"The Christian Science Tradition: Religious Beliefs and Healthcare Decisions"

"How do I know what to do about a problem?" 
"Should I just 'be practical' and see a doctor?" 
"How will others view me, or will be I ostracized for seeking medical help?" 
"Will others think I'm crazy for not taking the medical approach to healing?" 
"Maybe this problem is too big to handle with Christian Science." 

          These are just some of the questions that each one of us may face at one time or another, as practitioner or patient.  But they are decisions only the patient can make for him or herself.  In conducting some research a few years ago, I ran across the article below that attempts to explain to the non-Scientist, what a Christian Science approach to healing is, how it works, and how to be respectful of the decisions a Christian Scientist makes.  I have shared it with medical and legal professionals, because I feel that, without getting too heavily into the text of the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, it provides a concise format for understanding and being supportive of what can be very challenging decisions.

           Originally published as "Part of the 'Religious Traditions and Healthcare Decisions' handbook series published by the Park Ridge Center for the Study of Health, Faith and Ethics."

          Stephen Gottschalk, reviser of the following text, was a Christian Scientist, and author of Rolling Away the Stone: Mary Baker Eddy's Challenge to Materialism, and The Emergence of Christian Science in American Religious Life.  Mr. Gottschalk was also as an historian of Christian Science, and worked in the office of the Committees on Publication in Boston from 1978 to 1990. [Wikipedia]

          Deborah Abbott, M.P.H., has worked with the Park Ridge Center and Georgia State University.

[Click on this blog post to read the full article in PDF format.]