Christian Science: Its Revelation of God’s Healing and
Protecting Law
Neil H. Bowles, C.S.B., of
Member of the Board of Lectureship of The
The lecturer spoke substantially
as follows:
Suppose someone should say to you,
"What do you want more than anything else in the world?" What would
you say? Well, the answer for everyone here could be given in just one word –
security. There is an old saying that the only certainties in life are taxes
and death. Perhaps the world generally believes that. This shows how little
people think that security is the natural state of life. It shows how little
they believe in the certainty and permanence of good. Why is this so? Because
the world has generally believed that our lives are something apart from God;
that they are governed by influences beyond the control of God. So what we are
going to talk about tonight is how our lives are governed and controlled by the
unchanging law of God.
Now certainly everyone who thinks
deeply must recognize that there is a law governing the physical universe. The
sun, the moon, the stars, all have their scheduled courses and appearings. Each one is held in its own position by an
unchanging power. It is a power unseen by human eye. Yet that power exists. Who
would be so foolish as to say that it does not?
For centuries people have known of the existence of the principle of
astronomy. They have relied on it to regulate many things in their lives. Each
day the sun rises at a different time, yet the astronomer can foretell the
exact time of its appearing. Here again, no one doubts this. This unseen power
governs the entire stellar universe. It governs it with unfailing accuracy. If
this was not so, there would be perpetual chaos in the heavens. Well, people's
greatest need is to learn to reason on the things of life, and on the law
governing them.
God's Law a Discovery
Before I go further I want to
point out to those just becoming acquainted with Christian Science that this
religion is not based on human theorizing. You should start the study of
Christian Science from the premise that it is a discovery. It is a discovery of
the true nature of God, man and the universe. It is a discovery of the creative
and governing law controlling man and the universe. Mary Baker Eddy discovered
it in 1866. Then she proved it. She proved it by applying it to the healing of
the sick just the way Jesus did.
Unnumbered people have proved it since she published her textbook,
"Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," in 1875. This
remarkable book is based solely on the inspired Word of the Bible. Its
spiritual and scientific interpretation of the Scriptures has had a profound
transforming and healing influence on the lives and on the thinking of people
in every part of the world.
Here I want to show you an
inconsistency in the way most people think. It is an inconsistency that
Christian Science corrects. In spite of the fact that we see the sun, the moon,
the stars, et cetera, controlled by an unseen law, people still believe that
they themselves are outside this law – that they are subject to chance and
uncertainty. Nothing could be farther from the fact, and Christian Science
proves it. It is not intelligent to conclude that an absolute law exists to
govern parts of creation, and that other parts were abandoned to chance or
uncertainty. Now because Christian Science is based on the Bible, that does not
mean that it does not scientifically interpret the law of Life. On the
contrary, Christian Science is Science because it is based on the demonstrable
scientific facts Mrs. Eddy discovered in the Bible. That is just another way of
saying that Mrs. Eddy discovered the real truths of the Bible. The word
"science" means truth. The word is frequently misused because it is
so often used in connection with speculative theories that are not science at
all, but just human guesswork.
The world is full of religious
theories and religious persuasions, but Christian Science is the only religion
that proves there is a law of God available to govern man harmoniously – govern
him harmoniously in every aspect of his life. The discovery of Christian
Science shows what God actually is and how He governs man and the universe in
perfect order and harmony. Anyone who is willing to think and to reason – who
is unafraid to give up erroneous views of God, views that have been ignorantly
handed down for centuries – can learn and prove that there is a law of God
governing his life and destiny.
In the physical world every effort
is being made to take the mystery out of things. Why should not the mystery be
taken out of God and out of the law of Life? Why should not that law be
utilized, used for our protection and everlasting well-being? The world has always
wanted an explanation of what life is and how it is governed. It now has this
explanation in Christian Science.
