a friendly hello would have been appreciated.
It began with a hymn, then a scripture reading, then a silent prayer, then the Lord's Prayer...but let's stop again to chat.
Here is the key to the Christian Scientists:
They use the Christian Bible. From what I could tell, it was the King James version. But they have a second book called Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures. This book was written by their founder, Mary Baker Eddy, in 1875ish. Eddy founded the religion when she was healed around that time and realized the Christian faith should be more focused on healings.
Christian Scientists don't really use doctors or medicine. In their booklet, they said people were permitted to use doctors if they made that personal choice, but one Frequently Asked Question was, "What would you do if you broke your leg?" Their answer: "Some may have a doctor set the bone, but many others have seen bones set and mended by prayer alone."
False. That is stupid. So, so dumb. No one has ever seen that. Especially not a Christian Scientist. I wanted to break someone's leg on the spot and ask them to start praying. If I sound a little irritable, it's because I am. People who refuse to see a doctor to treat a broken leg because they prefer to pray about it should be shot. Then they can pray about being healed from the bullet wound and we can see how that works out for them.
Deep breath. Moving on...
Back to the Lord's Prayer. So, in her book, Eddy gives (direct quote), "What I understand to be the spiritual sense of the Lord's Prayer." So the pastor would read a verse of the prayer, and then read the corresponding line from Eddy's interpretation.
"Our Father which art in heaven" = "Our Father-Mother God, all-harmonious." And so on.
The "Mother" addition was interesting. As was the fact that all three people leading the service were women. But, the Christian Scientists don't really put much value in pastors or leaders. In fact, a quote from their "explanatory note" informs the congregation that, "The Bible and the Christian Science textbook are our only preachers." And they were.
The sermon consisted of one woman standing to read a handful of Bible verses, then another woman standing to read the corresponding passages from Eddy's book. They used about sixty verses of scripture and thirty textbook readings. And that was the entire message.
Riveting.
For example, they read Acts 3:1-10, which is one of my favorite stories from the Bible. And then Eddy's passage was gibberish. Something about God's mind and people being spiritual, and nothing is material, and blah blah blah. They believe the Science & Health book is divinely inspired, but man, it was boring and hard to follow.
They also mentioned something about Adam (from Adam & Eve fame) actually dreaming when he imagined the Garden of Eden. Or maybe we dreamt up his story. I am almost positive they regard most of the Old Testament stories as myth, so it might have had something to do with that.
Overall, the Christian Science faith just felt so dead to me. There was no joy, no humor, no smiles, no life, no anything. Most of the congregation was old - half were over sixty-years-old. I just can't imagine people being drawn to a faith that makes you feel like you're sitting through a funeral.
Visiting the Jehovah's Witnesses and Christian Scientists in consecutive weeks was a mistake. These past two weeks made me grumpy - seeing my faith twisted into some freak show has that effect on me, I suppose.
These past two weeks haven't been good for my soul. Visiting churches outside of mainstream Christianity has been interesting, and I have learned a lot about other religions and about myself, but I am not finding God in those places. And a big part of this journey is reconnecting with God in a meaningful way. I'll continue visiting a variety of churches, but I need a few weeks off from the insanity.
http://churchexperiment.blogspot.com/
Much like last week (the Jehovah's Witnesses), I knew very little about Christian Scientists. They certainly have no connection to the Church of Scientology, and they are definitely a branch of Christianity (believe in Jesus, use the Christian Bible, etcetera).
From what I could tell, the Christian Scientists have nothing to do with science. I couldn't find a Periodic Table of Elements anywhere. Contrary to what my friend, Jason, suggested, communion was not taken from a beaker. Nary a Bunsen burner was involved in the whole operation.
This was a journey of confusion - one that left me with more questions than answers.
But first, some details: The main room was actually pretty nice - very Catholic looking. Traditional pews sat about 400 people, and there were exactly 24 people in attendance. That's right...24 people.
Let's stop here and chat.
Twenty-four people? I believe small churches can be wonderful and spiritual and meaningful, but shouldn't it be a sign when you open your doors to the masses and twenty-four people show up? And, to be honest, I am being gracious with that number. Three of the twenty-four were up front speaking. And I was there. One guy was the greeter. And at least three people stood up to pass the collection bag around. So, sixteen is a more accurate number.
