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RE: Are There Actually ANY Healings In Christian Science

followingHim — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 18:00:03 GMT

The phenomenon seems to be widespread, whether it be Christian, pseudo-Christian, or non-Christian. The individualistic mode of the times is a "do your own thing" that would shame the ragged individualists of the 1960s! People want to fashion a "spirituality" that is convenient, non-demanding, and to their own liking. I suppose this is a recurring problem, and did not start with the "Liberation Theology" or "Femininist Theology" or "Gay Theology" (ulp!) and other trendy movements.

Sorry I've wandered off topic, but indulge me this last thought: We always need to filter out thoughts and opinions through Scripture, rather than fashion Scripture according to our predilections!

RE: Are There Actually ANY Healings In Christian Science

followingHim — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 11:33:38 GMT

I had just hit "Post Reply" and was discussing this with my verrrrrrry astute wife* and she came up with the succinct and perfect term for the dichotomy we are discussing here:

Logical Fallacy

*truly my better half!

RE: Are There Actually ANY Healings In Christian Science

followingHim — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 11:24:44 GMT

[quote]... this begs the question,...[/quote]

John, do all your questions beg? Tell them to demonstrate a bit more dignity!

[quote] why are CSists still holding to the ideal that they must demonstrate their belief system when in comes to physical ailment...but not to the other aspects of the mortal existence (cited many times here-sleeping, eating, bodily functions, etc. etc., say 99% of life)?
[/quote]

It was this very dichotomy that was the first CS problem to get me to question CS--as a child, too. (I was such a precocious lad!) I've posted this thought before, but I'll repeat it here:

I grew up in Greenwich, Conn, and noticed how CS'ists enjoyed the blessings of prosperity while espousing a doctrine that called for asceticism--though I didn't phrase it so. Put another way, I noticed that they enjoyed ample materialism while denying materiality. Even my CSB mom couldn't reconcile this. "To be faithful CS'ists," I thought, "we would best relocate to a remote area, live as simple & austere a life on a subsistence basis as possible, study the Bible and S&H, and practice a truely pure & primitive CS!"

Nobody warmed to that idea!

Regarding "neo-CS" (an excellent term), first, I believe that even in its purer days, many CS'ists kept a bottle of aspirin tucked away or snuck off to doctors than we realized. Second, the more common and public practice (pun) of this CS, er, "style," reduces CS to the diluted metaphysics of "Religious Science" and "Science of Mind," which I refer to bonafide (albeit minuscule) religious organizations.

Joe Kennedy III, for whom I have no high regard, was at least honest enough to call himself a "cafeteria Catholic." It seems there is a common equivalent in CS.

RE: Are There Actually ANY Healings In Christian Science

followingHim — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 12:24:26 GMT

Another way of looking at it is sympathetic to Christian Scientists, but damning to Christian Science, is that the very nature of their belief system is "Absolute Idealism," in that they hold to a philosophic ideal that cannot be realistic attained in their human lives. Or, as the old saying goes, their "reach exceeds (their) grasp" (paraphrase, Wordsworth). There is no way any CSist can realistically demonstrate what Eddy taught.

But they do believe it, and so fill in the gap (or better, chasm) with various mythologies, or, if you will, fictions. Some of these are historical, such as hagiography that MBE made for herself, and has been maintained and elaborated by TMC and its cohorts. Other myths are collective, such as the "I know people who cured cancer!" stories. (Here, TMC is again involved, especially through the periodicals.)

Most troubling to us, as Christians who want to witness effectively, are the personal mythologies people develop to span the distance between belief and reality. I believe these stories are mostly of innocent intent, because there is a natural desire have one's life conform to the group. So minor ailments, naturally healed, or exaggerated in thought to be major maladies, etc. These people are difficult to witness to because the personal pseudo-experience of healing can be so persuasive!

There will be, of course, the conscious hypocrites. I wonder what happened to my favorite Sunday School teacher, who had extraordinary healings, including a recovery from blindness following an antitank round on his tank in WWII.* When he ditched his wife years later, she related wtih great relish that all his testimonies were made up!

