CHRISTIAN SCIENCE - The Law Mind Legal Dictionary

CHRISTIAN SCIENCEAuthored

The Law Mind • 904 words

Definition

Christian Science, as it appears in legal contexts, is not primarily defined by its theology but by the collision of its doctrinal practices with civil and criminal law. The term refers to the religious denomination founded by Mary Baker Eddy in the nineteenth century, whose central tenet holds that matter, disease, and death are illusions correctable through spiritual understanding rather than medical intervention. In law, the term surfaces almost exclusively in cases and statutes involving: (1) the refusal of medical treatment on religious grounds, particularly for children; (2) faith healing as a defense to criminal charges of neglect or homicide; (3) exemptions from compulsory vaccination, medical examination, or public health requirements; and (4) insurance and tax law questions concerning the deductibility or coverage of Christian Science practitioner fees.

The legal significance of Christian Science is less about the religion itself and more about the recurring constitutional tension it has generated — between the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment and the state's parens patriae power to protect children and public health.

Common Language

Modern common usage (Wiktionary): A Christian church comprising the members of the Church of Christ, Scientist, founded by Mary Baker Eddy.

Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): A system of healing disease of mind and body which teaches that all cause and effect is mental, and that sin, sickness, and death will be destroyed by a full understanding of the Divine Principle of Jesus' teaching and healing.

The gap between common and legal meaning is significant. In ordinary usage, Christian Science is understood as a denomination or belief system. In legal sources, the term functions as a jurisdictional trigger — invoking a distinct body of case law, statutory exemptions, and constitutional doctrine. A researcher who approaches the term as merely denominational will miss its function as a proxy for the broader faith-healing defense problem.

Core Elements

Where Christian Science appears in legal proceedings, three recurring frameworks structure the analysis:

Adult autonomy: Competent adults generally retain the right to refuse medical treatment, including on religious grounds. Christian Science adults declining care for themselves present the weakest case for state intervention.

Child welfare limitation: The free exercise right does not extend to withholding life-saving medical care from a minor child. Courts have consistently held that parental religious belief does not insulate a parent from criminal liability for a child's preventable death or serious injury.

Statutory exemptions: Many states enacted faith-healing exemptions to child abuse and neglect statutes, often in response to lobbying by Christian Science adherents. These exemptions have been subject to constitutional challenge and legislative repeal in several jurisdictions.

Why It Matters in Research

Researchers working in this area face three particular hazards.

First, statutory exemptions vary dramatically by state and have changed frequently since the 1970s. A state that had a broad faith-healing exemption in 1985 may have narrowed or eliminated it by 2005. Treat any secondary source description of a state's exemption status as potentially stale.

Second, Bouvier's definition — drawn from Eddy's own writings — reflects a theological rather than legal framing. It is useful for understanding how the religion's adherents characterized their practice but is not a reliable guide to how courts have treated Christian Science claims. Researchers should treat the Bouvier entry as primary source flavor, not doctrinal instruction.

Third, the IRS has separately addressed whether Christian Science practitioner fees qualify as deductible medical expenses. This body of tax guidance is distinct from the criminal and constitutional case law and requires its own research path.

The intersection of Christian Science with insurance law — whether practitioner fees must be covered under health insurance plans — created its own legislative history in several states and at the federal level under the Affordable Care Act's interim regulations. That line of authority is easy to miss if research is confined to constitutional or criminal law databases.

Historical Dictionary Support

Bouvier's entry, citing a 1903 Virginia Law Review article and Eddy's own Rudimental Divine Science, defines Christian Science as "the law of God, the law of good, interpreting and demonstrating the principle and rule of universal harmony" and describes its "primarily distinguishing characteristic" as the theory that matter does not exist and that disease is "not a reality, but a mental delusion." Webster's 1913 is similarly grounded in theological description.

Neither source engages the legal problems that would occupy courts for the next century. This is unsurprising — the major criminal cases involving Christian Science parents arose primarily from the 1960s onward, and the constitutional doctrine was not developed at the time of Bouvier's relevant editions. The historical dictionaries are therefore useful only for establishing what contemporaries understood the religion to teach, not for understanding how law has since treated it.

Jurisdictional Note

Faith-healing exemptions from child neglect and abuse statutes are entirely a matter of state law, and the landscape is fractured. Some states have eliminated exemptions entirely; others retain them in qualified form. Criminal prosecutions of Christian Science parents have proceeded in Massachusetts, California, Minnesota, and Florida, among other states, with varying outcomes. Federal constitutional doctrine sets a floor but leaves substantial room for state variation.

