Chapter Three

 ANSWERING SOME CHRISTIAN SCIENCE TEACHINGS

One of the greatest stumbling blocks apparent in any study of the theology of Christian Science is the fact that Christian Science theology has a semantic formula all its own; that is, Christian Scientists decidedly have a jargon bequeathed to them by Mrs. Eddy, which unless the careful student recognizes and understands at the outset of the discussion can prove almost an insuperable barrier to a valid analysis and refutation of Christian Science teachings. Christians must realize that for every Biblical or doctrinal term they mention when in contact with a Christian Scientist, a lightning-fast re-definition takes place in the Scientist's mind, thus allowing him apparently to agree with the doctrine under discussion while in reality they firmly disagree with the true, historical and Bible concept being presented. This (amazing operation) takes place much like a word association test in psychology, as illustrated by the following example:
Word
hot
wet
light
 Association
cold
dry
dark

In the case of Christian Scientists, to illustrate our point further, we shall substitute theological terminology and the reader can see for himself how this linguistic shell game actually works.

Historic Meaning Christian Science
T r i n i t y
3 persons, 1 nature, 1 God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. co-existent, co-equal, eternal (Matt. 28:19). "Life, truth and love constitute the triune God or triple divine principle . . . the theory of three person in one God (that is a personal trinity or triunity) suggests heathen gods . . ." (Science and Health, Ed. 1895, pp. 226, 227 and 152).
A t o n e m e n t
The vicarious substitutionary sacrifice of Christ for the sins of the world (I Pet. 2:24, I John 2:2). "Does erudite theology regard the crucifixion of Jesus as chiefly providing a ready pardon for all sinners who ask for it, and are willing to be forgiven? , . . Then we must differ..." (Science and Health, Ed. 1895, p. 329).
V i r g i n B i r t h
The conception by Mary of Jesus Christ apart from human agency and as a direct act of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35). "A portion of God could not enter corporeal mortal man; neither could His fullness be reflected by him. . . . The virgin mother conceived this idea of God, and gave to her ideal the name Jesus . .." (Science and Health, Ed. 1895, pp. 231 and 234).
R e s u r r e c t i o n
The physical raising of Jesus Christ from the dead in a glorified immortal body (John 20: 20-31). Spiritualization of thought . . . to accommodate Himself to immature ideas of spiritual power... Jesus called the body, which by this power He raised from the grave, 'flesh and bone.' " (Science and Health, Ed. 1895. pp. 209 and 584).



It is an elementary matter to see from the foregoing chart how simple it is for a Christian Scientist to spiritualize and redefine the clear meaning of Biblical texts and teachings, so as to be in apparent harmony with Christianity. However such a harmony is at best a surface agreement based upon double meanings of words which cannot stand the test of sound Biblical exegesis. Language is a complex subject. On this all are agreed. But one thing is beyond dispute and that is that in certain contexts words mean just what they say. Either we admit this or we must be prepared to surrender all the accomplishments in grammar and scholastic progress and return to writing on cave walls with charcoal sticks in the tradition of our alleged stone-age ancestors.

To press on with our study, then, the main problem in dealing with Christian Scientists is to get them to define their terms so when a Christian speaks of sin, sickness, death, hell, Trinity, Deity of Christ, atonement, resurrection, etc., the Christian Scientist will not be able to slip out of the discussion by using semantics. He will either have to defend his position or listen to the solid witness of the Gospel. In either case one of the greatest of all barriers has been overcome, and the Christian will not be deceived by apparent agreement on the part of Christian Scientists.


The Doctrine of the Atonement

According to the teachings of Christian Science "the material blood of Jesus was no more efficacious to cleanse from sin when it was shed upon the accursed tree than it was flowing in His veins. -." (Science and Health, p. 330.) In line with this and with other statements made which were previously quoted in Chapter II, the reader can easily discern that Christian Science denies outright the vicarious atonement of Jesus Christ, a doctrine taught explicitly in the New Testament in places too numerous to recount.

In the first chapter of John's Gospel (1:29), the Lord Jesus Christ is designated as the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world, and John further tells us in his first epistle, chapter I, verse 7, that "the blood of Jesus Christ his (God's) Son cleanseth us from all sin." Adding to this inspired testimony Peter declared "... ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." (I Peter 1:18, 19). And Luke informs us in the book of Acts that Christ purchased the Church with His own blood (chapter 20:28), so that "without the shedding of blood there is no remission" (Heb. 9:22).

