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History of Christian Science |
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Robert Peel is the foremost historian of Christian Science. In his book “Spiritual Healing In A Scientific Age”, he provides the following account of the discovery of Christian Science:
Mary Patterson, later Mary Baker Eddy, had fallen on the winter ice and been injured severely. Lying in bed ,helpless and in pain, she read the account of one of Jesus’ healings. As she read, a flood of light poured into her thought, a sudden insight (as it seemed to her) into the heart of true being. Put in terms closer to her own, it was a revelation of the spiritual perfection of the universe as it exists in the mind of God – or, to use her later terminology, the Mind that is God. It was, in short, a new view of reality, to be recognized at the same time as the very kingdom of God, preached and practiced by Jesus, the kingdom within made manifest in the outward form of healing. … As this dawned on her … she rose from her bed completely healed. … Some years later she summed up in a single sentence what for her was the real miracle: “That short experience included a glimpse of the great fact that I have since tried to make plain to others, namely, Life in and of Spirit; this life being the sole reality of existence”.
Peel emphasizes the concept: Life in and of Spirit, being the sole reality of existence. As he says: “Here is the essential point that would distinguish the practice of Christian Science from other forms of Christian Healing – and also from some of Mrs. Eddy’s own earlier experiments in mental and spiritual healing. It would take a good deal more time, thought, study, and experience before she would feel that she had arrived at a full understanding of what she had glimpsed in 1866. Yet Christian healing, she was sure, must rest on more than isolated moments of exalted inspiration – or blind faith – if it were to survive in an age of science. It must rest on both understanding and demonstration. It must partake of the nature of scientific discovery as well as Christian revelation.”
This revelation started Mrs. Eddy on an intellectual and spiritual quest, that culminated in the publication of “Science and Health With Key To The Scriptures”, the Christian Science Textbook. As a result of her insight, study, and prayer, she refined her revelation until she could demonstrate healing on a regular basis. She also discovered that she could teach others about her revelation, and that they could also demonstrate healing through silent prayer.
The Christian Science Textbook: “Science and Health With Key To The Scriptures” by Mary Baker Eddy, is available for sale in the First Church Reading Room, as well as the books on Christian Science by Robert Peel and many other books and materials on Christian Science Spiritual Healing.
Vincennes History
A Christian Science Society was organized in Vincennes on August 16, 1908, and held its services at 524 North Second Street. In May 1909, Rooms 221 and 222 in the new LaPlante Building on North Third were leased, and used until the present church building at 300 Hart Street was completed in the Spring of 1916.
A Building Committee was appointed in November 1910, and on December 15, 1911, the organization was incorporated as First Church of Christ, Scientist, Vincennes, Indiana, with the Indiana Secretary of State.
At 6:15 AM on October 26, 1915, the laying of the cornerstone was marked by a short but impressive ceremony, which was reported in the Vincennes Capital newspaper.
At the Annual Members Meeting on January 7, 1917, it was announced that all indebtedness was paid, leaving the church free of all encumbrances.
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