*This kind of injury could be easily explained in natural terms: As he recovered from the concussion of the blast his neurological, then his optical, faculties recovered.

RE: Are There Actually ANY Healings In Christian Science

Linda — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:00:45 GMT

[quote]Is this hypocrisy?[/quote]

I think it's more an example of "compartmentalizing" than hyprocisy. I majored in chemistry while at Principia College and used cyanide in chemical reactions while, at the same time, being impressed by the story about a former chem prof at the school who had had a lab accident involving cyanide but had "demonstrated" over any ill effects from it. In other words, I was using cyanide in one chemical reaction while, at the same time, claiming that cyanide had no power in another chemical reaction. I wasn't being hypocritical; I had no reason to doubt the professor's story (he was well respected, so why would he lie or exaggerate?). So I had to compartmentalize my knowledge of how cyanide reacts. Christian Scientists are told of countless healings that seem to defy the workings of the material world. They have no way to refute what they hear, so (if they don't want to assume that their fellow CSists are lying or deluded) they compartmentalize what they know about the physical world. They're told they can gradually overcome their false beliefs as their spiritual understanding improves. In most cases I wouldn't consider them hypocritical -- they're just trying to find a way to live what they have been told is true.

RE: Are There Actually ANY Healings In Christian Science

Phoenix Rising — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 15:59:14 GMT

"Such determination to limit God. "

I would urge this Christian Scientist to stop going to work and let God provide. Stop eating and quit insisting, on a daily basis, that you are a material being and thus limiting GOD. If you die of starvation in the process your friends and loved ones are welcome to come here for support. Please keep in mind that this is why some of us are here. Our loved ones DID NOT "limit God" and paid the ultimate price. So your haughty words are nothing to THIS audience but an aggrivation. You dont know what you are talking about. You who believe that the entire world is an illusion are among an extreme minority. Your religion is shrinking, NOT growing. Most people believe that God gave us legs to walk, a brain to think and hands to do, and it does not "limit God" to use the tools we were provided with, but honors Him. You DO use a car to travel rather than manifest yourself places? Ah! You limit God once again, and delve into the technological material word for the convenience of its inventions, eh? So its only in SOME areas that you cling to this theory? You talk the talk but have not walked the walk.

Square Peg

RE: Are There Actually ANY Healings In Christian Science

followingHim — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 18:45:12 GMT

After the issue of salvation (or lack of) for CS'ists, the reality (or lack of) healing in CS is the deepest issue we have. I just spent a good deal of time reading this entire thread. Whew!

I have misplaced an essay I wrote about 20 years ago, in which I enumerated 10 explanations for the phenomenon of CS healing. They ranged from the common-sense undiagnosed ailment/recovery to a very intense one, the possibility of satanic counterfeit. (I consider the latter to be extreme and rare but theologically viable.)

By and large, I believe much of CS "healing" can be attributed to what I term, "the fellowship of the fittest." That is, just as some people are saddled with a weak imune system and are more vulernable to colds, flues, and ailments, some of us are on the other end of the continuum, and are blessed with a robust system and, normally, good health. It's just a genetic throw of the dice in which some people are more fortunate than others. I'm not bragging, but I am one of that group. I rarely get sick, and shake off colds in a day or two, using little or no sick leave each year. BTW, I have to be careful to be patient with those in my family who get genuinely sick, as I have a nasty but deeply rooted instinct to regard them as weak or self-indulgent. Ugh!

Although I'm not big on natural selection, it follows that these people, if they court and marry in CS, will pass this genetic virtue on to their children. Hence, people will give testimony such as "Anonymous" of 10/25/08 (page 4) who states,

I...[quote] was raised in CS and have had many healings. My entire family has experience the healing effect of pure CS. I am grateful to have it. [quote] And how apropros that nomorecs posted her (?) credentials just before, declaring her(?)self as:

[quote] three decades in CS, and a family that was in CS for four generations [/quote]

There are, I believe, numerous explanations for CS "healing." I am especially cheered by a few of you who credit God's "common Grace" even when it is diffused through legitimate medical practice.

