UPFRONT August 6, 2007 Issue

'What do you really believe?'

STEVE GRAHAM, SENIOR MANAGING EDITOR

On more than one occasion, I've heard that a Christian Scientist, having been asked that question, has directed the questioner to the six tenets of Christian Science—and that this has successfully served to provide quick and clear answers. Sometimes it makes the most sense to let Mary Baker Eddy herself outline the Science that she discovered in 1866.

And sometimes it's not just newcomers, but practicing Christian Scientists as well, who benefit from the reminder that "a brief exposition of the important points, or religious tenets" of their faith, is found on page 497 of Mrs. Eddy's book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.

The word tenet derives from the Latin verb tenere, "to hold." These basic points that students of Christian Science seek to hold to, or grasp—including the holiness of Biblical inspiration, God's supremacy and forgiveness, the healing significance of Jesus' life-example, eternal existence—involve the practice of a Science as vast as Truth itself. Yet they are set down so lucidly and succinctly that they fit on a single page of Science and Health.