Christian Science on Trial: Religious Healing in America PDF
Preview Christian Science on Trial: Religious Healing in America
Christian Science on Trial http://avaxhome.ws/blogs/ChrisRedfield MEDICINE, SCIENCE, AND RELIGION IN HISTORICAL CONTEXT Ronald L. Numbers, Consulting Editor 8 Christian Science on Trial Religious Healing in America Rennie B. Schoepflin THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY PRESS Baltimore & London ∫ 2003 The Johns Hopkins University Press All rights reserved. Published 2003 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper 2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1 The Johns Hopkins University Press 2715 North Charles Street Baltimore, Maryland 21218-4363 www.press.jhu.edu Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Schoepflin, Rennie B. Christian Science on trial : religious healing in America / Rennie B. Schoepflin. p. cm. — (Medicine, science, and religion in historical context) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8018-7057-7 (alk. paper) 1. Christian Science—History. 2. Medicine—Religious aspects—Christian Science—History. 3. Medical care—Law and legislation—United States. I. Title. II. Series. BX6950 .S34 2002 % 289.573—dc21 2001008512 A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. For Charles Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 PART 1 The World of Christian Science Healers 1 Mary Baker Eddy: Patient, Healer, Teacher 15 2 Becoming a Practitioner and Teacher 33 3 ‘‘Occasions for Hope’’: Patients and Practitioners 55 4 Separating ‘‘True’’ Scientists from ‘‘Pseudo’’ Scientists 82 PART 2 Christian Science Healers and the World 5 Physicians Debate Christian Science 113 6 Therapeutic Choice or Religious Liberty? 138 7 Public Health and the Protection of Children 168 8 Century of Promise, Then Peril 191 Appendix: Court Cases Involving Christian Science Practice 211 Notes 221 Archives Consulted 277 Bibliographical Essay 279 Index 293 Acknowledgments Umberto Eco tells us that when Marco Polo traveled to China he looked for unicorns. He found them when he saw rhinoceroses. So much of what we see is determined by our expectations; so much of what we know is a reflection of our background knowledge. Trying to see Christian Science healers, so familiar yet so foreign, often made me feel like Marco Polo. I owe a debt to those who encouraged me to look beyond my expectations and yet to translate what I saw into the familiar. As this project evolved over the years, several published papers, nu- merous public presentations, and wide-ranging conversations provoked my thinking and ripened my understanding. Among the many, I owe much to Judith Walzer Leavitt, Norman Gevitz, Rima D. Apple, Robert David Thomas, Jonathan M. Butler, Robert Peel, Stephen R. Howard, and Darrel W. Amundsen. And I am especially indebted to the advice, sup- port, and friendship of Ronald L. Numbers. My thanks to the staff in numerous municipal, county, and state courthouses across the country who helpfully pointed me toward the dusty trial records that were essential to my study. Librarians and archi- vists at many institutions helped me with my research, but in particular I acknowledge the La Sierra University librarians and the archivists at Boston’s Christian Science Center, Duke University Library, and the Phillips Memorial Library at Providence College. Colleagues, former student assistants, and my university have shown sustained interest in and support of the project. In particular I thank Sally Andriamiarisoa, James Beach, Greg Cushman, Clark Davis, and David Pendleton. Editor Jacqueline Wehmueller, anonymous reviewers, and the staff at
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