IN THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE BIBLE LESSON December 20, 2010 Issue

THE GIFT OF DIVINE HEALING

ANN EDWARDS

THE GOLDEN TEXT from Isaiah starts out this week's Bible Lesson, titled "Christian Science," with this encouragement: "Thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee" (Isa. 60:1). What a wonderful way to greet Christmas morning!

This Lesson is a joyous and two-fold proclamation. First it retells Biblical prophecy of the Messiah and its glorious fulfillment in the birth and life of Jesus Christ. Secondly, it proclaims the discovery of Christian Science by Mary Baker Eddy in 1866 to be the Comforter, or divine Science behind Jesus' ministry.

Both events are presented as the light of God shining in darkness. The root of the Hebrew word meaning light, as used by Isaiah, is "'owr," and it means "to be" or "to make luminous." The New Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible defines that word more fully using such powerful verbs as "kindle" and "set on fire" (p. 625 of Concordance; p. 9 of the Hebrew and Chaldee dictionary at the back).

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