Category
First Hand Experiences
Former Christian Scientists tell their own stories of believing, questioning, and leaving.
Leaving Christian Science: 10 Stories of New Faith in Jesus Christ, Interview with Lauren Hunter
An interview with Lauren Hunter about her book collecting ten stories of people who left Christian Science and became Christians, and what the stories share.
I stumbled out of that conversation, and never went back.
A person drawn to Science and Health describes a church membership interview in which the Director of Membership discussed medical care, child deaths, and who may join.
The First Rule of Christian Science
A satirical list of the unwritten rules many people experienced in Christian Science, from guarding thought against Error to the standard form of a testimony.
Thanksgiving 2020
Former Christian Scientists give thanks for leaving, for medical care and therapy, and for science during the pandemic, in place of the church’s Thanksgiving Day testimony service.
Christian Science is a Cult
A review of Linda Kramer's Perfect Peril, which measures Christian Science against Robert Jay Lifton's eight criteria for thought reform, with notes on each criterion.
Get Wise Webinar: Why is Christian Science STILL influencing my life?
A recorded webinar with cult recovery experts Bob and Judy Pardon on why the effects of Christian Science last after leaving, with the Fellowship of Former Christian Scientists.
Thanksgiving 2019
Thanksgiving testimonies from former Christian Scientists grateful for modern medicine, therapy, new communities, and no longer sitting through church.
I dreamed in a red haze all night.
A man describes testicular torsion at age 13 when his mother read Science and Health instead of getting medical help, the lasting injury, and a later hospital visit.
I was told that I had the Best Life
Content warning: child sexual abuse. A woman raised on the Principia campuses describes untreated illness, her sister's polio, abuse by her father, and a long recovery.
Easter Baskets Confound Me
Chrystal reflects on never having an Easter basket in Christian Science, the Manual of The Mother Church ban on celebrating Easter, and what Easter means to a Quaker now.