The prophet Isaiah tells us,
"The Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver" (33:22). When he prophesied the coming of the Christ,
he told the Hebrew people that the Messiah would come and bring them joy and
gladness, that they would have great thanksgiving. Then he said this to them (51:4): "Hearken
unto me, my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation: for a law shall proceed
from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people."
Christ Jesus Demonstrated Divine Law
Well, Christ Jesus, of course, was
the Messiah. His God-inspired teachings were indeed a light of the people. He
advanced beyond the Hebrew concept of God as a changeable, tribal Lord or a
judge and knew God as the loving, protecting Father of all mankind. Perhaps you
remember the occasion when Jesus' disciples were questioning him about his
teachings, and Phillip, one of his disciples, said to him (John 14:8. 9),
"Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us." Jesus said to him, "Have I been so
long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen
me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?" Of course, God did not and could
not dwell in the material physical body of Jesus. Why? Because God is Spirit.
Jesus said so. No, infinite Spirit could not dwell in a physical body. In his
statement to Philip, Jesus was not referring to himself as the Father.
Certainly not! This would be a scientific impossibility. The "I" and
"me" that Jesus referred to was the spirit of Truth, the Christ,
man's real consciousness. To put it another way, the Christ was Jesus'
spiritual understanding of Life, the spiritual facts of God, man, and the
universe.
When we understand the spiritual
facts of life Jesus taught, they save us from the mortal or carnal sense of
life and mind. Because he taught the Truth, Jesus was given the title of Messiah
or Christ. This does not mean that anyone else could have been the Christ. Because of his singular birth, he was more
spiritually minded than all other men and women. This enabled him to perceive the
divine facts of God and man – to use his spiritual understanding to
demonstrate divine power by healing the sick and raising the dead.
Well, Jesus went on to say to
Philip (John
God and His Law Are One
Because the world is still largely
in ignorance of the divine law – the exact law that governs the universe and
the lives of men – does not change the fact that that law has always been
available. It was here before Jesus. We have to learn of it. That exact law is
the exact fact of Life. The discovery of Christian Science – and I repeat
discovery – is in perfect accord with the Bible and shows that real Life is
God. Jesus said this too. He said (John 17:3); "And this is life eternal,
that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast
sent."
Then since knowing God is
necessary to an understanding of Life and its laws, could anything be of
greater importance than to gain that understanding of God? In explaining the
many elements or aspects of God, Mrs. Eddy saw that just one single word or
term is not adequate to describe His nature, essence, and wholeness. Through
her devout study of the Bible and her great spiritual insight, she discovered
that certain synonymous terms, used together and interchangeably, are necessary
to bring out the various aspects and hues of His nature and substance. These
terms describe the elements of Life itself. She saw that God as divine Mind is
true intelligence. She saw that God as Spirit is the source of all true
substance. She saw that God as Soul is the source of all true consciousness and
identity; that God as divine Principle is the source of all true law; that as
infinite Life, God is the only Life there is; that as indestructible Truth, He
is the source of all true ideas – man and the universe; and that as divine
Love, He is the only source of harmony and good. Through study of these terms
or names for God, we come to see His omnipresent, omniscient, omniactive, and
omnipotent nature. Thus we can see that He is all and that He includes all.
Now while the subject of our
lecture deals particularly with God's healing and protecting law, it was
important to touch on the nature of God and His various aspects in order to
understand the all-power and substance of His law. We have to understand that
His law is all-intelligent; that it is spiritual, yet substantive; that it is
pure, indestructible, and good. And not
the least important point to understand of God and His law is the scientific
fact that His all-pervading nature precludes the existence of any other power,
presence, or law.
God and His Law the Way of Salvation
Human salvation is dependent on an
understanding of the law of Life, on its Science, and on our ability to
demonstrate it. What does salvation mean? It means being saved from mortality
and being everlastingly preserved. But there is no such thing as vicarious
salvation – someone else doing the saving for us. That is one of the points
where Christian Science differs from other theological teachings. But that is
where Christian Science offers one of its richest blessings. It takes the
mystery out of salvation. It offers you an understanding of God and His law and
shows you how it saves from mortality.