The Christian Science concept of the Christian doctrine of the atonement, is that when Jesus died on the Cross His was a sacrifice to placate the wrath of a heathen god's justice (No and Yes, p. 44-5). But the Bible clearly teaches that it was a vicarious sacrifice offered through "the eternal spirit" to free the sons of men from the curse of sin and to open the path of salvation by which now we can have "boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way . . ." (Heb. 10:19,20).

The Apostle Paul states in the fifth chapter of Romans, verse six, that "Christ died for the ungodly." And John, writing in the Apocalypse, testifies that Christ "loosed us from our sins in his own blood" (Rev. 1:5). These are hard statements indeed to reconcile with Mrs. Eddy's outright repudiation of this great biblical truth. Christian Scientists today, far from abandoning Mrs. Eddy's anti-christian concept of the atonement of the cross, resoundingly echo her denunciation of the historic Christian doctrine of the atonement. As Mrs. Eddy put it:
"Final deliverance from error whereby we rejoice in immortality, boundless freedom and sinless sense is not reached through paths of flowers, nor by pinning one's faith to another's vicarious effort" (Science and Health, p. 327).


It is to the Cross of Christ that the Christian Church has ever looked for deliverance from a world lost in sin. Indeed the scriptures state that "we have peace with God through the blood of His cross" (and until) Christian Scientists are willing to admit, first that they are sinners and in need of a Saviour, and secondly that the Lord Jesus Christ, "God manifest in the flesh," is that real living Saviour, they shall continue to walk in the darkness which Mrs. Eddy has created, a darkness which can only lead down the broad road to destruction and the corridors of eternal spiritual death.


The Doctrine of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ

In company with many other anti-Christian cults, Christian Science has historically denied the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ and taught instead that
"His disciples believed Jesus dead while He was hidden in the sepulchre: whereas He was alive..." (Science and Health, p. 349). And: "To accommodate himself to immature ideas of spiritual power. . . Jesus called the body which by this power He raised from the grave 'flesh and bones.' " (Science and Health, p. 209).
It is plain to see from these sample declarations taken from Christian Science literature that Christ's words as recorded in the 24th chapter of Luke, verse 39, "handle me... for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have," meant absolutely nothing for Mrs. Eddy, since she was capable of spiritualizing any text regardless of what it said. Similarly then s Christian Scientist can look at practically any text in Scripture, read it out loud and then despite what it plainly says proceed to tell you what it clearly does not mean!

In the 20th chapter of John, the Lord Jesus Christ appeared physically to the disciple Thomas who had previously refused to believe in His physical resurrection. Thomas, it appears, was a good Christian Scientist in this respect! In the discourse there recorded Christ invited Thomas to place his fingers in His wounds and his hand in His side, and enjoined him not to be "faithless but believing." It must be rather obvious to all but the most naive that Christ possessed a body of flesh and bone as real as that which He possessed prior to His resurrection. There is not one shred of evidence or one suspicion in the New Testament that Christ had a phantom- like body which He merely "called" a body to accommodate the "immature ideas" held by His disciples. The facts simply do not warrant such a bold eisegetical* interpretation of Scripture, and only someone of Mrs. Eddy's limited education and background could come to such conclusions. (1)
  • Reading into a word or passage a pre-conceived interpretation in violence to the grammar and context.
Indeed if there is one thing that stands out in the pages of the New Testament Scripture, it is the fact that "Christ died" (Rom. 5:6), that He "bare our sins in His own body on the tree" (I Peter 2:24), and that those who crucified Jesus "saw" when they viewed His body "that he was dead already" (John 19:33). Few persons are aware of the fact that Christian Science denies that Jesus Christ ever died at all, as previously noted. Hence it follows logically that if they believe He never died there was no necessity for Him to be resuscitated or to rise from the dead; therefore they merrily deny both truths, all Scriptural evidence to the contrary notwithstanding!

It was the Apostle Paul who in the first epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 15, verses 20 through 22, stated the great hope of the Christian's immortality when he wrote; "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." (2)

From Paul's statement it is very simple to observe two very pertinent facts: First, that Christ was dead, and secondly that He was resuscitated from among the dead, a fact Christian Scientists have a hard time trying to read out of the Bible but read it out they most certainly attempt to do!



