100 years ago: Christian Science founder Mary Baker Eddy dies

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; I John 1:1

Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. I John 2:22

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. I John 4:1-3

On December 3, 1910 Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of Christian Science, died at the age of 89. Mrs. Eddy suffered physical pain and illness for years before absorbing much of the mind-over-matter "New Thought" teaching of Phineas Quimby, a healer and mesmerist from Maine. She later rejected many of Mr. Quimby’s ideas and created her own doctrine, which she called "Christian Science." Mrs. Eddy’s magnum opus, Science and Health--later retitled Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures--was first published in 1875, although she said she had founded the religion in 1866. Among the publications she founded was the newspaper The Christian Science Monitor (in 1908).

Christian Science doctrine includes a belief that God and His creation are entirely good and spiritual, and that all that God makes is spiritual and not material. Evil is unreal and an illusion. Christian Science, and not the Holy Spirit, is the Comforter mentioned in John 16:7-14. Christian Science rejects the Christian doctrine of substitutionary atonement (i.e., Jesus died on the cross in our place as punishment for our sins) and rejects the existence of a literal hell. Christian Science distinguishes between Jesus the man and Christ as a manifestation of God. In Christian Science, "Christ" is completely spiritual, and not material. Jesus, having a body, was not the totality of Christ; he was the Son of God, but not God, and not part of the Trinity, as understood by Christians. In Christian Science, Jesus was just the "Way-shower," not the Way. Christian Science teaches that sickness is the result of wrong thinking, such as fear or ignorance, and can be healed by correct belief. A quick antidote to the false teachings of Christian Science can be obtained by reading the first epistle of John.