Let us do some reasoning now on
the subject of your life and how it is governed. Have you ever stopped to think
about your life – that is, about what it includes? Think with me now, and you
will see what I mean. Your life, your present human sense of life, the life you
live day by day, includes intelligence and the ability to think, does it not? It
also includes consciousness, awareness of what is going on around you. You are
aware of being alive. Well, your life
also appears to be a reality, does it not? It also includes substance. What
would your life be if it was not substantive? Then it appears to be governed or
controlled, regulated by law. It also includes conditions in which you live. Now
to the mortal sense of Life these elements and conditions are destructible and
subject to discord. But Christian Science teaches that there are not two lives,
one mortal and the other immortal. There is just one, and it is immortal. It is
God; it is good.
So Christian Science interprets
immortal Life to the human consciousness. It lifts human consciousness above
the finite and destructible, the discordant and inharmonious, and shows it the
immortal or spiritual, the perfect and good. It reveals Spirit, God, as the
only source of the elements of Life. It reveals God as the supreme power of man
and the universe. It shows, as we have seen, that God includes within Himself
all the elements of Life. Indeed, it reveals the scientific fact that God is
the All-in-all, or the sum total of Life.
So the elements of your life are really divine, not human; they are
spiritual, not material; they belong to God.
Man's Oneness with God
We have seen now that God is the
all-inclusive, everlasting One. We have seen that He contains within Himself
all law or government, all substance, all consciousness, all intelligence, all
reality, and all good. Well, then, you can now see that it is also scientific
to conclude that because God is all, and contains all, what He governs must be
contained within Himself. Jesus expressed it this way. He said, "I and my
Father are one" (John
that is, Jesus' spiritual selfhood was and is included in
the one Life that is God. So is our true selfhood. Jesus saw this scientific
fact, and, because he saw it, he was able to heal by God's law.
Let me illustrate with the
principle of music. The tones of music are inseparable from the principle of
music, are they not? The principle is not the tone and the tone is not the
principle, but they are one in expression. And that is the scientific fact
about God and man. Christian Science
teaches that man is the expression of God. Since God is all, He includes within
Himself all He created. He includes, indeed He is, the law that governs His
creation. So man is included in God and
is governed by God, divine Principle. That is logical reasoning, and it is
scientific too. Let us say it another way. The great creative power that made
all things includes all things within its comprehension and in its governing
law. Would it not be unintelligent to
believe that God could not govern what He created? So God or Spirit is the only
substance and law of the universe, and man lives in the oneness and allness of
God and His law.
The Unreality of Matter
Mrs. Eddy startled the world when
she first made the declaration that God, infinite Spirit, is the only substance
and law of the universe. She said that matter is unreal and devoid of law. Her
teachings are still startling the materialists. She saw deeply into divine
reality. She wrote over eighty years
ago, with prophetic insight, about atomic energy, a subject uppermost in the minds
of thinking people today. This is what she wrote about its real meaning and
significance (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 190): "Atomic action is Mind, not
matter. It is neither the energy of matter, the result of organization, nor
the outcome of life infused into matter; it is infinite Spirit, Truth, Life,
defiant of error or matter. Divine Science demonstrates Mind as dispelling a
false sense and giving the true sense of itself, God, and the universe; wherein
the mortal evolves not the immortal, nor does the material ultimate in the
spiritual; wherein man is coexistent with Mind, and is the recognized
reflection of infinite Life and Love."
Time Magazine recently discussed
the question, how did the physical universe begin; where did the atom or matter
come from? One school of thought thinks it was created by a divine act outside
of scientific knowledge or investigation. A second school believes it was
mysteriously made out of hydrogen gas. Attempts are being made to find the answer
by peering into the past. This is done by looking outward into space by means
of radio telescopes, but according to Dr. Lovell, Radio Astronomer of the
University of Manchester, England, any cosmology must eventually move over into
metaphysics. The word "cosmology" means the science of the world.