On a related point, I also believe that God does safeguard His elect, in His omniscient foreknowledge of their eventual salvation. I received two life-threatening wounds in one firefight in Vietnam--one bullet passing an inch from my heart on a clean enter-and-exit trajectory. Somehow, I was never comfortable with explaining that in CS terms, even though I considered myself CS at the time. It wasn't until years later, when was authentically Christian through spiritual rebirth, that I had a satisfactory theology for this event.

RE: Are There Actually ANY Healings In Christian Science

nomorecs — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 08:58:12 GMT

These are good points.

I left CS years ago, but once I was diagnosed with diabetes at 40, it bothered me for some years that maybe I could be healed of it if I went back to CS. But I knew I would have to use "radical reliance" and stop taking medication and insulin, and that made me nervous!

I have a friend who practices her Native American spiritual beliefs. She had a health problem, and was going to have a biopsy done to see if it was cancer. Of course she was nervous. So she had a ceremony done by a friend who had the same beliefs, a healing ceremony. Lo and behold, when the doctor did the biopsy, it was clean, there was nothing there. It hit me that if I had offered to do CS treatment for her instead, with the same outcome, it would have been a "healing" worthy of a Wednesday night testimony. That was really when I realized how people attribute "healing" to outcomes that would have happened anyway.

Ann

RE: Are There Actually ANY Healings In Christian Science

Rosebud3 — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 11:09:28 GMT

Dear Do Go,

Thanks for writing that. I haven't been to this site for a long time. I have made some very good friends in CS and re-connected with some CS family. I think correct to give God the credit for the healing. As a RN I need humility and not the sense that it is I who carry the burden but that all I do is for God's way and not my own. I simply have skills and hopefully a compassionate heart.

I was very sad today when a CS practitioner would not pray for me. It occurred to me then that Holy Spirit is greater than CS treatments or doctors etc. etc, I was working through a healing and I thought this woman's one treatment was helping me but now I'm thinking it's God's design to place us all where we need to be to help us become closer to Him. I had been asking my husband about how Abba was spelled because I am praying on issues involving my father. This morning when I came to the kitchen my Bible was sitting straight up at the coffee maker with a verse listed and I read it. It was when Jesus is in Gesthemane and he is crying "Abba , will you take this cup from me? But if not I will do as Thy Will asks" sorry if that is not the exact wording.

Anyway, when I read that the Spirit hit me like a great gust and I remembered I had not forgiven my father for leaving our family when I was only 8 at my mother's direction. He had been hurting my brother but my brother was also out of control so I was left in a very vulnerable place. My father was crying that day and I begged him and told him how I could feel a wall he had built up around himself and if he continued he would be more and more disconnected from people. Then after all of that he moved out for 3 months and I became 2 people 1) Rebellious and siding with my brother at home 2) Sweet and precious daughter trying to help Daddy get back home. The healing that is coming that I am neither of those "identities" I created to survive but 1, God's child. The CS was helping with this and then just cut me off. I didn't get it. No one has ever done that to me in CS.

You're right God deserves the credit for the healings.

RE: Are There Actually ANY Healings In Christian Science

Do_Go_Be_Man — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 19:37:37 GMT

It occurs to me that Christian Scientists are often absolutely correct about many of the disorders for which they claim healing. Their sicknesses are indeed unreal or at least not as real as later described.

When we appear ill, there are several possibilities including:

[li]Not ill at all[/li]
[li]Ill, but healing will come as a natural result of the body's healing ability[/li]
[li]Ill, but easily treated[/li]
[li]Ill, in need of advance healing assistance[/li]

It's real easy to misassign a diagnosis or a healing when the facts are unknown and unknowable.

God certainly intervenes in healing. For example, He designed our bodies immune system and provides common Grace for even those who do not believe. He intervenes through providing wisdom in how we care for ourselves and in providing wisdom and knowledge for caregivers.

