By an anonymous Ex-Christian Scientist Group contributor.
I am rather a lapsed Buddhist at the moment but I would call myself that rather than anything else, and an old (doubtless now out of print) library book called The Heart of Buddhism by Guy Klaxon, that contained nothing otherworldly at all, led me out of Christian Science when I was a teenager, which I have always been very grateful for.
There are a lot of different ‘flavours’ of Buddhism that have taken on the cultural aesthetics of the countries they originated from. The thing that appeals to me is that the Buddha (allegedly) said to give his teaching a try and if you find it doesn’t work then discard it. I found that very refreshing after having tried to cram Christian Science blind faith cognitive dissonance into my head to the point I thought I would go mad, and that’s really the thing that put me off theistic religions in general. I just cannot make myself go back to trying to believe something I can see no evidence for. Not again.
In the end I settled on SE Asian (Hinayana, or the so called ‘Lesser Vehicle) Buddhism as it is very straightforward. There is no official stance on reincarnation, the Buddha is presented as a regular person who figured things out on his own rather than having been born from a magical tusk or whatever, and it is not in any way supernatural.
Buddhism is the only religion—although more a philosophy—I have found that actively tells you to question it while you are practising, rather than just believe something and get a reward after death which, like I mentioned, was important to me after Christian Science.
Note: The Ex Christian Scientist does not advocate any one particular path but acknowledge that there are many legitimate pathways that can be personally and spiritually fulfilling. The views and opinions expressed by our individual contributors do not necessarily reflect those of the The Ex-Christian Scientist.
Abstract: The theology of Christian Science, as presented by Mary Baker Eddy, is shown to be logically incoherent. In particular, Mrs. Eddy’s better understanding of God as a principle, rather than a person, is shown to be nonsense that amounts to a lie about God. The reason is that God is the creator and governor of the universe; but a principle, by itself, cannot create anything, nor do anything. This logical incoherence invalidates Mrs. Eddy’s explanations for how Jesus healed, and for how she and other Christian Scientists obtain healings. We have the biblical description of how Jesus healed, and it forms the basis for the present-day healing ministries in many churches. (Incidentally, the author’s church sees no conflict between healing prayer and Medical Science, provided the Medical Doctor who treats the physical condition avoids any spiritual approaches that are non-Christian.) When patients in Christian Science are healed by a lie about God, the kingdom of the devil, the father of lies, can come upon them. This unexpected consequence makes involvement in Christian Science very risky. Victims have recourse to obtaining healing in the name of Jesus Christ, which brings the kingdom of God upon them, with God’s blessings and promises.
