I’ve been reading up on Christian Science. Its a very interesting religion! Apparently, they are softening their stance against medicine, at least publicly, after the recent number of child deaths and law suits. Also, their numbers (of adherents) has serious dwindled of late, and they are trying to reach out to new converts with a softer, kinder stance on medicine. Their current view is that it is up to each individual family to what degree they use a combination of modern medicine with prayer.
It is a very interesting sect, though it appears to be slowly dying off. There are only 1,400 healing practitioners left in the USA, and the average age of a parishioner is now elderly.
I know only a few CS’s myself, and they all would not hesitate to go to the doctor to get a bone set, wound sewn up or a a good antibiotic for an infection. But then again, I know Catholics who use birth control, many with “permission” from their parish priest. So no doubt not everyone who belongs to the Church is going to be orthodox in how they follow its tenets.
From their website:
Relationship with Western medicine
It’s up to each person who practices Christian Science to choose the form of health care he or she wants. Many Christian Scientists decide to pray first about every challenge—including health issues—and find it effective. Many health care professionals today are recognizing options outside of conventional medicine. Christian Scientists recognize and respect the interests of medical professionals and don’t oppose them. We all care about the preventive and curative aspects of health care. Like all systems of healing, the track record for Christian Science isn’t perfect. But, over 80,000 Christian Science healings have been published throughout the past 140 years, including severe cases.
Here’s the link:
christianscience.com/what-is-christian-science#relationship-with-western-medicine