According to a Jewess named Anna Friendlich (1869-1941), the reason why so many Jews were attracted to Christian Science is because the philosophy rejected the trinity which she refers to as breaking the first of the 10 commandments against idolatry. This is significant because Freemasonry also rejects the trinity (here) and that is likely because Freemasonry is a self-proclaimed Noahide organization (here). Judaism says that Christianity is idolatry (here) and so a Freemason-Noahide Christianity without the trinity would be attractive to Jews.
“Israel’s Return to Zion”
Jewish Christian Scientists in the United States, 1880-1925
By Rolf Swensen
Journal Of Religion & Society - Volume 15 (2013)
Queens College, City University of New York
http://moses.creighton.edu/jrs/2013/2013-19.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3QkSZIOuWzHE9bxhF1KXRKLzKnKZXUnVzEVt3263CBtq8FdLU1byuVJLQ
Queens College, City University of New York
http://moses.creighton.edu/jrs/2013/2013-19.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3QkSZIOuWzHE9bxhF1KXRKLzKnKZXUnVzEVt3263CBtq8FdLU1byuVJLQ
In February 1905, the Christian Science Journal carried an article entitled “Israel’s Return to
Zion” by Anna Friendlich (1869-1941), former Portland, Oregon English teacher, future
Christian Science teacher (CSB), and daughter of a Russian-born rabbi. The essay discusses why increasing numbers of American Jews were turning to Christian Science. According to
Friendlich, Mary Baker Eddy, the leader of Christian Science, bypassed the standard
Christian concept of a three-person Trinity, which enshrined Jesus as divine (in Jewish eyes
thus violating the First Commandment), and concentrated on the Truth that existed since
the beginning of time and is best expressed in Jesus the Christ. Friendlich exulted that a
“Roseate morn dawns on Zion” (680)...
...According to Friendlich, the “Jewish seeker finds in Christian Science an
interpretation of the teachings of Jesus which is free from many of the conceptions that have
heretofore been so offensive to him.” Friendlich lists four reasons why Jews accepted
Christian Science: 1) replacement of a “man-like God” with one made in “His image and
likeness;” 2) redefinition of the Trinity as “Life, Truth, and Love,” coupled with the notion
that Jesus was not God but instead the “highest manifestation of the Divine nature known
to humanity;” 3) belief in the Immaculate Conception and Mary as “heaven-inspired with
mighty revelation;” and 4) acceptance of “vicarious atonement” which is only available
through the “individual’s own repentance and reformation,” with the life of Jesus as a guide.
The third part of her
One of the most compelling reasons for Jews to take up the study of Christian Science was the second plank of Friendlich’s platform: the fact that Eddy did not subscribe to the divinity of Jesus. The concept of Jesus as God had long repelled Jews, who felt this was a violation of the First Commandment, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Millicent Hyman, daughter of a “deeply religious orthodox Jewess,” wrote, “I thank God with the upmost sincerity for the most gracious gift of Christian Science. It is the impersonal Messiah of Judaism, the fulfillment of Judaism’s every promise” (545, 548). That is, Eddy showed that Jesus best embodied the Christ, or Messiah, available to comfort humanity since the beginning of time.
One of the most compelling reasons for Jews to take up the study of Christian Science was the second plank of Friendlich’s platform: the fact that Eddy did not subscribe to the divinity of Jesus. The concept of Jesus as God had long repelled Jews, who felt this was a violation of the First Commandment, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Millicent Hyman, daughter of a “deeply religious orthodox Jewess,” wrote, “I thank God with the upmost sincerity for the most gracious gift of Christian Science. It is the impersonal Messiah of Judaism, the fulfillment of Judaism’s every promise” (545, 548). That is, Eddy showed that Jesus best embodied the Christ, or Messiah, available to comfort humanity since the beginning of time.
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