WHAT, ACTUALLY, IS CHRISTIAN SCIENCE?
The student of the writings of Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, is soon aware of the great difference between this Science as she presents it and the concepts many people have of it—people who have learned of it casually or by hearsay. What Mrs. Eddy presents, far from being only another method of treating disease or another form of religious teaching more or less like those already established, is a basic scientific discovery with vital and immediate practical implications for men and women everywhere, and for the world.
For a full and authentic account of the subject, one must go to Mrs. Eddy's principal book, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," the Christian Science textbook; and those who know something of this book and its history are usually quick to recommend to others that they acquaint themselves with it, whether they are considering accepting its message or not. Its impact thus far on the thought and outlook of mankind and its further broad implications plainly warrant this attention. It is not too much to say that the revolutionary character of the book, if its message is to be accepted, surpasses that of any scientific discovery that has gone before.
For those who have not yet examined the book, or examined it as thoroughly as they would like, some aspects of its teaching may be indicated helpfully here. For one thing. Christian Science supports the view now generally held by thinking people that the universe is not what it appears to be; that its appearance represents only the physical senses' limited and distorted perception of reality. But Christian Science makes a further important contribution. It defines in the most exact manner the real nature of the universe, which, it holds, is the expression, the direct showing forth, of the nature of God. At the same time it dispels mystery as to the nature of God.
The term God is a convenient one and is freely used in Christian Science, as in other religions, and used always with deep reverence. It stands for the power which is responsible for and which absolutely governs the universe. This power is revealed in Christian Science as wholly good and as restricted in neither quantity nor quality. Other terms for it are infinite Mind or intelligence, infinite Life, Truth, and Love. God as thus defined is the divine Principle which is understood in Christian Science to be manifested throughout the real universe, including the real man individually and collectively.
It follows obviously that any appearance of disorder, limitation, or evil of any kind anywhere is not a real condition, but only the human mind's misconception of what actually is going on; and through this disclosure another enormously important fact comes to light, namely that what is required for the improvement of anything in human experience is only improvement in the thought about it. As thought accommodates itself more fully to divine reality in any of its aspects, the corresponding evidence of divine reality appears. Such evidence, such tangible improvement in human experience, is shown to be available always without measure.
Mrs. Eddy states all this plainly and indeed continues to throw light on it thoughout her books. Thus she writes (Science and Health, p. 484 ), "The physical universe expresses the conscious and unconscious thoughts of mortals"; and she says further (pp. 263, 264): "The fading forms of matter, the mortal body and material earth, are the fleeting concepts of the human mind. They have their day before the permanent facts and their perfection in Spirit appear. The crude creations of mortal thought must finally give place to the glorious forms which we sometimes behold in the camera of divine Mind, when the mental picture is spiritual and eternal."
This revelation greatly illumines the teaching and works of Christ Jesus. From the Master's continual assurances about prayer, its unfailing effectiveness and unlimited scope, it has been apparent always that he regarded thought as the key to whatever needed to be done. This, in effect, is what he was repeatedly saying. "Ask,"—obviously a mental adjustment—"and ye shall receive," he said (John 16:24 ), without qualification. Again (Mark 11:24 ), "What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them," and so on.
In the last-quoted statement, he did not say, "believe that ye will receive them," but, "believe that ye receive them," which certainly calls on us to turn thought to the nature of God and what He now provides for man. Then, Jesus was clearly saying, regardless of the nature of the need or of the quantity of matter or of the number of people apparently involved, the desired results follow, as they did for him in his stilling of tempests, his feeding of thousands where there had seemed to be no food, and his quick healing of the multitudes of sick folk brought to him on various occasions.
The great value of Mrs. Eddy's revelation is that she shows the Master's method to have been a simple, scientific procedure, available to all men now as in his time, in accordance with his own assurances. She shows the method to be available not only for the overcoming of distress, but for the enlargement of everyone's sense of capability, opportunity, and achievement, however large or however limited his sense of these may have been before. "I am come," Jesus said (John 10:10 ), "that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly "; and Christian Science teaches that this rule applies in every human situation.
In any research, for example, in therapeutics, physics, electronics, engineering, business policies, or elsewhere, the worker who is blocked or hampered can turn to the great fact of the ever-presence of infinite intelligence and his inseparability from it as revealed in divine metaphysics, and find the needed way opening, often in a better manner than he had ever previously hoped for. One can turn to the same intelligence in the handling of personal relationships, international relationships, and whatever problems may present themselves to individuals or groups. Not a change of real circumstances but further recognition of the infinitude of good is what is called for, and this, Christian Science shows, is always spiritually natural and practicable for everyone.
In view of these facts, it is not strange that the main concern of Christian Scientists is to advance in the understanding and use of Christian Science in their own experience, for the sake of themselves and those who may directly witness the resulting benefits. The same facts account for the nature and direction of the general missionary work of Christian Science, the essential purpose of which is not to persuade, but to ensure that as many people as possible will correctly understand this revolutionary teaching and be in a position to test it and to form their own well-based conclusions about it.
