TESTIMONY OF A FORMER CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST by Keith Edward Tolbert Vincent Perna, a former

                  TESTIMONY OF A FORMER CHRISTIAN SCIENTIST

by Keith Edward Tolbert


Vincent Perna, a former Christian Scientist, has donated his entire
Christian Science collection to the Library of Apologetic Research
Coalition.  The Vincent Perna Christian Science collection contains
over 3,000 titles including books, pamphlets, periodicals,
articles, audio tapes, etc.  Its scope is extremely comprehensive
and is in excellent condition.

Founded by Mary Baker Eddy in 1879, the Church of Christ Scientists
(Christian Science or simply'CS') is a Gnostic cult claiming to
have discovered the lost teaching of Jesus - mental healing.  (see
"Christian Science: a Biblical Critique," on page 10)  Rejecting
the orthodox view of God, Jesus and salvation, Eddy created a new
religion based on her personal existential experiences and
teachings borrowed from Phineas Parkhurst Quimby, precursor to all
New Thought religions in America.

Vincent Perna, now an evangelical Christian, is a former
Class-Taught Christian Scientist of 30 years.  After reading the
Bible alone, apart from Eddys interpretations, Perna became a
Christian and has spent over 10 years re-examining his former
church.  His research into Christian Science has uncovered
doctrinal errors, false prophecies, governmental abuses and
historical myths.

The extensive scope of the Perna collection is born out by the
wide-ranging literature genres of which it is comprised.  The
primary literature, that literature produced by Christian
Scientists, include not only virtually every edition of Eddys
Science and Health, but also other Eddy-related writings, e.g.,
writings attributed to Eddy, New Thought literature contemporary
with Eddy, and literature which influenced Eddys thought.  In
addition, this collection takes in Christian Science doctrinal
works, histories, references, didactic (teaching), and periodical
literature.  Moreover, in the Perna collection resides Church
governmental literature, correspondence, Hymnals, and audio tapes
as well as non-official Christian Science writings.  With regard to
secondary literature, that literature produced about Christian
Science, the Perna collection excels in that it features literature
produced by Christians, non-Christians and Pernas own manuscripts.
 
Perhaps the most important elements in this collection are the
various editions of Science and Health (regarded as CS scripture),
some dating back to the earliest days of this movement.  After
photocopying and scanning all of these editions onto our computers
hard disk, I will write a computer program to compare each edition,
word by word, with the previous ones and mark the noted changes. 
Thereby, we will be able to trace changes which may have occurred
throughout the publication history of Science and Health.
Next in importance would be the "Eddy-related" literature.  Among
the many Eddy writings are Historical Sketch of Metaphysical
Healing, What Christmas Means to Me, and Memoirs of Mary Baker
Eddy.  Perhaps more important to Christian Science mythology than
to Christian Science history is a small collection of works
attributed to Eddy, but not recognized by the church, entitled
Fragments Gathered from Unpublished Items Ascribed to Mary Baker
Eddy.  Also included are works to which scholars have traced many
of Eddys ideas, e.g., The Quimby Manuscripts, and The Phenomenology
of Mind by G.W.F. Hegel.  In fact, even competitive literature
within the New Thought movement like Dressers The Perfect Whole and
On the Threshold of the Spiritual World are included.

Official writings of the Christian Science Church, excluding
Eddy-related literature, comprises the largest segment of the Perna
collection.  Among the scores of doctrinal works are included The
Overwhelming Evidence Concerning Spiritual Healings and The
Continuity of the Bible (a CS commentary series on the entire
Bible).  The 30 or so CS histories are almost exclusively about
Eddy; included are Mary Baker Eddy: A New Look, Mary Baker Eddy: a
Biography by Norman Beasley, Twelve Years with Mary Baker Eddy by
Irving C. Tomlinson, and Mary Baker Eddy: The Years of Discovery
1821-1875 by Robert Peel.  However, a few doctrinal works are also
among the history collection, e.g., Lectures and Articles on
Christian Science of Edward A. Kimball.  An absolutely
indispensable reference is The Students Reference Dictionary which
establishes the meaning of key words used by Mary Baker Eddy in her
writings as she understood them.  CS instructional literature in
the Perna collection takes in both courses taught at individual
churches and Principia College (the only CS approved college). 
Among these many courses are the Holy Bible: A Reading Course on
the Old Testament and OT and NT surveys.  Christian Science church
government documents are subdivided into three general categories,
manuals, reports and position papers represented by The Church
Manual of the Mother Church, Reports of the Committee on General
Welfare, and Legal Rights and Obligations of Christian Scientists,
respectively.  While not complete, the Perna periodical collection
takes the ARC Library several steps closer towards realizing a
complete collection of the Christian Science Sentinel and the
Christian Science Journal (including the April, 1904 issue).  CS
works produced outside of the United States but still printed in
English contain Mary Baker Eddys Other Writings and Christian
Science: Its Continuous Evolution, whereas also included are
several non-English volumes, primarily in Chinese.  Also of
significant interest are several CS hymnals, audio tapes and a
correspondence collection between the Christian Science Board of
Trustees and CS dissident Reginald G. Kerry.

Too numerous to mention here are the boxes and boxes of books which
promote Christian Science, are written by Christian Scientists, but
are not published nor endorsed by the Church of Christ, Scientists.

The nominal collection of secondary literature, in comparison to
the vast amount of primary CS literature, points up the need for
scholarly work in Christian Science studies.  The Perna collection
includes critiques from both evangelical and secular positions, the
latter represented by an original copy of Mark Twains Christian
Science.  

Among this collection are at least 20-30 very rare finds, including
an original copy of the April 1911 Muncy magazine, featuring the
article "The Girlhood of Mary Baker," and prints no less than  4
early photographs of Eddy along with a sample of her handwriting. 
A representative rare find which has been reprinted is Edward A.
Kimballs Normal Class Notes: A Gem of Metaphysical Teaching which
was used by him to teach the first class in the Board of Education
of Mary Baker Eddys Massachusetts Metaphysical College.

The condition of the Perna collection is excellent.  Rare Books and
periodicals were carefully banded and wrapped, respectively.   Of
course, this is a testimony to Perna's understanding the value of
this collection.

The body of Christ in general and ARC Fellowship in particular owe
a huge debt of thankfulness to Vincent Perna.  Very few people
understand the lifetime of study, travel, searching and expense
that a collection such as this represents.  If just the extensive
collection of Science and Health editions were the only
contribution Perna made to Christian Science studies, it would have
been significant.  However, as you can see from the above
representative titles, Pernas contribution to Christian Science
studies must be judged significant to the extreme!  

I speak for everyone at ARC when I extend to Vincent Perna our
gratitude for his donation to our ministry.  I only hope we at ARC
Fellowship will be able to conduct research worthy of this type of
collection

[By the way, Vincent also sent along a collection of about 300
titles of occult literature, primarily on astrology and
reincarnation.  For this we at ARC are also thankful.]