Article January 22, 1977 Issue

Alcoholism? It Can Be Healed

DOROTHY KAPLE

Both the chapter "Fruitage" in Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy and verified testimonies in the Christian Science periodicals offer proof that Science can heal the drinking habit. The following dialogue traces the steps involved in one such healing. This occurred in 1968.

Question: I understand that you have been healed of alcoholism in Christian Science. In what way, specifically, did Christian Science help you?

Answer: I knew I needed help and was willing to read Science and Health when a friend asked me if I would. Because they drink to excess and allow false appetite to control them, most alcoholics carry a great deal of guilt. I know I did. Even though the medical position is that alcoholism is a disease, I felt guilty and knew I was doing wrong. When I read Science and Health, I paid special attention to what Mrs. Eddy says about inebriates. Beside the marginal heading "Saving the inebriate" she begins the paragraph, "Man's wisdom finds no satisfaction in sin, since God has sentenced sin to suffer." Further on she writes, "The drunkard thinks he enjoys drunkenness, and you cannot make the inebriate leave his besottedness, until his physical sense of pleasure yields to a higher sense."^{Science and Health, p. 322;} As I pondered this, I sincerely prayed to learn what this "higher sense" was.