CHRISTIAN SCIENCEmain

Bouvier's Law Dictionary • 1928

Christian Science is the law of God, the law of good, interpreting and demonstrating the principle and rule of universal harmony. 10 Va. L. R. 286; Eddy, Rudimental Divine Science 7. The teachings of Jesus understood and followed. The primarily distinguishing characteristic of the science is the theory that matter does not exist; that all is spirit; that disease is not a reality, but a mental delusion. These conclusions are deduced from the premise that God is all; that God is spirit or mind; therefore there is no matter; that God can not suffer disease, and that man, being a part of the all, of which God is the whole, partakes of His spiritual attributes, and is not material, and hence cannot suffer material sickness; that by a proper realiza- tion of these truths the patient finds that he is not in reality sick, but that his suffering is due to a condition of mind, and that a proper conception of the really existing conditions relieves the so-called disease. The word "mind" is used by Christian Scientists as synonymous with spirit or God, and not in its usual acceptation. "The Christian Science Church has a recognized code and text-books of theology; these text-books are the Bible, Science and Health. Reverend Mary B. G. Eddy, of Boston, is the author of the book entitled "Science and Health." To the Christian Scientist it is as much of a violation of the law of God to take drugs for the alleviation of suffering or the cure of disease, as for a Methodist clergyman to take the name of his God in vain to relieve his overwrought feelings. "It is confidently believed that the exercise of the art of healing for compen- sation, whether exacted as a fee, or accepted as a gratuity, cannot be classed as an act of worship. Neither is it the performance of a religious duty." 40 Neb. 163. Attitudes of Different States. The action of the legislatures of the different States in regard to the subject has been very diverse. We have seen something of the statute of Nebraska. New York and Massa- chusetts have refused to pass bills intended to include the Scientists in their 'medical statutes, when advocated by the medical profession, while North Carolina and Illinois have especially exempted the Christian Scientists from the operation of their statutes in regard to the practice of medicine. The wording of the exemption of the North Carolina statute is: "Provided, that this Act shall not apply to any person who ministers or cures the sick by prayer to Almighty God without the use of drugs or any material means." Christian Science is not technically a prac- tice of medicine within the usual statutes upon that subject; but we have also seen that it is a system of treatment of disease, and is accordingly subject to regulation by the State; therefore the conclusion follows that such statutes as that of Nebraska and of Virginia, putting Christian Scientists on the same or similar footing with other practitioners, are legitimate exercises of the legal power, as was held in the Nebraska case; and this notwithstanding their provi- sions regarding the scientists. Id., 692. Christian Science and the Law. Where religion manifests itself in overt acts, it is for the State to determine whether those acts are against good order. Since Christian Science does so manifest itself, the State may, therefore, rightfully inquire into the nature of its acts.. "Religious belief can not be accepted as a justification for committing an overt act made criminal by the law of the land." Jefferson. This principle would apply to the statutes im- posing penalties for treating the sick without proper license. Id. Practice of Medicine. The "practice of medicine" relates to the art of preventing, curing, or alleviating disease or pain; popu- larly it consists in the discovery of the cause and nature of disease and the administration of remedies, or prescribing treatment there- for. 20 R. I. 632. Mere words of encouragement, prayer for divine assistance, or the teaching of "Chris- tian Science" do not constitute the practice of medicine in either of its branches. Id. The difference between Christian Scien- tists and other sects consists in the belief of the former regarding disease, which they believe can be reduced to a minimum through the power of prayer. Id., 635. Prayer for those suffering from disease, or words of encouragement, or the teaching that disease will disappear and physical perfection be attained as a result of prayer, or that humanity will be brought into harmony with God by right thinking and a fixed determination to look on the bright side of life, does not constitute the practice of medicine in the popular sense. Id., 637.

CHRISTIAN SCIENCEn.

Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913

A system of healing disease of mind and body which teaches that all cause and effect is mental, and that sin, sickness, and death will be destroyed by a full understanding of the Divine Principle of Jesus' teaching and healing. The system was founded by Rev. Mary Baker Glover Eddy, of Concord, N. H., in 1866, and bases its teaching on the Scriptures as understood by its adherents.

Christian Sciencename

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

Wiktionary contributors • CC BY-SA 4.0 • via Kaikki
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A Christian church comprising the members of the Church of Christ, Scientist, founded by Mary Baker Eddy.

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