Manual of the Mother Church | Page 6

publish profuse quotations from Mary Baker Eddy's
copyrighted works without her permission, and shall not plagiarize her
writings. This By-Law not only calls more serious attention to the
commandment of the Decalogue, but tends to prevent Christian Science
from being adulterated.
No Incorrect Literature. SECTION 11. A member of this Church shall
neither buy, sell, nor circulate Christian Science literature which is not
correct in its statement of the divine Principle and rules and the
demonstration of Christian Science. Also the spirit in which the writer
has written his literature shall be definitely considered. His writings
must show strict adherence to the Golden Rule, or his literature shall

not be adjudged Christian Science. A departure 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