The unreality of matter is a basic
point in the teachings of Christian Science, and its unreality can be
understood. But we have to think and reason spiritually in order to understand
it. We can never understand it on the basis of human reasoning or physical
research. We have seen that in the language of Christian Science, the word
"Spirit" designates God. We have seen that it also designates substance
and Truth – substance that cannot be destroyed. In the language of Christian
Science the word "matter" designates error – that which is perishable
and destructible. Mrs. Eddy has called matter mortal error – morta1 mind,
animal magnetism, hypnotism, and mesmerism. Think with me now about these terms
and see how logical they are. The term "mortal mind" as opposed to
omniscient, divine Mind implies a mind that errs, does it not? The term
"animal magnetism" implies a state of consciousness that can be
attracted to the animal or mortal and away from the spiritual. Hypnotism and
mesmerism imply a state of consciousness that can become befogged, dispossessed
of its true state. Well, all these states of consciousness are a denial of
divine Mind's all substance and presence. Have you ever seen people under the direct
influence of hypnotism? I have, and they act pretty silly too. But what they
have been induced to believe is very real to them, while they are believing it.
We have learned now that Christian
Science reveals real Life as wholly spiritual, not part spiritual and part
material. Well, the counterpart of that revelation was that mortal or material
so-called life is not another life separate and apart from Spirit. It is just a
false belief about Spirit, a false belief without foundation. It is
hypnotically induced. Who or what did the hypnotizing? Why, ignorance of
spiritual reality. Now, when someone comes out of a state of hypnosis, what
becomes of the beliefs he entertained when he was hypnotized? Why these beliefs
were only as real as the believer thought they were. But they certainly were
not substantive, were they? What awakens us from that hypnotic spell? Spiritual education based on the teachings
and example of Christ Jesus. To put it another way, what awakens us is our
conscious effort to bring our thinking into accord with the true idea that man
and the universe are wholly spiritual – the way they are revealed in Christian Science.
This gradually breaks the mortal mesmeric spell and reveals God and His law as
the only Life and government of all creation.
Man's True Nature Shown by the Christ
Since Christ Jesus is the
Wayshower, let us compare his human life with the commonly accepted sense of
what a mortal life is like. First of all, Jesus loved. He loved in the face of
the bitterest hatred and affliction. But he loved. Mortals believe in hatred. Jesus
forgave. Mortals often seek revenge.
Jesus was unselfish. Mortals are self-seeking. Jesus was honest and
straightforward. Mortals are often dishonest and deceitful. Jesus was pure.
Mortals are impure. Jesus preached the reality of Spirit. Mortals are lovers of
the material.
Now adopting the Godlike pattern
of man, the pattern Jesus showed us, does not rob us of the joys of life. Far
from it. In fact, it is only as we progress in this adopting process that we
come to find the real meaning of joy and happiness.
In this adopting process we begin
to understand the Christ. We come to feel its comforting and redeeming
influence. We come to feel its tender guidance and protecting care. This
ever-present Comforter and Saviour is instantly available to everyone who is
willing to conform his thoughts and acts to the Christly standard.
The Healing Effect of Divine Law
Let me illustrate this point by
telling you about a physical healing. It came about when someone realized the
necessity of exchanging the mortal qualities for the Christlike. A woman I know
went to a Christian Science practitioner's office in such great pain it was
difficult for her to move. She said this pain was in her abdomen. She had had
it for some time. This woman was a Christian Scientist.
Knowing this, the practitioner
said, "What is troubling you?"
She said, "Why, the
pain."
"No, that is not what I
mean," the practitioner said. "What is going on in your
consciousness? What is disturbing you and causing this physical
difficulty?"
