Chapter 11 of this month's book addresses the influence of Mary Baker Eddy on medicine. Eddy's influence can only be assessed as it coincides with her discovery of Christian Science, which of course constituted her life-work -- a mission from which she never swerved. It was not a personal influence. She wrote that: 'One must fulfil one's mission without timidity or dissimulation, for to be well done, the work must be done unselfishly' (Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures p. 483). No-one could say that she ever worked selfishly, and she certainly rejected timidity or pretence in pursuit of her spiritual mission. As influential biographer Robert Peel noted '...spiritual-mindedness rather than brilliance of intellect must be the essential prerequisite to discovering the Science of Christianity' (p. 11). Thus, whatever influence may be felt as the result of Eddy's discovery, it is the result of her allegiance to her God-inspired spiritual mission to bless the world.
Writing in 1966, one hundred years after Mrs. Eddy's discovery of Christian Science, John M. Tutt has written a thoroughly engaging essay about Mrs. Eddy and her influence on medicine. The following passage gives pause for thought:
'By its infinite nature, God's thought, though complete, is never ended. Christian Science therefore is more than mere impact upon human consciousness and life. It is influence. It is a sustained inflowing of power to effect change for the better, to reverse false laws of matter and uphold true laws of Spirit' (p. 99, Mary Baker Eddy: A Centennial Appreciation).
The effect of the 'power to effect change' is often felt in stirred thought, and this stirring is explained in a recent article in the Christian Science Sentinel May 20, 2019, where Laura Remmerde writes that what she was learning and loving about Christian Science clashed with 'theological concepts from [her] youth'.^ She therefore 'began attending a church of another Christian denomination on a regular basis. However, at home [she] still read the weekly Bible Lesson found in the Christian Science Quarterly, unwilling to completely leave what [she] had found so wonderful.' In proof that God shepherds each of us in the way that's best for each of us, the pastor at that church confided that he 'often turned to the Christian Science Bible Lessons for inspiration'. At that point, Laura returned to Christian Science church services.
John Tutt tells us that 'Mrs. Eddy grew up in an atmosphere of orthodox religion and medicine' but the results of both were not encouraging. She struggled with health and other issues for many years until her great discovery. In her book Science & Health, she wrote: 'The medicine of Science is divine Mind...' (p. 104).
As mentioned in Joyce's post yesterday, Tutt also looks at the Greek word for 'medicine' (pharmakon) and notes that 'material medicine has always been built upon matter and the material so-called mind' (p. 101. On the other hand, writes Tutt, 'Christ Jesus' religion and medicine were one and based on Spirit, not matter; on the divine Mind... His psychology was not a sound mind in a sound body but a sound body in a sound Mind...' (p. 103, emphasis added).
Tutt had trained to be a medical doctor, but 'found himself tied to the theory that matter devours its own progeny...' (ibid). (I wonder if this was what Abraham discovered when he was halted from slaying his son Isaac (see Genesis 22) -- he found a much happier alternative.)
I love where Tutt writes: 'There is not an item of food in the kitchen, pantry, or on the dining table that probably is not or has not been a medicine in the apothecary shop. Even water can be so regarded, as well as climate, height, depth, sea, mountain, and desert.
'The conclusion is inescapable that medicine is not matter. Medicine is comprised wholly in mental consent' (p. 104).'
When I picked up this book again after many years of having it on my bookshelf, I wondered if it would be out of date. After all, the articles were written 53 years ago. However, it seems to me that they are pointing the way forward, and consideration of their ideas lifts thought into spiritual, rather than human realms.
Julie Swannell
^ Readers may have noted similar sentiments expressed on page 13 of our book by Robert Peel, where he writes: '...the whole entrenched belief of life in matter seemed to concentrate itself in outraged opposition to the message and the messenger'.
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