The admonition which the Master gave is still in force,...

William S. Campbell

Washington (D. C.) Post

The admonition which the Master gave is still in force, "Search the scriptures." To search implies careful and painstaking work.

The interpretation given to the Scriptures by Mrs. Eddy was the result of diligent and long-continued search, combined with a keen sense of discrimination. On page 139 of Science and Health she has written: "The decisions by vote of church councils as to what should and should not be considered Holy Writ; the manifest mistakes in the ancient versions; the thirty thousand different readings in the Old Testament, and the three hundred thousand in the New,—these facts show how a mortal and material sense stole into the divine record, with its own hue darkening to some extent the inspired pages."

On pages 320 and 319 of the same volume the author has added: "The one important interpretation of Scripture is the spiritual." "The divine Science taught in the original language of the Bible came through inspiration, and needs inspiration of be understood. Hence the misapprehension of the spiritual meaning of the Bible, and the misinterpretation of the Word in some instances by uninspired writers, who only wrote down what an inspired teacher had said."

The appropriateness of calling the Christian Science textbook a "Key to the Scriptures" lies in the fact that its careful study enables the student to apprehend the view-point of the author and thus to acquire for himself the understanding which came to her only through long years of prayer, perseverance, and pondering. It has not been her purpose to supplant the Bible, to add to it, or to subtract from it. Her purpose has been to make so plain the deep spiritual import of the sacred writings that all may understand and profit by them. The first tenet of Christian Science is this: "As adherents of Truth, we take the inspired Word of the Bible as our sufficient guide to eternal Life."

The Christian Science interpretation of the Bible differs from former interpretations by bringing into prominence the present possibility of overcoming sickness as well as sin through the recognition of spiritual power. It is an interpretation that demands proof of its correctness in the improved mental, moral, and physical condition of every student who gives to it an unprejudiced investigation.

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