She replied: "Nothing is
disturbing me. It is just the pain that is bothering me."
Well, the practitioner turned to
Science and Health, to page 462. It is a good page for everyone to frequently
study. This is what he read to her: "Anatomy, when conceived of
spiritually, is mental self-knowledge, and consists in the dissection of
thoughts to discover their quality, quantity, and origin. Are thoughts divine
or human? That is the important question. This branch of study is indispensable
to the excision of error. The anatomy of Christian Science teaches when and how
to probe the self-inflicted wounds of selfishness, malice, envy, and hate. It
teaches the control of mad ambition." That was as far as he got.
"If you are accusing me of
any such thinking, you can just stop. And as far as mad ambition is concerned,
I do not have a bit of it." This from the patient.
The practitioner said, "Mrs.
Eddy wrote that page for every student of Christian Science. It applies to all of us."
"Well, it does not apply to
me," the patient replied; "but perhaps I do have my worries like
anyone else."
"Well, what are your
worries?" she was asked.
Then came a story that was a
marvel to hear. This dear woman had two sons. She said she was unhappy about
them because neither of them had turned out as she had planned. She had
selected their colleges for them, planned the courses they should take, and the
professions they should follow. Now neither son was engaged in a profession. What
was even worse, they had not married the young women she had selected for them,
and she did not care for their wives.
"Are your sons profitably
employed?" she was asked.
"Yes."
"Are they happy with their
wives?"
"Yes."
"Do they have nice
families?"
"Yes."
"Well, why are you
unhappy?" "Because things did not turn out the way I planned
them."
You can imagine what followed next
in the discussion. This patient was led to realize that perhaps she had been
guilty of hatred, malice, envy, revenge, and mad ambition – all of them. She
could see that she had not been trusting God at all, either for herself or for
her sons. She saw that her whole physical system had been affected by the kind
of thinking she had been doing and that she had not been aware of it. She
recognized too that she had not been doing the Christlike thinking that would
conform her thoughts and acts to God's law.
She had wanted to do good, but had become bitter and resentful when her
wishes were ignored. This was erring human will resenting opposition, and she
saw it.
Suddenly she exclaimed, "Why,
I am completely free from pain;
I am well!"
Of course; When self-will gives
way to God's will or law, and Christlike thinking replaces mortal, material
thinking, we witness the harmonizing influence of divine law. Then healing naturally follows.
Let us do some thinking about the
mortal qualities of thought we just contrasted with the Christlike qualities
expressed by Jesus. How much harmony have you seen hatred produce? How much good does revenge produce? What
about fear, selfishness, deceit, and dishonesty? How much good does impurity or
materialism produce? You see, thinking has everything to do with the kind of
life you live. If you are a Christlike thinker, a spiritual thinker, you are a
straight thinker. Your thoughts are not cluttered with fearful or poisonous
thinking that makes the body ill, causes you to make mistakes, or leads you
into accidents.
Yes, I know Christian Scientists
have to combat illness, accidents, and all sorts of trouble, but they are
learning to bring their thinking into accord with the will or law of God, and
they are solving their problems that way.
Let me give you another example of
how trusting God's omnipotent law brought about a healing of a baby who was
born with deformed feet. The doctors attending the birth agreed that unless an
operation was performed before it was six weeks old, it could not be expected
to walk normally. The first few days were a battle for the parents. The doctors'
verdict was awesome to them. But they were greatly helped by this passage from
Science and Health (p. 62): "The divine Mind, which forms the bud and
blossom, will care for the human body, even as it clothes the lily; but let no
mortal interfere with God's government by thrusting in the laws of erring,
human concepts."
