Hello Suart,
You wrote: You seem to know an awful lot about Christian Scientists to
declare that they 'cannot read the Bible objectively'.
By that I only meant the obvious. That Christian Scientists are strong
believers in the biblical interpretations of Mary Baker Eddy. As such, they
all read the Bible with the preconceived notion that the way in which she
interpreted many passages of scripture was the way God intended all those
passages to be interpreted. Reading the Bible while strongly holding such a
large set of preconceived notions about how many of its passages were meant
to be understood can hardly be considered to be reading the Bible objectively.
You wrote: I'm not sure what you believe the Holy Spirit to be but I believe
it to be the divine inspiration of Truth and Love,
I do not consider the Holy Spirit to be an "it." I consider the Holy Spirit
to be a He. For I consider the Holy Spirit to be God Himself and an equal
part of the Holy Trinity. Since you don't seem to believe this way about the
Holy Spirit, I would guess Mary Baker Eddy also didn't understand the Holy
Spirit as I have just described Him.
You wrote: Mary Baker Eddy was divinely inspired by this Spirit of Truth and
Love as she spent half her lifetime studying the Bible to glean it's
spiritual significance and application to each and every human need.
"Divinely inspired"? Says who? I've spent half my life studying the Bible
too. Does that make me "divinely inspired"?
You wrote: She wrote her findings out in Science and Health which underwent
dozens of revisions as she strove to elucidate Christian Science more
perfectly.
If she was "divinely inspired" why did her work have to undergo dozens of
revisions? Since it did, what makes you so sure it was "divinely inspired"?
You wrote: there is a growing body of evidence that prayer for spiritual
healing does heal physical, mental and moral problems.
I know of no Christian who will disagree with that.
You wrote: Mrs. Eddy never claimed she was a prophetess, as you state. In
fact she would be the first to denounce such a proclamation. Christian
Science teaches the exact opposite in fact, that deification of the person is
quite clearly a violation of the first commandment.
Pure semantics. The "Governing Body" of Jehovah's Witnesses claim to be
appointed by Christ over "all His belongings" and they say they act as God's
only channel for truth on the earth. However, they say they are not
infallible and are not inspired in the same way the writers of scripture
were. They prefer to say they are "guided" by God's Spirit. What a bunch of
double talk! Either someone is "inspired by God" or they are not. They are
either a prophet of God or they are an ordinary person just like the rest of
us. For you to say that the writings of Mary Baker Eddy were "inspired by
God" but then say that she was not a prophet of God is just as much double
talk as that which the JW "Governing Body" feeds their followers. Is it OK
with you if I call them a "cult"?
You wrote: Anyway, I would rather engage in a constructive discussion of this
or any other topics ... In the spirit of Christs charity, I suggest we call a
truce.
That sounds good to me. Unless you start saying some really nutty stuff. Then
I may just have to call you on it.
You wrote: and seal the deed with a declaration of tolerance of other peoples
beliefs.
Does that include tolerance of Satanic cults which practice child sacrifices?
Just wondering.
In Christ,
Mike
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