Christian Scientists (and others) experience healings resulting from God's design of our bodies and His common Grace.

Unfortunately, many of us fail to give God the credit for healing. Rather, we too often give the credit to "Nature", a doctor, a practitioner, or reading certain passages. Drove me nuts when I'd hear week after week, "grateful for Christian Science", grateful to Mary Baker Eddy", "give thanks for Science & Health"... Also drives me nuts when medical science gets the glory rather than God, but that's another topic.

Do Go Be Man
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RE: Are There Actually ANY Healings In Christian Science

Phoenix Rising — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 13:38:56 GMT

I read the article referred to and this is another example of how Christian Scientists have little if any logic when confronted with information. This article in NO way proves what Christian Scientists whisper down the lane as healings.

This article is simply a gathering of numbers. How many Christian Scientists reported healings when they had seen a doctor, how may Christian Scientists reported healings of serious or life threatening diseases when they had seen a doctor....and so on. There is NO investigation of the actual FACTS of these statements...its just a gathering of statements.

First off, if a Christian Scientist hears a doctor or nurse say, "it might be a broken bone" and they go home and its healed...it WAS a broken bone. This person would then say to the person writing the artilce, I saw a nurse at the grade school and she said it was a broken leg. That is certainly NOT documentation of a healing.

Secondly, its amazing how Christian Scientists dont comprehend that MOST human illnesses will just heal themselves/go away without doctors and medicines. I still chuckle when I read of the healing of headaches, warts, colds/ sore throats, sprains and so on.

And also there are a lot of serious silent illnesses out there that people live with for decades and do nothing about, especially CSers. You cant really TELL you have a serious problem, like high blood pressure, or diabetes for instance, but they will come to get you eventually. So imagine the CSer going to the hospital for blacking out and the doctor tells them they have diabetes and they come home and feel better and tell everyone they were healed. This person could tell the same journalist that he was healed of a doctor diagnosed condition but what does that prove? Again, its just heresay. This article is just gathering the number of heresay testimonies.

Square Peg

RE: Are There Actually ANY Healings In Christian Science

nomorecs — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 13:26:30 GMT

This is really interesting to me after three decades in CS, and a family that was in CS for four generations.

We were certain CS healed. We had all these testimonies and stories we could tell. Now I am looking at them more critically. Flu will get better on its own. So do colds, upset stomachs, headaches. I thought I healed a urinary tract infection once, but in fact I was in incredible pain for a week before it went away -- a healing? Or did my body's immune system simply triumph?

My father said he was healed of appendicitis when he was a boy. But it was never diagnosed.

The most dramatic healing I sort of witnessed was my boyfriend at Prin College. He was running in the dark and hit a fence with his shin. He said it broke his leg and the bone was sticking out. He used crutches for a day, then spent some hours reading the books and fell asleep -- then got up and walked. He limped a bit for a couple of days. But here is what I'm thinking now -- maybe he got a bad bone bruise and it swelled up, which caused a lump that looked like the bone was out of place. He certainly never had a doctor look at it, he got the crutches from a CS nurse on campus. He didn't lie, he really interpreted what he was seeing as a compound fracture of his leg. He kept his weight off of it for a day or so, and in lying down to read and sleep, he kept it elevated. So, it felt better, and was never actually broken, so he could walk on it in a day or two. Thus, the healing. It may sound convoluted, but I think, now that I know more about how the body reacts to injury, that it's perfectly plausible.

But when he became sick with tonsillitis after we were married, he didn't get better with CS practice. I finally took him to the ER after a week of his getting worse, and he got better with antibiotics. Many years later, after we were divorced, he got liver disease, which did cause his death, although he was attending church and his Association, and doing everything he could in CS to heal it.

