Wishing will make it so…
In an earlier blog (Is Matter Real? The Christian Science Conundrum?) I wrote about how Christian Science denies the existence and reality of matter. The only thing real in Christian Science (aka CS) is “Spirit”:
“Spirit is the real and eternal…” (Science and Health,p. 468:12-13).
We also learned that the Bible teaches that matter is real, and that God created all of it, including our material bodies. (See Genesis, Chapter 1).
In my experience, I have never met a Christian Scientist who denied the reality of all matter. Here are some examples of the kinds of matter that Christian Scientists do not typically deny:
- The reality of the church building in which they meet, and its care and upkeep.
- The reality of the homes in which they live.
- The reality of their friends and family.
- The reality of their automobiles.
- The reality of their money and possessions.
- The reality of seasons of the year, air temperature or precipitation in its various forms, and dressing accordingly.
- The reality of food and drink, and its taste.
More examples could be given, but you see that Christian Scientists do not really deny the existence or the reality of most forms of matter in practice. They are selective about the forms of matter they deny. Christian Scientists don’t call a CS practitioner if their car battery needs a jump; they call a roadside service provider or friend to jump the car. They don’t call a CS practitioner when the air conditioner in their house stops working; they call an HVAC service contractor. They don’t call a CS practitioner if they have a clogged drain line in their house; they call a plumbing company to snake out the line.
They call those service providers to do one basic thing: to manipulate matter into a more convenient form. They don’t call the service provider so they can discuss whether the problem exists or if matter exists; they call them to manipulate a specific bunch of matter so the problem will be solved (e.g. to clear the clogged drain).
They deny the existence and reality of illness, disease and death, i.e. they deny the existence primarily of traumatic, chronic or terminal medical conditions and many times refuse conventional medical treatments which are readily available today in the modern world.
When I became sick or injured as a child, I was told: “You need to ‘know the truth’ about this situation. God never made a damaged knee; He made you perfectly in His image. So your knee can’t be damaged.”
Essentially the message was to deny the reality of my injury or illness. By God’s grace I was never healed through Christian Science. I had to go to the doctor, dentist, etc if I wanted to get better; sometimes my illness or injury was not treated and I got better through the self-healing abilities God designed into our bodies. Denying the torn cartilage in my knee did not allow me to straighten my leg again. Having knee surgery did restore the functionality of my knee. A CS practitioner did not relieve my ear infection or stop my screaming; a doctor did. I received no treatment for my childhood concussions; my body eventually healed from those brain injuries over time through natural bodily healing.
There are some problems with denying the evidence of our 5 senses when it comes to illness, disease and death:
1) If I deny my 5 senses when the sensory input tells me I am sick, should I not deny my 5 senses when they indicate I am well? If I follow the teachings of Christian Science, I can’t use my 5 senses (which is all I have) to determine my state of health or illness, or anything else. How am I to function in a world bereft of sensory input? How can I read my Christian Science text book if matter isn’t real, and my eyes are feeding me false information? I have no means of determining the reality of anything about myself, other people or the external world as I float in the oblivion of the unreality proclaimed by Christian Science, where the only thing real is “Spirit”.
I understand the appeal of denying the unpleasant realities of life, such as illness, disease and death. I’m sorry, but life doesn’t work that way. Wishing will NOT make it so! There is a real material world, made of matter. God gave us our 5 senses so we can navigate that real material world. Unless we are compromised somehow (e.g. drunk, drugged, psychotic) we should believe the evidence of our 5 senses. We may have to face some unpleasant realities of living in a fallen world, but we can also experience times of God-given joy, pleasure and satisfaction with our 5 senses. To selectively deny the parts of our world that we don’t like is not a path to growth or health in my opinion.
If you want to read more on this topic, it is found in Chapter 1 of the book Christian Science in the Light of Holy Scripture. The book is available on the ScriptureLight.org website in paperback or e-book formats.