The parents were tempted to follow
the common tendency and ask why this experience had come to them. But they
quickly saw that this mortal tendency would accomplish nothing. Yet, tempted by
doubt, the mother remarked to the practitioner, "How wonderful it would be
if only Christian Science could bring this healing." The practitioner
assured her that healings were not wonderful, but natural; that as God's child,
it was natural for it to be normal and perfect in every way. He showed her
Mind's ideas could not be imperfectly identified, because they actually express
God. So, in Truth, the child's identity was unmarred, already complete and
perfect in God. He explained that since God is the only creative power and law,
no deforming influence exists. With practitioner and parents all holding
steadfastly to these spiritual truths, the feet were soon straight. A week
after its first birthday the child walked naturally. Today, at the age of six,
the legs and feet are strong and normal. The belief in mortal law had been
conquered by the realization that God's law is indeed omnipotent, supreme.
The Need for Scientific Prayer
You recall I spoke earlier about a
method of spiritual education. What is that method? For the Christian Scientist it is study and
prayer, but of course, it is enlightening prayer. It is not a prayer of
imploring God as someone would do to a human person. In Science and Health (p.
7), Mrs. Eddy says: "God is not influenced by man. The divine ear is not
an auditory nerve. It is the all-hearing and all-knowing Mind, to whom each
need of man is always known and by whom it will be supplied." So we don't
pray to God – we understand God. If that sounds startling, it need not. We have
already learned that He is ever-operative divine Principle, eternal Life. How
would you pray to divine Principle? You can pray the prayer of spiritual
knowing. How? By affirming and declaring the revealed truths about God, about
His ever-present goodness and all-power, then denying the reality of anything
that is unlike good, or that opposes good.
The Psalmist sang (Ps. 34:3),
"O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together." To
magnify anything means to enlarge it. To exalt means to lift above all else. So we enlarge and exalt our understanding of
God by affirming and declaring what He is, and denying the reality of any other
power or substance. Why do we deny the reality of evil or disease? Because so
long as we believe in their reality, we are not seeing God as all.
This prayer or treatment, as
Christian Science explains it, is a spiritual reasoning process, a spiritual
awakening and enlightening process. The nature of the human mentality is such
that it needs to be spiritually awakened and enlightened. So prayer or
treatment in Christian Science is precept upon precept of argued truth against
error. There is Bible authority for such prayer. The prophet Isaiah taught by
this method. He said (Isa. 28:10), "For precept
must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line;
here a little, and there a little." By this method of prayer the errors
and discords of material sense are displaced in human consciousness and truth
and harmony become established there.
This kind of prayer is glorious. It
opens the windows of spiritual understanding. It brings us to the point of
divine revelation. It brings human consciousness into accord with the law of
God. Then we are governed and healed by that law.
Man's True Nature and Substance
The teaching about the oneness of
God and man is a fact we must constantly strive to understand. It is important
because, as I said at the start, all our human problems come from the belief
that man's life is something apart from God, the only Life. If man were outside
of or separate from the Life that is God, he would be outside the law of God
and could not be governed by God. That too is logical and scientific reasoning.
So remember that whatever is governed must be included in the law that governs
it.
Let us talk about the law of music
again. It is always in operation, is it not? In order to use it, we do not have
to put it into operation. We bring our thinking into accord with it. Then harmony results. If we do not use it,
there is no effect from it. That is the way with the law of God. We have to be
in accord with it if we are to be governed or protected by it.
Someone may be saying: "You
just said that man is included in the Life that is God. You also said that Life
includes its own law. So why are we not just naturally governed by the law of
God without our having to do anything about it?" That is a logical question,
and here is the answer.
Spiritual man, the true likeness
of God, is always harmoniously governed. He is always in accord with God, the
only real Life or law. It is the mortal or human sense of man that seems to get
out from under God's law and is in need of finding his way back. Remember,
Jesus came on earth to meet this human need. He came teaching people how to
bring their lives into accord with the divine Life or law. That is the whole
purpose of the Christ, the true idea of God which Jesus taught.
