Editor: Tanner Johnsrud, formerly a well-known Christian Science practitioner in St. Louis, left CS in late 2017 after he came to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. He told that story in a previous post. To follow up, we asked Tanner to reflect on the good and not-so-good legacies of his years in CS, as best he can at this early stage. (more…)
Editor: Tanner and Hillary Johnsrud recently left the Christian Science church, and the public practice, to rededicate their lives to Jesus Christ and receive baptism in a Presbyterian church. We asked Tanner to tell their story. (more…)
You sometimes hear of a group of Christians who describe themselves as an Acts 29 church, so committed are they to extending the Bible’s narrative of apostolic faithfulness into our own times. Similarly, a new follower of Jesus Christ whom I’ve recently met might be called a Psalm 151 believer. (more…)
My car, probably like yours, came with an owner’s manual, including a warranty on the first page. But frustratingly, the book does not answer a lot of obvious questions. Nor does the warranty cover everything. And it expired years ago anyway.
For my life, on the other hand, for the person I am, there is a manual that does have all the answers. The God who made me and owns me has spelled out complete “user instructions” in his written Word, the Bible.
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A young man I know lost his dad who died in a Christian Science care facility even though the practitioners were working overtime. This destroyed his faith. (more…)
Mary Baker Eddy invites us to put her and her book to the test, “and so ascertain if the author has given you the correct interpretation of Scripture” (Science and Health, 547:7). We should do just that, with our eyes wide open to the divergence (more…)
Anyone who says the way to have more truth and more life is to diminish Jesus Christ, is going to have a fight on their hands with me. (more…)
I was asked to put down on paper my conversion to orthodox Christianity. I was happy to do this for two reasons. (more…)
My mother was a devout Christian Scientist as were my grandparents on both sides. My father tacitly endorsed the CS line but was more consumed by material success than spiritual journeys. They would drop my brothers and me off (more…)
Yesterday was a day that seemed to serve up a constant reminder that I live in a broken world. As a former Christian Scientist, I process days like yesterday much differently now. (more…)
Will Jesus return? Christians expect him to, based on the Bible. Christian Scientists don’t, based on Mary Baker Eddy’s writings. Her own appearing and lifework, she indicates, fulfilled (more…)
“Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God,” says the night visitor to Jesus in John, Chapter 3. This ruler of the Jews, Nicodemus, clearly feels drawn to the man of Galilee (more…)
When I received Christ in 1989 I began the long journey of becoming a believer and leaving the dogma and darkness of Christian Science behind me. It was a slow process of untangling (more…)
My dad loved to quote a church signboard he once saw: “Be careful what you say and do. You may be someone’s only contact with the Bible.” I saw the force of that with new clarity (more…)
What happened to me was that I realized I couldn’t make it without Jesus and his Cross. (more…)
The many friends of Carl Gans, co-founder of the Ananias Circle, mourn his sudden passing last week and extend our loving support to his family. My affection for Carl, and my gratitude to him as an elder brother in Christ, are beyond words. (more…)
Paul writes of having spent fourteen years, after his conversion on the Damascus road, coming to know Jesus better and preparing for the fulness of his missionary work (more…)
Here is another in our interview series. On this site in the past, Linda Kramer and Carl Gans have answered my questions about how they know God, why they left Christian Science, (more…)
Francis Thompson’s classic poem about Jesus in pursuit, “The Hound of Heaven,” came to mind yesterday after talking with Beth about her husband’s almost-there move from Christian Science to the Cross. (more…)