Why I Left Christian Science: The Personal Testimony
of Carolyn Poole
Apr 13, 2009
Article ID: DC605 | By:
Carolyn Poole
Christian
Science was my whole life. I was a third-generation member of both a local
church and the Mother Church in Boston. As well, I was “class taught” — that
is, I received special advanced instruction. I wholeheartedly practiced
Christian Science by reading my lesson every day, by not going to doctors or
taking medicine when I was sick, and by serving on various committees. I even
served as president of the Executive Board.
During
this time, I did not know my religion was a cult, or that it was not considered
Christian. I was convinced Christian Science had the truth — that God is
Infinite Mind and all is mental. I believed that Jesus was simply a human being
who demonstrated the “Christ Truth,” just as you and I can when we become as
spiritually advanced as He was. Jesus was not so unique, I thought; He was
simply a Way-Shower.
In
1969 I went (alone) to hear Billy Graham preach in the Anaheim Stadium in
California. I was curious about him because he was so famous. I don’t know why
I did it, but at the end of the service I went forward and received prayer.
After
I sat back down, an evil presence came to me. It told me I would be dead
before the night was over. I nearly panicked. I asked God to forgive me for my
being there and for my disloyalty to Christian Science. The evil thing left me,
and I blamed it all on Billy Graham. After that, I forgot the whole affair.
Since
my religion was supposed to be based on the Bible, I tried to read the Bible
and understand it, but I found much of it too difficult. Then, in 1975, it
occurred to me to form a Bible study group using Christian Science materials. I
proposed this to my church, but nothing came of it.
By
this time I was old enough to be a grandmother, yet I had never been invited
to a Bible study. So I was pleasantly surprised when two women, whom I did not
know, knocked on my door one day and invited me to a home Bible study with the
Christian Women’s Club. I later learned that God had prompted these two women
(separately) to go door-to-door in my neighborhood. I was the only one to
accept their invitation.
After
many months of study, I started seeing verses in my Bible that I had read and
yet had never really been aware of. My conception of God and His plan for man
started to change. It began to dawn on me that Mrs. Mary Baker Eddy, the
founder and leader of Christian Science, had taken the place of Jesus for those
involved in her religion.
In
the Christian Science Church Manual, Mrs. Eddy had said
she was the only one to be called Leader. In Matthew 23:10 (NAS), however,
Jesus said He was the only one to be called Leader. I
was faced with two different individuals — both claiming to be my only leader.
I
had been taught that Christian Science was the “Revelation,” that Mrs. Eddy was
the “Revelator,” and that we cannot know the Revelation unless we know the
Revelator. And, of course, we have to know the Revelation
in order to know God. What this ultimately meant was that the only way we could
know God was by going through Mrs. Eddy.
Contrary
to this, I saw in my Bible study that Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth
and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). So, Mrs.
Eddy and Jesus both claimed to be the way to God.
One
day during our home study, we came to Matthew 16:15 where Jesus asked His
disciples who they said He was. The disciples answered, “Some say John the
Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
But Jesus asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Christ,
the Son of the living God” (v. 16). Jesus responded, “This was not revealed to
you by man, but by my Father in heaven” (v. 17).
After
the women in the home Bible study left, those words kept ringing in my mind. It
was as though Jesus was asking me personally. “Who do you say I am?” He seemed
very stern about it. Poring over Mrs. Eddy’s statements, it became clear that
she denied that Jesus is Christ (see, for example, her book entitled Miscellaneous Writings, p. 84). But Jesus said He is Christ.
Jesus was asking me in my heart, Do you believe her or Me?
At
first, I didn’t know. I cried. I threshed it about in my mind. I came to the
decision that if Jesus could do the miracles He did, He certainly should know
who He is. I concluded that Jesus must be the Christ.
The
Holy Spirit also revealed to me through Scripture that Jesus, far from being
just a man (as Christian Science teaches), is, in the Incarnation, God in human flesh. John’s gospel proclaims, “In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God….[and]
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:1, 14). In the
Incarnation, Jesus was perfect humanity and perfect deity.
After
Jesus was crucified for our sins and gloriously resurrected from the dead,
“doubting” Thomas put his hand in Jesus’ side and called Him, “My Lord and my
God” (John 20:28). If Thomas had been wrong in his assessment of Jesus’ true
identity, Jesus certainly would have corrected him. Thus, through my Bible
study, I had learned that Jesus is the Christ, and that He is God — something that is denied by Mrs. Eddy.
