Article September 18, 1976 Issue

Healing Truth for All People

FRANCIS WILLIAM COUSINS

When people's troubles seem larger than they can face, it may be because they are not equipped with the means to face them. When they see this, they begin to look for something practical, something that does meet their need, that heals their sickness and takes away their sin.

Mary Baker Eddy, who discovered and founded Christian Science through divine revelation, perceived the need for humanity to understand more fully the teachings of the Bible and particularly of Christ Jesus. She realized there was a saving divine Principle behind Jesus' teachings that needed to be seen and could be scientifically demonstrated. In her book Retrospection and Introspection she says: "The motive of my earliest labors has never changed. It was to relieve the sufferings of humanity by a sanitary system that should include all moral and religious reform."^{Ret., p. 30;} Her search for this system had even impelled her to investigate homeopathy and other curative schools.

During this search, she repeatedly retreated to the solace of Bible reading. Led by a spontaneous healing, Mrs. Eddy saw the meanings of Bible teachings and began to understand their significance. She established her system of religion so that all could, through gaining a spiritual knowledge of God and man, share in her discovery. In answer to the question "How would you define Christian Science?" she writes, "As the law of God, the law of good, interpreting and demonstrating the divine Principle and rule of universal harmony."^{Rudimental Divine Science, p. 1;}