Editorial February 22, 1988 Issue

The connection between redemption and healing

William E. Moody

Anyone who has seriously considered the subject of healing in Christian Science—and anyone who has humbled himself and earnestly prayed through a challenge on the way to healing—has probably realized an essential connection between individual redemption and the healing itself. Spiritual regeneration, transformation of thought and heart, putting off the old man or woman and putting on the new—this is at the core of true Christian healing. Whether the particular need in a given instance is the healing of physical sickness, or of a broken relationship, or of some moral weakness, the work of regeneration leads the way.

Recognizing the central importance of this redemptive effort, people sometimes wonder if they must then become humanly perfect—or very close to it (as if on the doorstep to heaven!)—before they can be healed. Yet the nature of God's love isn't ever that of a cruel, merciless taskmaster, withholding goodness and comfort and care when these are needed most. Divine Love surely does show the direction for progress, clearly marking out the path of spiritual growth, but Love also offers healing at every point along the way.

Consider Jesus' example as the master healer. Although so much of what he taught served to illustrate for his followers the serious demands of working out their salvation, he didn't require something called a "perfect disciple" before someone could be healed. The healing itself could be either a holy consequence of a person's spiritual growth or a stirring harbinger of regeneration, or both.

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