According to the Gospels, Jesus taught that the understanding of God and His creation has a joyous, uplifting impact on people’s health. He healed many people and taught his disciples to do the same. The fact that spiritual healing was central to Jesus’ ministry has implications for people around the world.
Today, as in Jesus’ time, people everywhere are looking for better health in a variety of ways. In most of the developed world, publicly funded health-care systems cover conventional, allopathic medicine and some alternative approaches to healing, while people spend billions of dollars out of pocket on other forms of treatment that are not usually covered, such as reiki or acupuncture. Even in the developing world, where publicly funded health-care systems generally do not exist, people are increasingly turning to conventional Western medicine, too, though it is often financially out of reach.
Where does Christian Science healing fit into this? Is this method of spiritual healing, based on the Bible’s teachings about health, which has been documented in this magazine and her sister publications since the late 19th century, destined to occupy but a small niche among the various approaches to healing? Or might Christian Science actually help leaven health-care practices around the world?
