Article January 24, 1914 Issue

In 1866 an American woman, Mrs. Eddy, was suffering...

Marie Hartman—The Hague, Holland. (Translation)

Het Vaderland

In 1866 an American woman, Mrs. Eddy, was suffering from the serious results of an accident which materia medica was unable to relieve. In the hour of her great need she, as was her custom, resorted to the Bible, and her prayerful appeal to God brought her an overwhelming sense of God's allness, the consciousness of His omnipotence, and of the one indestructible Life which is not touched by evil or by any appearance of sin, sickness, or death. This consciousness of the protection of God's omnipotent, saving, and sustaining love healed her instantaneously from her severe illness. Mrs. Eddy devoted the next three years to searching the Bible for the scientific rule for what had happened to her, and she thus gained a spiritual understanding of the Scriptures, the fact of man's spiritual existence as the reflection of God, who is Spirit and Mind, being thus revealed to her. She also saw clearly that there are no destructive, malevolent elements in the eternal Spirit, and that the Almighty needs no cooperation with lower powers in order to establish His kingdom in man. The kingdom of God, which according to Jesus is within man, is Life, Truth, and Love governing him, and delivering him from all that is opposed to God,—from the "carnal mind," which through sin and sickness brings death.

Mrs. Eddy learned that her understanding of God helped others to become more conscious of their unity with Him, whereby these also found healing of mind and body. In turn these others found that through the understanding which Christian Science, as Mrs. Eddy named her teaching, brought them, their prayers had the power to lead others to God, the divine Principle, "who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies." Christian Science teaches that prayer is not telling the omniscient the experiences and desires of man, but is listening to God. Such prayer teaches one to know what God does, and to say, "Not my will, but thine, be done."

The mission of Christian Science is to teach mankind to know God better and to serve only Him who said in the first commandment, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." This is emancipation in the fullest sense of the word, for liberty is nothing but absolute conformity to that which is, to reality; therefore liberty is only possible through a scientific knowledge of the "great First Cause" which we call God. The healing of sickness is a necessary consequence of the understanding which Christian Science brings, of the giving up of false beliefs about God, about life, and about man. The principal purpose of Christian Science is not to flood the world with a host of practitioners, but to teach every man to be true and good, and therefore healthy.

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