And it's not like this is a brand new church plant. They have been around for years - at least the past fourteen years that I have been hanging around Clifton. That's about one new person per year. Not good.
The service itself could not have been more boring. They could have tried, but they would have failed. And no one spoke to me - not once. Now, I may have had a, "If you speak to me, I will bite off your ear" facial expression, but still, a friendly hello would have been appreciated.
It began with a hymn, then a scripture reading, then a silent prayer, then the Lord's Prayer...but let's stop again to chat.
Here is the key to the Christian Scientists:
They use the Christian Bible. From what I could tell, it was the King James version. But they have a second book called Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures. This book was written by their founder, Mary Baker Eddy, in 1875ish. Eddy founded the religion when she was healed around that time and realized the Christian faith should be more focused on healings.
Christian Scientists don't really use doctors or medicine. In their booklet, they said people were permitted to use doctors if they made that personal choice, but one Frequently Asked Question was, "What would you do if you broke your leg?" Their answer: "Some may have a doctor set the bone, but many others have seen bones set and mended by prayer alone."
False. That is stupid. So, so dumb. No one has ever seen that. Especially not a Christian Scientist. I wanted to break someone's leg on the spot and ask them to start praying. If I sound a little irritable, it's because I am. People who refuse to see a doctor to treat a broken leg because they prefer to pray about it should be shot. Then they can pray about being healed from the bullet wound and we can see how that works out for them.
Deep breath. Moving on...
Back to the Lord's Prayer. So, in her book, Eddy gives (direct quote), "What I understand to be the spiritual sense of the Lord's Prayer." So the pastor would read a verse of the prayer, and then read the corresponding line from Eddy's interpretation.
"Our Father which art in heaven" = "Our Father-Mother God, all-harmonious." And so on.
The "Mother" addition was interesting. As was the fact that all three people leading the service were women. But, the Christian Scientists don't really put much value in pastors or leaders. In fact, a quote from their "explanatory note" informs the congregation that, "The Bible and the Christian Science textbook are our only preachers." And they were.
The sermon consisted of one woman standing to read a handful of Bible verses, then another woman standing to read the corresponding passages from Eddy's book. They used about sixty verses of scripture and thirty textbook readings. And that was the entire message.
Riveting.
For example, they read Acts 3:1-10, which is one of my favorite stories from the Bible. And then Eddy's passage was gibberish. Something about God's mind and people being spiritual, and nothing is material, and blah blah blah. They believe the Science & Health book is divinely inspired, but man, it was boring and hard to follow.
They also mentioned something about Adam (from Adam & Eve fame) actually dreaming when he imagined the Garden of Eden. Or maybe we dreamt up his story. I am almost positive they regard most of the Old Testament stories as myth, so it might have had something to do with that.
Overall, the Christian Science faith just felt so dead to me. There was no joy, no humor, no smiles, no life, no anything. Most of the congregation was old - half were over sixty-years-old. I just can't imagine people being drawn to a faith that makes you feel like you're sitting through a funeral.
Visiting the Jehovah's Witnesses and Christian Scientists in consecutive weeks was a mistake. These past two weeks made me grumpy - seeing my faith twisted into some freak show has that effect on me, I suppose.
These past two weeks haven't been good for my soul. Visiting churches outside of mainstream Christianity has been interesting, and I have learned a lot about other religions and about myself, but I am not finding God in those places. And a big part of this journey is reconnecting with God in a meaningful way. I'll continue visiting a variety of churches, but I need a few weeks off from the insanity.
http://churchexperiment.blogspot.com/
Posts
I am not so sure this is amazing input...it seems somewhat cliche. Based on my experience discussing Christian Science with all walks of people, this person has definitely covered the top points.
ReplyDeleteI have seen a compound fracture, with bone sticking through the skin healed with Christian Science treatment. I have also experienced a healing of a broken bone, with no type of manipulation, only by spiritual prayer. I guess I need to wait for the bullet now....
While 1 hour spent in a church is bound to be a great starting point for exploration, it simply confounds one to imagine that such deeply rooted opinions can happen so profoundly in such a short amount of time.
Joel Osteen is a great person to listen to, he is very giving. I wonder if it is important to attend any church with a giving mentality vs a getting mentality.