Cancer, too, is something I have not ever heard in person of a healing in CS. I mean, I've read of it, but never known anyone personally who was healed of cancer through CS. My grandfather, a devout and class taught CS, died of what the autopsy showed to be cancer. My father died of cancer, although he did go through chemo etc. at the insistence of my mother. When I got cancer, I went right for the surgeon, and he cured me!

CS's always pull out the card: "But do you know how many people die under medical care?" Well, I'll be the first to say that medical science is far from perfect. I am cautious and picky about what medications I will take. I google any health concern I have, and get second opinions when I feel I need to. You need to be an educated consumer -- much of the health care profession, especially insurance, is out to make a buck rather than take care of people. However, that is not proof that CS heals -- it's totally unrelated. Anyone who has watched a loved one suffer, or who has suffered himself from something they found out later could have been easily taken care of by a doctor, knows this. But my life and the lives of friends and families have been improved and sometimes saved by medical intervention, used when it seems necessary.

When I had cancer, I was at first afraid to go to the hospital. I had never been in a hospital in my 51 years of life, except to visit a friend once. With all my CS background, I retained the "shop of horrors" image of hospitals. But my experience was nothing like that. They took care of me. Sure, sometimes I had to remind them to get me something because they were so busy. But I felt safe and cared for. My cancer was caught extremely early and removed without need for further treatment, and my recovery went smoothly, and my surgeon and his nurse were great and very helpful and patient with my questions. I can forget I ever had cancer, and I often do. Someone said the other day that I should march in a parade for cancer survivors, and I said, Why? I had forgotten I was one! This is healing enough for me!

Ann

RE: Are There Actually ANY Healings In Christian Science

Rosebud3 — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:18:58 GMT

Hi,

I am new. Rosebud3. You mentioned Philip Yancey. There is also a book he put together on the life of Dr. Paul Brand who was a missionary MD. It is interestingly enough titled "In the Likeness of God". I read a passage from this book at an elders meeting in my church when there had been an injury and people were so moved we had a 1/2 hour discussion about it. It is put out by Zondervan, dated 2004. Hope this is helpful to someone.

RE: Are There Actually ANY Healings In Christian Science

IleftCSin74 — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 19:00:46 GMT

Pablo:

If you couldn't feel your heartbeat for several days I'm surprised that you were able to write this now. Was a doctor consulted, or did you just keep your problem to yourself? Someday you won't be able to feel your heartbeat, and 15 minutes later there will be nothing anyone can do to save you.

Another of the 10% crowd?

Mark

RE: Are There Actually ANY Healings In Christian Science

Don Pablo — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 03:55:10 GMT

I have had healings of numerous disease problems, including athlete's foot, a heart problem where I could not feel my heartbeat for several days, and accidental injuries. Yesterday, while thinking and praying about church, the 3rd leg on my tripod ladder slipped on the pavement. I fell from the 6' high step of this 10' ladder. Amazingly, I somehow tucked, hit on my back and rolled over. There was no injury, and I worked another 3.5 hours. I was healed of a 20 year chronic eye infection 20 years ago--and the disease never returned. Colds, headaches, and other such minor diseases, I have been able to pray and be instantly healed of them. I do not see the conflict between Christian Science and the Bible--and I read the whole thing in context. Christian Science is not that different from "mainstream" Christianity.

RE: Are There Actually ANY Healings In Christian Science

all in one — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 12:15:08 GMT

Yes, that is a good illustration all right.
I suppose I was thinking in terms of say, people who are terminally ill, and pray, even when the medical profession has given up
hope for them. Sometimes such people are healed. And at other times, they are not. None of us really knows why one person dies
and another has a healing. And many people rail against God, or their religion, be it CS or another faith when such prayers are not answered as we hope. With good reason.

Has anyone ever read C.S. Lewis's book A Grief Observed. Or Phliip Yancey's Disappointment With God ?

RE: Are There Actually ANY Healings In Christian Science

Do_Go_Be_Man — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 09:09:54 GMT

all in one,

[quote]But equally, we all know cases where praying did not lead to healing. But isnt this the case in every religion? Many Christians pray to God, and sometimes the answers dont come as we hope they will.[/quote]
God answers prayers according to our needs rather than necessarily according to our wants.

