Article December 2, 1922 Issue

Advancing Footsteps

WILLIS F. GROSS

We are sometimes asked, "What are the first steps to be taken in acquiring an understanding of Christian Science?" The answer to the question is simple; and the steps are not difficult if the desire for Truth is sufficient to inspire the necessary effort. The one who seeks to understand Christian Science in the first place needs a copy of its textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy. Christian Science was discovered by Mrs. Eddy; and she is the acknowledged Leader of the Christian Science movement. No one can take her place as the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science; neither can any one give to the world what she has given in this book. Science and Health is the textbook on Christian Science; and this important fact must be recognized by the student.

Referring to her own experience, Mrs. Eddy writes in Science and Health (p. 109), "I won my way to absolute conclusions through divine revelation, reason, and demonstration." The student also can gain spiritual understanding in no other way than through "divine revelation, reason, and demonstration." Science and Health is the revealed Word of Truth to this age. It is based on the Scriptures; and in order to understand and demonstrate what it teaches, one must study it faithfully in connection with the Bible. Mere personal opinions, however pleasing or satisfying they may be, must not be substituted for the revealed Word. The Cause of Christianity has suffered much because the adherents of this faith were content to accept personal opinions or explanations, instead of earnestly seeking divine guidance in the study of the Bible. The student of Christian Science needs to watch that he does not fall into the same error. What he gains from the honest, conscientious study of the Bible and Science and Health is of far greater value to him than the opinions and explanations of others can possibly be. We do not mean that he should refuse the help of others when help is needed; neither should he fail to recognize the progress others have made and the good they have accomplished; but he should never allow anything to take the place of his own individual study and work.

The ideas of Truth will be revealed in the study of the Bible and Science and Health; and the student must endeavor to put into practice what he learns. Here is where the important work begins. The study of the Bible and Science and Health may be a pleasant pastime from an intellectual point of view; but the right concept of Christian Science is not to be gained in this way, for it cannot be mastered by the human intellect. The sooner the student awakens to the fact that his progress depends upon living what he learns, the better it will be for him.

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