Article October 5, 1981 Issue

Why Christian Science is not a cult—2

Editors' Note: From earliest days misrepresentations of Christian Science teachings have been circulated by critics. More recently these have reached a crescendo in a broad-scale attempt to brand Christian Science a "non-Christian cult. " We feel these questions and answers on key points, prepared by the Committee on Publication, will be of interest to our readers and inquirers. We present them in line with the purpose our Leader, Mrs. Eddy, assigned this publication, "to hold guard over Truth, Life, and Love,"^{The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 353.} and in the spirit of her words, "A lie left to itself is not so soon destroyed as it is with the help of truth-telling."^{Ibid., p. 130.}

Question: It's sometimes said that Christian Scientists see Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures as a second Bible, superseding or even superior to the Scriptures.

Answer: This is an important point to clear up, because for Christian Scientists no book can take the place of the Bible. They don't see Science and Health as a "second Bible" or as a substitute for biblical revelation at all. A key doesn't replace the door it's intended to unlock—it opens it. Just so, Christian Scientists see Mrs. Eddy's teachings as opening their understanding of the Bible's meaning, depth, and transforming power. They study the Bible daily (basically in the King James Version when studying it in English), and on the whole have probably as deep a familiarity with it as any other group of Christians.

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