A story I think I've shared before and I'm sure you have likely already heard illustrates a significant differentiator regarding CS prayer...

The river was rising and authorities broadcast an evacuation order. A man began praying while remaining in his home at the river's edge. As the water rose in his back yard, a policeman came to the door telling him to leave. The man said, "God will provide" and refused to leave.

Later, a fireman in a rowboat came by as the water rose to the second floor of the house. Again, the man refused to leave saying, "God will provide." Much later as the man sat on his roof surrounded by water, a Coast Guard helicopter hovered offering a rescue sling. The man waved off the helicopter shouting, "GOD WILL PROVIDE!"

Not too long later, the man found himself in Heaven with some questions, foremost among them was why God had not provided the rescue for which he prayed. His Heavenly greeter told him. "God provided a warning on the radio, a policeman at the door, a fireman with a rowboat, and a Coast Guard helicopter. Why did you not accept what He provided???"

As a Christian, I pray for God to use His unlimited resources to provide my daily needs such that He may glorified and that I may enjoy Him forever. In CS, we prayed to be blinded to God's wonderous creation that CS might be glorified. Denial of creation and our need for God's grace is an essential element of CS "work".

Do Go Be Man
<><

RE: Are There Actually ANY Healings In Christian Science

all in one — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 08:48:27 GMT

I have experienced healings in CS. That is, I have seen the power of prayer and healing results from prayer,
both moral and physical. I have felt that stirring of God in my life, as a result of prayer.
Although I have left the church, I believe there are many good people who are
Christian Scientists. I know them and love them. I believe that many of these people pray sincerely and humbly,
and receive answers.

But equally, we all know cases where praying did not lead to healing. But isnt this the case in every religion?
Many Christians pray to God, and sometimes the answers dont come as we hope they will.

RE: Are There Actually ANY Healings In Christian Science

IleftCSin74 — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 05:01:20 GMT

My stepdad claimed a miraculous "healing" back in World War II. My grandmother claimed another back in the 1920s. My mom claimed that I had a miraculous healing at age 2 (in 1959), before I can remember. Of course, my mom also claimed that the "healing" of my broken leg was a miraculous "healing" in 1970, despite my being 6 weeks in a cast. The miracle was that I survived having to have the bone reset in the ER, 3 days after faith-healing didn't work, without pain medication.

In my experience, the majority of the "miraculous healings" that CS reports happened many years ago. Maybe 1 in 10 of all people who attend a CS Church have reported a miraculous healing. 8 out of 10 never experience any healings in the CS church, and at least 1 or 2 out of 10 claim that they were abused or neglected as children when they grew-up in radical reliance on CS faith-healing. It is no wonder that CS membership is falling and church after church after church are closing their doors. 1 out of 10 is not enough to maintain the status-quo.

RE: Are There Actually ANY Healings In Christian Science

Linda — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 07:58:16 GMT

[quote]For me, the instant I dared ask the question "have I been deceived/self-deceived all these years ?", the house of cards collapsed immediately. The only thing propping it up was my own effort not to allow myself to entertain thoughts which weren't consistent with CS teaching.[/quote]

I think a great example of the denial you're talking about is the CS track record for healing cancer. In the fall of 1999, the CS Publishing Socitey published a special edition of the Sentinel with the title, "Cancer -- Healed." One would assume that the intent of this special magazine edition was to highlight the great track record that CS has in healing cancer -- and I'm sure that the CSists saw it that way. But as someone looking from the outside, I saw a different message. The "Cancer -- Healed" Sentinel was a third the magazine's normal size and contained only five testimonies of healing -- spanning over twenty years. This paucity of healings struck me as pathetic and supported my personal observation that CS actually has a very poor track record regarding cancer. I know of LOTS of CSists who have died from cancer under CS care. (In stark contrast to this, I have LOTS of non-CS friends who have survived cancer by getting timely medical care).