The Ascension of Christ

Concluding our discussion of this particular phase of biblical theology relative to Christian Science, it should be observed that as Mrs. Eddy and Christian Science deny the resurrection of Christ they also deny His bodily ascension into heaven; or, as Mrs. Eddy put it, "His disciples needed this quickening, for soon their dear Master would rise again in the spiritual scale of existence and fly far beyond their apprehension. As a reward for His faithfulness He would disappear to material sense, in that change which has since been called the ascension" (Science and Health, p. 339). St. Luke in the first chapter of Acts, verse eleven, states, "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." And even a superficial comparison of this with the foregoing statement by Mrs. Eddy will quickly indicate that Christ bodily ascended into Heaven in a literal form, as testified powerfully by the Holy Spirit and in complete con tradiction to Mrs. Eddy's spiritualization of both the resurrection and the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Let us be mindful, then, when studying Christian Science, that both the terms resurrection and ascension have entirely different meanings in the vocabulary of their religion, and it is best to adhere very closely to the Scripture in attempting to refute their garbled terminology and doctrine.
1. Mrs. Eddy also defines resurrection as: "thus destroying any resemblance to the Judaeo-Christian concept of both testaments.
2. One can more properly grasp the sense of the Greek and the context: "As in Adam all die, so through Christ shall all be resurrected."



Christian Science Denials


As we have seen relative to the doctrines of the (1) atonement, the (2) resurrection, and the (3) ascension of Christ, Christian Science stands at complete logger- heads with historic Biblical theology; and one does not have to go far into the writings of Mrs. Eddy to realize that this holds true for practically every other doctrine found within the pages of Scripture (see chapter II).

The Scriptures of both the Old and New Testament clearly teach the doctrine of the Personal Trinity of God and the deity of Jesus Christ, and with equal authority assert the doctrines of the Virgin Birth, vicarious atonement, physical resurrection, visible ascension, and personal second coming of the Son of God. All of these doctrines in their historic contexts Christian Science as a religion emphatically rejects (3) and no informed student of the movement for a moment denies it!

In company with their rejection of these doctrines Mrs. Eddy and the Christian Science religion have ever opposed the Christian doctrine of (1) prayer, (2) a personal God, (3) the necessity of regeneration by the Holy Spirit, or the New Birth (John 3), and the doctrines of (4) hell and (5) eternal punishment, not to mention the doctrine of the (6) inspiration of the Bible itself! In the light of this evidence, it is therefore safe to assume that we are dealing with a subtle non-Christian cult, the core of whose theology is an outright repudiation of all of historic orthodox Christianity, and a further attempt by "the Prince of the powers of the air," "the god of this world." to deceive where possible the uninformed soul..


Biblical Texts Helpful in Refuting Christian
Science Theology

1. The Authority of the Bible: Psalm 119:140: Isaiah 40:8; Matthew 24:35: John 10:35; 17:17; II Timothy 3:16.
2. The Trinity and Deity of Christ: Genesis 1:26; 11:7; 18: 1-33; Exodus 3:14; Isaiah 6:8; 9:6; John 1:1, 14; 8:58: Colossians 1:15; 2:9; Hebrews 1:3: Revelation 1:7, 8, 16.
3. The Personality of the Holy Spirit: Luke 12:12; John 16: 7,8: Acts 13:2.
4. The Virgin Birth and Miracles of Jesus: Isaiah 7:14; 9: 6; Micah 5:2; Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:30-38. Miracles: Matthew 8:14, 15, 26, 27; 9:2, 6, 7, 27-30; Mark 1:32-34; John 2:1-11; 6:10-14.
5. The Atonement, Death and Resurrection of Christ: Exodus 12:13: Leviticus 17:11; Psalm 22: Isaiah 53; Daniel 9:26; Matthew 26:28; 28:5-7; Luke 24:39; John 1:29: 19:33: Romans 5:6-8; Ephesians 1:7: Colossians 1:20.
6. The Doctrine of Eternal Retribution: Matthew 13:42, 50; 22:13; Mark 9:44, 46, 48; Luke 3:17; Revelation 20:10.
7. The Doctrine of Christian Prayer: Matthew 6:5-15; 7:7- II: Luke 18:1; Philippians 4:6; I Thessalonians 5:17; James 5:16.
8. The Doctrine of Sin: Romans 3:23; 6:23; I John 1:10; 3:4:5:17.
3. See The Christian Science Myth, by Martin and Klann, chapter 6, for a complete discussion and thorough documentation.



The foregoing collection of verses it is hoped will supply spiritual resources to interested Christians who recognize the importance of not only preaching the Word but of "contending earnestly for the faith once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 3). There can be no better defense of the faith than a swift spiritual offensive against those who would pervert the Gospel and "deny the Lord that bought them." These things Mrs. Eddy and the Christian Science Church have constantly done. It is the responsibility of all those who love "the truth as it is in Jesus" to become familiar with the positions of Christian Science Theology and be prepared to effectively oppose them while reaching out to all Christian Scientists with the Gospel of grace that they may believe and truly come to life in Christ.