Article July 20, 1992 Issue

The Christian Science perspective has not changed

M. Victor Westberg—June 2, 1992.

The Boston Globe

Perhaps one of our society's best-kept secrets is the healing role of Christianity and the efforts of Christian Scientists to keep it alive and vital in modern society.

Spiritual healing and spirituality are, of course, not exclusive to Christian Science. Other groups, both religious and not church-related, show a yearning for spirituality, points out pollster George Gallup Jr. More than 90 percent say they pray and believe in God. But it is clear that the inspiration and moral courage of a New England woman, Mary Baker Eddy, just a little more than a century ago, gave impetus—and respectability—to the idea that man is a spiritual being.

Mrs. Eddy, in addition to founding Christian Science, was an early champion of the individual's freedom from oppression and enslavement. Late in the 19th century, when women were not expected to speak out on public issues, she took a stand against slavery and discrimination. Her newspaper, The Christian Science Monitor, which she founded in 1908, was a tangible means of serving society with an honest, independent assessment of world, national and local news.