The special CS Sentinel was an attempt to bolster the CS belief that CS has a great track record with cancer -- and apparently 5 success stories over 20 years was enough to keep the belief afloat. Never mind the huge number of failures over the same time period.

RE: Are There Actually ANY Healings In Christian Science

Phil — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 11:18:20 GMT

During my time in Christian Science (childhood up to my twenties), I also didn't see any healing which made me think "wow!, God must have been involved in that". Every "healing" I saw was either trivial - colds etc - or non physical. This is an appalling record for a church which cites its healing as the central "scientific proof" of its doctrines.

The really amazing thing is that so many people (myself included, until quite late in life) continue to believe in and rely on the healing process despite the lack of evidence of its success. Why this occurs is a fascinating topic, discussed in Linda's book "Christian Science: Abuse, Neglect and Mind Control". Our minds really are very strange things (yes, we each have a mind !).

For me, the instant I dared ask the question "have I been deceived/self-deceived all these years ?", the house of cards collapsed immediately. The only thing propping it up was my own effort not to allow myself to entertain thoughts which weren't consistent with CS teaching. All those things which would be blindingly obvious to an outsider - no real healings, bizarre interpretations of the bible - suddenly became blindingly obvious to me too. I'm sure the exit process is different for different people, but for me it was very quick. I can't tell you how much of a relief it is not to have to filter my thoughts to make them conform to an abstract reality which I can't see.

RE: Are There Actually ANY Healings In Christian Science

Linda — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 07:50:13 GMT

[quote]Hi during my time with the CS church I did Not see One healing.

Is this typical?[/quote]

HonestJohn,

My short answer is, "probably," if you're referring to healings that are truly the result of applying the principles of CS." But it's actually more complicated than that.

Like Do Go, I heard a lot of testimonies of CS healing and have also read a lot of testimonies. Thinking back, I'm not sure how many of these can be verified as being the direct result of "applying the principles of CS" rather than the body just getting better or the CSist misinterpreting the problem in the first place. (For example, when my husband had a kidney stone I was sure he had appendicitis until I got him to the hospital. The next day he passed the stone and was instantly better -- which I would have interpreted as "an instantaneous CS healing from the belief of appendicitis" had I still been in CS.) I have also seen what I believe was divine intervention in my own life -- not CS related but because God was simply meeting a need at that moment of my life.

Now that I have much better understanding of how the body works, it's obvious that much of what I heard and observed could be better explained by natural processes than by "CS healing." I now know that unless they need to be physically set, many bones heal themselves without any more help than just immobilizing the limb or not putting pressure on it. I now know that digestion problems and pinched nerves can get better over time. I know that initial diagnoses are often revised after further testing, so that if a person goes to the doctor once and then seeks CS treatment and eventualy gets better, he or she might be "healed" from what was an initial but incorrect diagnosis. (For example, I was once told I had a brain tumor which turned out to be someone else's test result. The problem was discovered within a day, but had I immediately turned to CS instead of following up with the doctor, I would think that I had been healed of a brain tumor.)

Looking back, I can't say that I remember or experienced any healings that I can confidently point to and say, "That healing is the direct result of applying the principles of CS." The healings I have observed can be explained differently without much effort (and I'm not saying this in an attempt to downplay CS). What I HAVE observed is a lot of people dying in CS when trying to use it to heal problems like cancer.

RE: Are There Actually ANY Healings In Christian Science

Do_Go_Be_Man — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 17:59:52 GMT

HonestJohn,

[quote]Hi during my time with the CS church I did Not see One healing. Is this typical?[/quote]

Based on my experience, I would say that is atypical. Wednesday evening testimony services were generally filled with claims of healing and gratitude to MBE and CS.

Given the title you gave this thread, however, I'm not sure that addresses your actual question.

Do Go Be Man
<><

Are There Actually ANY Healings In Christian Science

HonestJohn — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 04:29:58 GMT

Hi during my time with the CS church I did Not see One healing.

Is this typical?

HonestJohn