Article March 15, 2010 Issue

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE VERSUS MEDICINE?

FROM THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

FOR OVER A CENTURY some have seen a kind of "contest" between the healing method offered by Christian Science and the conventional medicine that most of Western society adopts. But that's not the right way for the two systems to relate to each other. One competing against the other is not the healthiest basis for either to serve society most effectively.

As we see it, neither today's material medicine nor to-day's practice of Christian Science should define the ideal healthcare. Christ Jesus' healing works should be the standard. He cured in a moment blindness and epilepsy; he immediately overturned lifelong paralysis and years of hemorrhaging. He transformed the sinner and raised the dead. No system has equaled all that the master Healer accomplished.

No matter how distant seems the standard Jesus established, both Christian Science and conventional medicine should measure their successes against this high bar rather than against the limited record each has. And both systems are humbled when they do this. It is true that both Christian Science and material medicine can nevertheless point to some significant examples of helping those who struggle with suffering. We feel a deep respect for how much society is blessed by the unselfish efforts and vigorous response motivating those in the world of material medicine who want to help people. Those in that world need to develop a similar respect for the immense good Christian Science has brought to many seeking help from its spiritual approach to healing.

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