Christian Science is a form of Christianity with a strong theology of healing, the basis of which is an ontology that denies the reality of the material universe including the physical human body and affliction. An ethnographic study conducted in New Zealand in a Christian Science congregation showed that respondents have unique understandings about the nature of ‘self’ and ‘health’. These understandings underpin explanations of affliction, and healing, and inform the therapeutic strategies that are employed by respondents. The notion of integrity is put forward as a means of understanding the complex relationship between healing, health and ‘self’. A framework of integrity affords an insightful understanding of the complex meanings associated with the experience of affliction, the therapeutic strategies which are utilized to effect healing and the meanings associated with therapeutic outcomes – both successful and unsuccessful in the religious praxis of Somecity Christian Scientists.
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