The value of Science and Health in my life

Recently, I was asked to write about a book that has been important in my life. My reading habits in general include reading textbook material for school assignments and novels for English class. I also read online tutorials to teach myself about computer software and to research other areas of interest. 

A book that has been important in shaping my thoughts is the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. In addition to having read Science and Health in its entirety two different times, I also regularly read excerpts from this book as part of the weekly Christian Science Bible Lesson I study. To me, the most important aspect of Science and Health is the ideas it teaches me about my relationship to God and my spiritual identity.

On the first page of Science and Health’s Preface, Eddy says: “The time for thinkers has come. Truth, independent of doctrines and time-honored systems, knocks at the portal of humanity. Contentment with the past and the cold conventionality of materialism are crumbling away. Ignorance of God is no longer the stepping-stone to faith. The only guarantee of obedience is a right apprehension of Him whom to know aright is Life eternal” (p. vii). This made me realize that it is necessary to think about who and what God is in order to correctly understand Him, and not to blindly follow a mysterious God you do not know. I began to see that by correctly understanding who and what God is, I would be able to be obedient to Him and get the healing reward of understanding that life is eternal right now. We do not need to wait to experience healing, joy, and peace until some far-off time after death. 

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