Article December 2, 1916 Issue

Our Text-book

HENRIETTA MARCUS

One of the marvels of Mrs. Eddy's writings is the way our attention is held by her interpretation of certain words and expressions unnoticed by us before. Our imagination is stirred, our interest aroused, by the spirituality of her thought; the mists of mortal opinion that formerly obscured the brightness of the Bible have been cleared away effectually, and a new vista is opened to us. It is like gazing for the first time through a telescope and realizing the presence of distant and beautiful stars of whose existence we were unconscious,—something new is revealed to us which increases our knowledge of good. All that stimulates our desire for a better comprehension of God is as the rending of the veil of the temple, the brushing aside of mere ritual, which gains for us a glimpse of reality. Beyond the truth of the statements and the logic of the arguments in Science and Health, is added the charm of following to its source many a stream of living water, the clue to which has been indicated but not followed out in detail by Mrs. Eddy.

The value of literature is in proportion to the moral and mental stimulation that its study sets up in the thought of the reader. The best work is that which awakes in the student the dormant appreciation of truth and beauty, and the most invaluable of all writing is that which offers a logical explanation as to why our acts should always be on the side of good. Can any book compete with Science and Health on one or all of these points? Not one. We all know that gleams of truth flash out from the writings of many a genius; but in no book, except "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," can be found the constant, unwavering consecration of effort to explain and elucidate the simplest of all statements, and yet, for practical use, the most difficult of theories,—that God is All-in-all. It is only through the study of our text-book that the greatest book in the world, the Bible, is made comprehensible to us. The surest sign of the connection of the Bible with Science and Health is the undoubted fact that only through this book can we rightly appreciate the Scriptures; and, conversely, only through their study do we gain a better understanding of Science and Health.

In studying a particular word, or group of words, in the Christian Science text-book one cannot but be astounded at the original method employed in its composition. One sees that an opportunity is offered to each student to work out the application of its teaching to various problems from his own mental standpoint, and yet at the same time the subject is enclosed within safe boundaries, for however lightly Mrs. Eddy may touch upon a theme it is nevertheless always used in connection with a definition of the unity of the divine nature. One can clearly see how innumerable are the applications of each word used in Science and Health and yet how impossible it is to falsify or misinterpret its use. For students of Christian Science the chief value of words lies in their metaphysical significance, and it is not merely of interest but highly important to interpret them aright and reveal the though which they embody, like the miner brings to the light the gold which lies hidden till sought for.

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