One hundred years after the discovery of Christian Science in 1866, physical scientist F. Karl Willenbrock penned the article 'Mary Baker Eddy: Her influence upon science' which appears as chapter 9 (pages 79 - 85) of this month's Reading Room Book Club book, Mary Baker Eddy: A Centennial Appreciation, published in 1966. A little research on the website jsh-online.com uncovers some details about Mr. Willenbrock. He earned his doctorate at Harvard University and then joined the faculty and became Associate Dean of Engineering and Applied Physics.
In an 1969 interview article in the Christian Science Sentinel dated Sept 27 and titled An Interview: About the Physical Sciences, he is quoted as saying:
'The physical sciences are concerned with matter; they are matter-based and matter-oriented. They are not related to the ethical, moral, or spiritual. There's nothing in the methodology of the natural sciences telling you it's good to love your neighbor or it's good to listen to divine Mind's directives to man.
'...Spiritual substance is not quantifiable, while the physical sciences are concerned with quantifiable things. Of course, there are some people who think that science has all the answers. This is a dangerous concept, which some of the very early natural scientists subscribed to. I'd say most of today's natural scientists are more well-informed.
'...It's been helpful to remind myself that when I'm talking about the physical sciences I mean physical sense testimony, a limited human framework, unreliable when it comes to spiritual things.'
And so, in his 1966 article about the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, Willenbrock wrote: 'In the one hundred years since the discovery of Christian Science, tremendous changes have occurred
in the natural sciences. They have grown from a small activity which concerned few individuals and had little effect on human society to a position of major importance in human affairs' (p. 79).
Later in the chapter, he notes common characteristics between the natural sciences and Christian Science, e.g.
1. 'the importance of accumulated evidence or demonstration rather than opinion'
2. 'the utilization of logically consistent reasoning' and
3. 'the need for understanding rather than simply belief' (p. 80).
He also points out the tremendous usefulness of the natural sciences to 'free men from...limitations' (ibid), and he mentions microscopes, telescopes, new propulsion systems, the ability to control electro-magnetic phenomena...'which has increased man's ability to communicate over all parts of the globe' (p. 81) and, of course, computers. He notes that this 'progress has resulted from the ability to replace with better thoughts some of the ignorance which has limited mankind's capabilities for so long' (ibid) and proceeds to cite Mrs Eddy as saying that 'If the eyes see no sun for a week, we still believe that there is solar light and heat. Science (in this instance named natural) raises the human thought above the cruder theories of the human mind, and casts out a fear' (Mary Baker Eddy's seminal work Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 189).
However, Willenbrock is absolutely clear in differentiating between the realms of Christian Science and the realm of the natural sciences. He writes: 'It has become clear that an essential characteristic of the natural sciences is their utilization of quantitative measurement and mathematical deduction. Ethical and aesthetic values, for example, are not susceptible to such detailed quantitative measure and so lie outside the realm of the natural sciences' (p. 82). He also raises the question of 'physical facts' by quoting Henry Margenau, of Yale University, who wrote that 'they [physical facts] are supported in a fluid medium called theory, or theoretical interpretation' (ibid). Physical 'facts' are not absolute.
Two further points from this writer are of interest to readers in the twenty-first century: that the 'understanding of Christian Science' will 'improv[e] the ability of all men to demonstrate...their potentialities for improved clarity of thought and capacity for learning' (p. 84); and that mankind's enlarged 'spiritual sense, which is man's capacity to discern enduring verities' (ibid) should result in an 'increase in order' (ibid) in the physical universe.
Willenbrock's article concludes by saying that 'the metaphysician of today should develop the capability of bringing to bear on the current theories of the natural science the insight which is characteristic of spiritual sense. With this insight, he should help to guide those theories in the direction of increasing validity and usefulness in the human realm (p. 85).
Julie Swannell
PS: For further insights on this topic, readers are directed to 3 lectures by Christian Science teacher and practitioner Michelle Nanouche, up on our web site for the next 3 months.
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