No. 57. >> For years I've driven by a church near downtown Cleveland called the First Church of Christ, Scientist. I've always wondered what that group believed and what their history is. Could you please help us understand them? >>DR. LAWRENCE R. RAST, JR.: Sure, David, let me see what I can do with the Christian Scientists. They are another one of these very unique distinctively American traditions. And what's one of the things that makes them unique is something we've already seen. Namely, that it is largely founded through the efforts and the teachings of a woman. We saw that with Seventh-day Adventism, though one might say: Well, all Ellen G. White was doing was modifying the previous conclusions of William Miller. But she did -- Ellen G. White certainly did play a formative role in Seventh-day Adventism and continues to do so in the present. That is no less true of Mary Baker Eddy and Christian Science. But the question is an interesting one, isn't it? What is it that makes it that in America we see these emerging religious traditions that are led by women in a time when women are largely seen as second class citizens. For example, Mary Baker Eddy can start a church, as it were, the First Church of Christ, Scientists, and yet be unable to vote. This is one of the very provocative elements about Christianity, religion in general, here in America. By way of introduction with Christian Science, let me say a few words about that. One thing demographers have noted is that in the history of Christianity in the United States as we have it recorded from the earliest times on down to the present is that there have been over those 400 years now a majority of women who joined the church. And that has been true from the 17th through the 18th centuries and on down to the present. More women join the church than men. But one thing that demographers note is that in the 1800s, the 19th Century, more women start joining the church than men. And this becomes one of these great questions: What does that mean and why is this so? In fact, in about 1730 the split between men and women joining the church is about 55% women, 45% men. But by the time you get to 1850, the split is nearly 66% women versus 33% men. So two-thirds of the people joining the church are women, in fact, by the middle part of the 19th Century. Now, people ask: What does this mean? Why is this so? And a number of explanations have been offered by historians and interpreters over the years. For example, one explanation is that for women, issues regarding life and death are much more intense in the 19th Century than for men. The life expectancies are not all that long. There's a certain reality that faces women perhaps more than men. Namely, childbirth. And it is rarely the case that a woman in the 19th Century has not lost a child in childbirth. In addition to that, there are the simple risks of a woman giving birth to a child in the 19th Century that makes for very high mortality rates among women themselves. And so issues of life and death, say some interpreters, are of a special concern to women. Others have said: Well, the Evangelical message of empowerment that we've seen moving from the older stern Calvinism to the more free Arminianism especially appeals to women who have little freedom in other spheres of their life. Afterall, if you are married to a man, he is your head and you are to obey him. Yet within with the church the message that is presented says you are free to determine your own eternal destiny. In other words, your freedoms may be circumscribed within the context of your marriage. But in terms of your life in Christ, they are open. A third explanation is that within the churches, you have distinctive female traits being cultivated. That is to say there is a perspective that emerges in the 19th Century that says women are more inherently spiritual people. Men are more interested in things like politics and economics. The sphere of the church, however, is more the sphere of a woman, who is more spiritually tuned, inclined, shall we say. And as such is responsible for the well being of the community as a whole. Thus, providing for her husband a safe atmosphere within the home. But then expressing her spirituality in ways that are really transformative of society within the church. A case in point: The Woman's Christian Temperance Union in the latter part of the 19th Century. Frances Willard's work of organizing a massive movement that ultimately affects the United States Constitution again. All the while, while she can't vote. All through the agencies of the church. Well, think about these points. Being empowered. Having a sense of spiritually -- spiritual uniqueness. And also concerns over life and death. One might say these come together in Mary Baker Eddy. Born in 1821, it's right at the rise of Evangelical Christianity and the revival movements. However, later in her life she finds herself almost on the verge of death at one point. When a new world opens up to her, almost a new revelation that presents itself to her. That new revelation is that science is the key to health. And the Scriptures themselves speak of this science, a Christian Science, if you will. Later on she helps form the First Church of Christ, Scientist in Boston. Within this movement, the formal principle is very clear. There are the Scriptures. But the Scriptures interpreted through the writings of Mary Baker Eddy, a supplement and one might say a proper explanation of the Scriptures. And some versions of Christian Science actually trumped the Scriptures, have a higher standing than the Scriptures themselves. Most important among Mary Baker Eddy's writing writings was her 1875 publication "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures." In this particular writing she simply argues that to become ill is sin itself. Is to allow the realities of the flesh to overtake the things of the Spirit. Mind in and of itself is good. Mind in and of itself is God. And as we are incorporated more and more into God, the more and more mind takes over the realities of flesh and leads us to a life of health. As I said, she herself had been a sickly person. Had come close to death as a young woman. And this new perspective opened up a new world for her. So a formal principle of Scriptures and her writings giving forth then a principle, a material principle, that states God is the only being. And man is his reflection. Thus, man is a -- an expression of the divine in God. Anything that confuses that then leads to sickness and ill health. As such, there is a kind of power of the mind that can overcome the weaknesses of the flesh. One might almost call it a neoplatism that divides flesh and spirit, seeing flesh as problem, as evil, as that which drags down. And seeing spirit as that which is of God, of divine, sadly attached to this malady ridden body. However, through the cultivation of the of the mind with the help of spirit, one can overcome the limitations of flesh and achieve the divine life. Indeed, if one is truly a follower of Christ, the one who ultimately conquered the weaknesses of the flesh, namely death, then one can find and expect within oneself that reality. In other words, eternal life is yours through the proper way of thinking. Well, what are the problems with such a perspective? I think they are rather numerous and obvious. In the first place, we confess Jesus Christ God and man. And that in fact, it is in his human flesh, his human body, that our Lord himself took on our very form and corrected the problems of sin. In the incarnation of Christ we have the redemption of the human creation, indeed, of all creation. So that that which was one run arye by human sin now has been restored through the workings of Christ. The incarnation of Christ is not something at odds with the divine. But in fact, embraces in one person God and man. The promise for us being that by virtue of his resurrection, we, too, will be raised given our spiritual bodies that last day when the final trump occurs. However, what you see I think again with Mary Baker Eddy and with Christian Science is an appeal to human potential, human capability. If you think the right way, if you exercise your mind in the right paths, if you nurture the right kinds of thoughts, then you can overcome the limitations of this life. It puts tremendous emphasis on the human subject. But it does so from a posture that says: You can do this. The unfortunate side of it is, of course, that if you do not overcome, you die in the midst of suffering. Thus, sin. And the message of hope is one that is terribly tempered at the very least. Perhaps not to be found at all. Better still, the message of the cross, where all sin, all sadness, all weakness has been taken away once and for all. And the promise of everlasting life that is ours in Christ, the promises of the presence of Christ in heaven, where there is no longer any tear, no more weakness, no more suffering, no more sorrow. All has been conquered by Christ, the lamb who was slain but has been raised. And the promise of his presence is ours through his justifying work.