Manual of the Mother Church | Page 6

from the spirit or letter of this By-Law involves schisms in our Church and the possible loss, for a time, of Christian Science.
Obnoxious Books. SECTION 12. A member of this Church shall not patronize a publishing house or bookstore that has for sale obnoxious books.
Per Capita Tax. SECTION 13. Every member of The Mother Church shall pay annually a per capita tax of not less than one dollar, which shall be forwarded each year to the Church Treasurer.
Church Periodicals. SECTION 14. It shall be the privilege and duty of every member, who can afford it, to subscribe for the periodicals which are the organs of this Church; and it shall be the duty of the Directors to see that these periodicals are ably edited and kept abreast of the times.
Church Organizations Ample. SECTION 15. Members of this Church shall not unite with organizations which impede their progress in Christian Science. God requires our whole heart, and he supplies within the wide channels of The Mother Church dutiful and sufficient occupation for all its members.
Joining Another Society. SECTION 16. It shall be the duty of the members of The Mother Church and of its branches to promote peace on earth and good will toward men; but members of The Mother Church shall not hereafter become members of other societies except those specified in the Mother Church Manual, and they shall strive to promote the welfare of all mankind by demonstrating the rules of divine Love.
Forbidden Membership. SECTION 17. A member of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Mass., shall not be a member of any church whose Readers are not Christian Scientists and members of The Mother Church.
Officious Members. SECTION 18. A member of The Mother Church is not entitled to hold office or read in branch churches of this denomination except by invitation.
Legal Titles. SECTION 19. Students of Christian Science must drop the titles of Reverend and Doctor, except those who have received these titles under the laws of the State.
Illegal Adoption. SECTION 20. No person shall be a member of this Church who claims a spiritually adopted child or a spiritually adopted husband or wife. There must be legal adoption and legal marriage, which can be verified according to the laws of our land.
Use of Initials "C.S." SECTION 21. A member of The Mother Church shall not place the initials "C.S." after his name on circulars, cards, or leaflets, which advertise his business or profession, except as a Christian Science practitioner.
Practitioners and Patients. SECTION 22. Members of this Church shall hold in sacred confidence all private communications made to them by their patients; also such information as may come to them by reason of their relation of practitioner to patient. A failure to do this shall subject the offender to Church discipline.
A member of The Mother Church shall not, under pardonable circumstances, sue his patient for recovery of payment for said member's practice, on penalty of discipline and liability to have his name removed from membership. Also he shall reasonably reduce his price in chronic cases of recovery, and in cases where he has not effected a cure. A Christian Scientist is a humanitarian; he is benevolent, forgiving, long-suffering, and seeks to overcome evil with good.
Duty to Patients. SECTION 23. If a member of this Church has a patient whom he does not heal, and whose case he cannot fully diagnose, he may consult with an M. D. on the anatomy involved. And it shall be the privilege of a Christian Scientist to confer with an M. D. on Ontology, or the Science of being.
Testimonials. SECTION 24. "Glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's" (St. Paul). Testimony in regard to the healing of the sick is highly important. More than a mere rehearsal of blessings, it scales the pinnacle of praise and illustrates the demonstration of Christ, "who healeth all thy diseases" (Psalm 103:3). This testimony, however, shall not include a description of symptoms or of suffering, though the generic name of the disease may be indicated. This By-Law applies to testimonials which appear in the periodicals and to those which are given at the Wednesday evening meeting.
Charity to All. SECTION 25. While members of this Church do not believe in the doctrines of theosophy, hypnotism, or spiritualism, they cherish no enmity toward those who do believe in such doctrines, and will not harm them. But whenever God calls a member to bear testimony to Truth and to defend the Cause of Christ, he shall do it with love and without fear.
Uncharitable Publications. SECTION 26. A member of this Church shall not publish, nor cause to be published, an article that is uncharitable or impertinent towards religion, medicine, the courts, or the laws of our land.
The Golden Rule. SECTION 27. A member