In describing her revelation of
man's true nature and substance, Mrs. Eddy has used a number of terms for man. As
you think about them you will realize how perfectly, how logically they explain
man's relationship to God. Some of these names are idea, image, likeness,
expression, reflection, representative, manifestation. There are other terms
too. Let us take the term idea. Think
with me about it now. An idea is one in being with the Mind it expresses, is it
not? So we see that it must partake of the nature and substance of Mind. This
is true of each of the other names for man I mentioned. Each one reveals man as
being like God in nature and substance. Just like Him. Not partly like Him, nor
to become like Him, but just like Him now and forever. That is the basis on
which Mrs. Eddy declares that man – the only man there is – the son of God, is
spiritual, not material.
So man is right now the very expression
of divine Principle. It is his substance, his intelligence, his life, and the source
of his eternal identity. How will the mortal, material sense of man dissolve? How
shall we find ourselves to be spiritual, governed wholly by divine law? Here is
one step. This is from Science and Health (p. 242): "In patient obedience to
a patient God, let us labor to dissolve with the universal solvent of Love the
adamant of error, – self-will, self-justification, and self-love, – which wars
against spirituality and is the law of sin and death." Through this
spiritualization of thought, the mortal, material qualities will give way to
the divine. Then what seems to be the solidness of matter, the realness of
physical life, will give way to the substantiality of man in the likeness of
Spirit.
Mrs. Eddy's Great Revelation
In his search to find the law of
life, mankind generally has looked everywhere but in the realm of God. Why is
this so? Because mankind has never truly understood the meaning of God and His
all-inclusive substance and power. It remained for Mrs. Eddy, a cultured
Naturally Mrs. Eddy wanted to
share her discovery that the Bible contained the Science of Life and that it is
possible for anyone to demonstrate it. But strangely enough she met with the
severest rebuffs and cruel attacks when she offered her discovery to the
world. But human resistance to her
revelation that the things of the Spirit are the only realities of being has greatly
lessened since the early days of Christian Science. The unquestionable proofs
of her teachings are convincing thinking people in all parts of the world that
she has discovered the law of Life. Is it any wonder then that her followers,
who have demonstrated her teachings, and all who have been healed through the
study of her writings, love her with an enduring devotion, and call her Leader?
She not only is a great spiritual Leader, she is indeed the Leader of all those
who would look to God to find the law of Life and its harmonious government of
man and the universe. The depth of her spiritual insight into the Science of
Life must, will eventually gain for her a position of preeminent stature among
the scientific thinkers of the world.
A Reasoning Religion
So you see that Christian Science
is far more than just another religion competing for power and numbers with the
other religions of the world. Every activity of the Church of Christ,
Scientist, is designed to spiritually educate its members, to take all mystery
out of Life. In addition to the study of the Bible and Science and Health, the
two textbooks of Christian Science, the Sunday services and Wednesday evening
testimony meetings breathe spiritual enlightenment and comfort. No plea for
blind faith in God is heard in them. They satisfy the heart's deep yearning for
peace and health through spiritually enlightened reasoning. They aid in the
attainment of a demonstrable understanding of God, of Life itself.
Many times I have gone to a Wednesday
evening testimony meeting – these meetings are held weekly in Christian Science
churches – and I have come away knowing God's law better. Perhaps I had heard
some inspiring testimony of healing, or I had heard an account of a life
transformed, an account by some grateful person who had been protected, healed,
and blessed through an understanding of God's law.
Summary
Let us talk briefly now about what
we have seen tonight. We saw how little the world believes in the certainty of
good. We saw that this was so because people believe their lives are something
separate and apart from God. We saw that God Himself is Life; and that man is
included in that Life and that law, and that this is a scientific fact. We saw
that by adopting the pattern of Life presented by Christ Jesus, we can bring
our human sense of life into accord with the law of God. And we saw further
that we are saved from suffering and disaster by this healing and protecting
law of God. That is what we have seen this evening.