Article November 20, 2017 Issue

A new identity

Evelyn Brookins

“What is Christian Science?” An inmate asked me this question when he attended his first ever Christian Science church service at a county jail where I was volunteering.

An unusual answer came to me, but it was one that I thought might resonate with him: that Christian Science is similar to the witness protection program. When someone has witnessed a crime and testifies in court, he or she may be placed in the witness protection program, meaning that the individual is provided with a new identity and moved to a new place to start a new life, having no more ties to the former life. The individual thus becomes safe from any possible retribution for his testimony in court.

I told him: “In Christian Science, you gain an entirely new identity, which is actually your spiritual, eternal, God-given identity; and you don’t go back to the old habits and ways of thinking. As the Bible says, ‘Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free’ (John 8:32). And then you are free from the penalties such ways may have incurred. Even though you may have to finish your jail sentence, you can find a whole new way of thinking and acting—one that reforms your heart and frees you of resentment, regret, and remorse.”

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