Editorial September 29, 1986 Issue

Are we receptive to healing?

BARBARA-JEAN STINSON

Sometimes people, especially those who are just learning of Christian Science, wonder if it can heal physical conditions that might be labeled extremely serious or even incurable.

A statement in Science and Health is thought-provoking in this connection and helps to provide an answer. Here Mrs. Eddy speaks of her own work in testing the practical application of Christian Science to people's needs. She writes: "Late in the nineteenth century I demonstrated the divine rules of Christian Science. They were submitted to the broadest practical test, and everywhere, when honestly applied under circumstances where demonstration was humanly possible, this Science showed that Truth had lost none of its divine and healing efficacy, even though centuries had passed away since Jesus practised these rules on the hills of Judæa and in the valleys of Galilee."^{Science and Health, p. 147.}

That phrase "where demonstration was humanly possible" turns one back to the Bible. Christ Jesus' life and work, his healing record, must be our example. Judging by the long list of serious diseases the Master healed, apparently he didn't consider anything to be incurable. The Bible tells us that Jesus healed a man of a paralytic condition (see Matt. 9:2–7); he restored a man's withered hand to its normal healthy condition (see Mark 3:1–5); his spiritual understanding enabled a man who had been born blind to see (John 9:1–7). And of course there is the well-known story of Jesus' raising Lazarus from the dead after Lazarus had already been buried for four days (see John 11:1–44).

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