Ok, starting this off, I probably have to preface my rant. I am not saying Christian Science is full of crap, just that they have an aspect that just really annoys and pisses me off. I am not saying I have all the answers or advocating one religion over another or downing any of them, except perhaps Islam since it is just retarded you cant draw a picture of Muhammad.
For those of you that do not know, my wife is Christian Science, and I of course love her. I am really ok with CS, but this one thing just irks me.
At the beginning of each CS service, they set up what CS is, which is a good thing since it is a less traditional take on the Protestant movement. Part of that little spiel is they explain that there is no pastor, just the Bible and their “textbook”: Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. That book was written back in the late 19th century by Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of CS. They then explain that the reason for not having a pastor is “un-divorced from truth, uncontaminated and unfettered by human hypotheses and divinely authorized”. Um…so you don’t want a pastor, because you don’t want your message contaminated by humans, and yet you read from a book that a human wrote that is admittedly not the Bible? WTF? Really? Do you even bother to listen to yourself?
Just to reiterate, pastors are bad because they speak what they think with the Bible as a guide, fettering the message if you will, so instead we read only from two books, one of which a mortal non-divine woman wrote about 120 years ago. If you have never read the CS book, you should. It is basically her responses to the scriptures. For example…
Bible
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. – Matthew 5:5
CS Textbook
Whatever text the “Mother Church” in Boston decides will be the response. A few weeks ago it something to do with authority which didn’t make any sense to me, since it just didn’t seem relevant.
So yes, they do “fetter” the Bible, and God’s word, which I am honestly OK with since I go to church. Let’s just not start off every single sermon message thing with a hypocritical statement. There is enough of that to go around in organized religion as it is.