Another
issue I had to grapple with is the Christian Science teaching that man is
perfect and sinless. When a person dies, Christian Science teaches, only his
belief of matter dies. Man is spiritual, and at “death” he goes on doing whatever
he was doing, for death is simply an illusion. Moreover, since all is “mind,”
hell and heaven are only states of mind.
The
Bible, however, repeatedly affirms that all men are sinners. They cannot come
to God without a blood atonement. And, according to Scripture, Jesus — the Lamb
of God — became the perfect and final blood sacrifice for the atonement of
man’s sins (Matt. 20:28).
If
man is sinless, like Mrs. Eddy taught, then Jesus suffered on the cross for
nothing. In fact, it would appear as if Jesus was too stupid to know why He
died. I read in my Bible, however, that when Jesus was eating with the
disciples, He took a cup and handed it to them and said, “Drink from it, all of
you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the
forgiveness of sins” (Matt. 26:28). I cannot believe that Jesus was either
stupid or a liar. He knew what He was saying and
He meant it.
I
also read in Hebrews 9:27 that “it is appointed unto men once to die, but after
this the judgment.” So death is real, and sinful men will one
day appear before God at the judgment seat and be judged for sins and cast into
eternal damnation (hell) — unless
they trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 16:31).
I
hated the thought of anyone going to hell. As a Christian Scientist, I didn’t
think it could possibly be true. But as disturbing as I felt it was, I now
realized that Jesus Himself had taught it. I also realized that if it
were true, it would be even more disturbing if Jesus didn’t warn people about eternal
damnation. Though I had had trouble believing that a good God could allow such
a condition to exist, I also realized that I didn’t make the rules and God
didn’t ask me my opinion. As God said in Isaiah, “My thoughts are not your
thoughts, neither are your ways my ways” (Isa. 55:8).
I
came to see more and more clearly that Christian Science flatly contradicted
what Jesus said about the state of our existence after we pass on from this
life. Up until now, I had always read past Jesus’ words about hell, thinking
that He was speaking in a parable, and that Mrs. Eddy’s spiritual
interpretation explained it all. It suddenly occurred to me, as chills ran up
and down my spine, that maybe the Bible actually meant what it said.
From
a human viewpoint, some of Mrs. Eddy’s ideas may sound appealing (e.g., there is no sin, no death, no judgment day, and no hell).
But a study of Scripture shows that her teachings are permeated with error. The more I studied, the more
I found this to be true.
I
had been believing in Mrs. Eddy to guide me for my eternal life, and I came to
see that she didn’t know any more (really) than I did. She was only another
mortal. Moreover, when she died, her body stayed in the grave. She didn’t come back. Therefore, she
can’t really testify as to what goes on after death because she had never been
there when she wrote her book, Science
and Health with Key to the Scriptures. Jesus had been to the grave and back; He
resurrected from the dead. To me, that gives Him a lot more credibility than Mrs.
Eddy.
Mrs.
Eddy had said that she based her teachings on revelation, reason, and
demonstration. Her “revelation” was Christian Science, which I discovered to be
neither Christian nor scientific. She didn’t
“demonstrate” very much because she didn’t overcome death (like Jesus did). As
for “reason,” Isaiah 55:9 says, “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so
are my (God’s) ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
I would not want to gamble my future in eternity on one woman’s reasoning.
I
read in the Bible that in the end times false prophets and false Christs would
arise (Matt. 24:23-28). Mrs. Eddy had denied that Jesus is the Christ and put herself in His place as being the only Leader and the only way
to God. So, I concluded, Mrs. Eddy
was a false prophet.
I
resigned from the Christian Science church. As a result of my Bible study, I
accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and my God. He is the only way to salvation. (And let me emphasize, He did not
come to show the way; rather, He is the
way.) I will confess Him and Him
alone as
Lord and Savior.
There
is so much more to say. But I pray that the Holy Spirit will use this brief
testimony to show people involved in the Mind Sciences — whether it be
Christian Science, Religious Science, Divine Science, Unity, or one of the
others — that Jesus is truly God come in the flesh, and that He died for us on
the cross. If we do not believe in Him, we will not spend eternity with God;
rather, we will be cast into outer darkness (2 Pet. 2:17; Jude 1:13).
I
now belong to a group of ex-Christian Scientists who are all born again
Christians. We have a ministry called “Christian Way.” Our primary goal is to
share the salvation message with those in the Mind Sciences. If we can help
you, please don’t hesitate to write.
Carolyn Poole may be contacted by writing to
Christian Way, P.O. Box 1675, Lancaster, CA 93539.
SOURCE: https://www.equip.org/article/why-i-left-christian-science-the-personal-testimony-of-carolyn-poole/
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