Article November 19, 2007 Issue

A lesson, a sermon, a pastor: A past look at the CHRISTIAN SCIENCE BIBLE LESSON

BY JUDY HUENNEKE

HISTORY ISN'T ALWAYS about investigating the "facts." In many ways, what we glean from history are perspectives. Knowing the past, our viewpoints may change, and we may even gain insights about the future.

As I prepared to write this article, I knew that Mary Baker Eddy had said very little about the Christian Science Quarterly, so I decided it would be best to read articles from early issues of The Christian Science Journal and Sentinel. For me, this opened up a rich story. I thought the history of the Quarterly was about Bible lessons becoming sermons. I was wrong. This is a story about preaching and study, closely intertwined.

As many Sentinel readers will know, the Quarterly is also about another pairing, that of the Bible and Science and Health. This linking of the Scriptures with the Christian Science textbook is a natural one. As early as 1879, at the founding of the Church of Christ (Scientist), this Tenet was adopted by the members: "As adherents to Truth, we take the Scriptures for our guide to Life eternal." (This Tenet now reads: "As adherents of Truth, we take the inspired Word of the Bible as our sufficient guide to eternal Life" [Science and Health, p. 497].) Research into the spiritual meaning of the Scriptures is a vital part of daily study in Christian Science. In some ways, this explains why a periodical such as the Christian Science Quarterly was, and is, needed.