What to bring to the table

During the 19^th century, healing was divided as religion took on the task of healing sin, while science took on the healing of body.

But during the 20^th century, healing took on a new look. Interest in spirituality seeped into religion and science and healing began to encompass mind/body/spirit.

Being a student of Christian Science in the 21^st century can be challenging.

I wonder, What can I bring to the table?

I don’t want to bring fundamentalism to the table. Religious doctrines need to be modified to reflect inclusiveness rather than division.

I don’t want to bring false promises. The hard and soft sciences still include guessing.

I don’t particularly want to bring to the table a mix of religion and the sciences, but I can bring to the table a metaphysical view of both.

I can appreciate both religion and science, while keeping spirituality the primary focus. I can incorporate into my practice of religion and science the spiritual qualities Paul spoke about in the Bible.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23, ESV)

 

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Discarding the Bible and Science and Health

If we are to be defined by our religion, then I suppose I have am in line with Christian Science. But, if you were to tell me the religion Christian Science was going to be renamed to Christian Research, or to Humane Science, my reaction would be on the level of a comfortable, “Ah.”

There are a couple of reasons for this casual response, the first and most obvious being that a title is only a title. Words are only words. I won’t truly know what Christian Science means until I read the ideas in the books meant to teach it, The Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy.

In Sunday School, I was taught Christian Science etiquette, how to properly mark, read, and quote from the Bible and Science and Health. Certain authorized words were to be revered. I was given a smaller set of books, the travel edition, to take with me when I went on a trip. Undeniably, I could see Christian Science offered some distinguishing elements, but I’d ask, “Is it the words that make Christian Science?” Answers I received were not satisfying.

Even if I had felt any warm feelings toward certain words, I still don’t know if I ever would have caught on to that elusive thing called, “the spirit of Christian Science” by reading words or books. When others were somberly repeating words from the King James Version of the Bible, or Mrs. Eddy’s words, images of robots would come to mind. Try as I might, I couldn’t seem to feel the sacredness of words written centuries ago.

But I did experience Christian Science. When praying or being prayed for, I was healed of sicknesses. I remember a broken shoulder bone healing quickly. I’d practice talking with God as Love and Truth, a concept learned through the Bible and Science and Health, with a childlike simplicity that genuinely revealed the presence of a higher power, truly able and willing to guide me to wellbeing and purpose. But the constant referral to hand-picked words would sometimes grate on my nerves.

After leaving for college, I did what any college student would do, and conducted a little scientific experiment. I threw the Bible and Science and Health in the garbage. Nothing happened. I did not lose my ability to think humanely or logically. God did not disappear. I even still felt something invigorating and inclusive. I eventually pulled the books out of the garbage, but it was after I discovered for myself that I could experience inspiration and healing without the explicit use of certain words.

Of course, as I got older, I understood that there is no magic about the words in the Bible and Science and Health, but that the rules governing the reverence and repetition of its words are intended to convey respect and devotion. After college, I started reading modern versions of the Bible and revised Science and Health to make its ideas practical in the 21^st Century.

I’d like to think that we could change the words Christian Science to something Christian Research or Humane Science without putting the things we value at any great risk. Granted the King James Version and Mrs. Eddy’s version of Science and Health still entertain my eyes and mind, along with newer versions, but I remind myself if, as meaningful and as important as these symbols are, I don’t’ want to let them get in the way of the things that really matter.

Mind Medicine

The medicine of divine Mind is divine Mind. The nature and the character of Mind, Truth, is the remedy for error of every kind. The medicine of divine Mind is unlike the temporal medicines of human minds and their inventions. In divine science, the human mind yields to divine Mind and relies on God for healing.

Searching and Finding God

Do you know there is something more to life than what we humanly see, feel, hear, touch, and think?

Many people are in search of a higher power and quite often we need to change our personality or lifestyle before finding this higher power. But, not always.

The higher power, I call God, is greater than any human person or situation. God can seep into our consciousness and make us better. The key is to quiet the human mind, instead of force the human mind to become new and improved.

“ However, as it is written: ‘What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived’—the things God has prepared for those who love him—these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. (I Cor. 2, NIV)

 

Press Release for 4th Edition of 21st Century Science and Health

21^st Century Science and Health 4^th Edition Released Today

April 20, 2012 – Cheryl Petersen has released the 4^th edition of 21^st Century Science and Health to shine light on the timeless law of Truth and Christ-like mindfulness that reveal modern day answers. The book is online at Trafford Publishing in softcover. The e-book format will be available in a few more weeks.

Science and Health is adapting to the times while remaining true to the core values of illuminating God, the  universe and our spiritual abilities. The reader is encouraged to keep pace, not with human society, but with Life, Truth, and Love. An index has been added to 21st Century Science and Health. The book can be found online at Trafford Publishing

Updated 2021: Click here for sixth edition of 21st Century Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: A modern version of Mary Baker Eddy’s Science and Health

Seeds that Mature into Something Real

Reality is revealed through what has been termed divine Science.

The advancement of divine Science is bursting with opportunity. Sometimes, it feels as though there isn’t enough time to accomplish the ideas that come to mind. But I’ve learned to appreciate every working moment. Each moment is full of discovery, challenge, and the great reminder that divine Science is advancing itself. Reality can’t be adequately expressed in any one form or human accomplishment. Otherwise:

•  To believe the incarnation of the inexhaustible reality of Life has been manifest in just one human life leads to an immature type of idolatry.
•  To believe the personification of the unlimited reality of God has been manifest in just one person leads to a immature type of reverence.
•  To believe the embodiment of the boundless reality of Mind has been manifest in just one brain leads to an undeveloped type of idolatry.
•  To believe the representation of the infinite reality of Spirit has been manifest in just one human lifestyle leads to an immature form of obsession.
•  To believe the incarnation of the inexhaustible reality of Truth has been manifest in just one book leads to an immature type of devotion.

We all have a purpose in life. Our purpose isn’t to fulfill reality, but to be fulfilled by reality. Enjoy each moment of that purpose.

Religion and Science Evolve in Excellence

Religion had a way, often unscrupulously, of dominating over science until the 19^th century, when the general populace had a mental growth spurt, no longer fitting into the automatic acceptance of canon handed down by a church coterie. People adapted to the idea of thinking for themselves, of research and discovery. Coincidentally, research and discovery expanded the human ability to develop refined ideas and put them into practice through the sciences. Paradoxically, the sciences became a domineering force in the 20^th century, but not without generating the same problems religion generated. Basically, neither religion nor science can tout supremacy because they both are in constant flux and inextricably bound to the evolution process.

Granted, the evolution process involves extinction, however, neither religion nor science will become extinct before the false convictions they propagate are extinguished; number one falsity being that religion or science is the source of truth, they aren’t. Religion and science are venues in search of truth.

Religion and science play a role in developing public opinion, but when the core value of evolving in excellence is neglected, temptations set in. Both are guilty of interpreting data to confirm presuppositions and biases, of stockpiling knowledge that has no practical application, and of spawning new complex moral, ethical, and scientific problems for every answer they come up with. Even though they both can claim past successes, religion and science need to live in the now and deal with today’s issues. Religion and science are not responsible “for” humanity, but are to be responsible “to” humanity.

As excellence in religion and science evolves, these venues will be found to be mutually reinforcing. Whether it is a leap in faith, or an educated leap in faith, that leads to the discovery of new ideas, the commitment to the core value of excellence in research, intent, healthy skepticism, and ongoing inquiry will ensure those ideas are implemented to benefit humanity.