Article March 31, 2014 Issue

'Felt ye the power of the Word?'

Aaron Bingham

Today it can be easy to overlook the radical nature of being able to freely walk into a Christian Science church service and hear the pure Word of God because we stand at a point in human history where the freedom to listen to the Bible, and its spiritual interpretation, as found in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, has been won in many parts of the world. But this established freedom needs to be cherished and defended—and one subtle, deceptive thought to guard against is that hearing the rousing, healing Word of Truth is something that could possibly put people to sleep and thereby make it valueless.

It’s plain why listening to citations from the Bible and Science and Health must be an awakening experience. While the belief of mortal existence is the “deep sleep” described in the account of Adam in Genesis 2:21, the nature of Christ, through the Word, is always to wake us out of this mesmerism. For example, when it was known to Christ Jesus that Lazarus had died, Jesus told his disciples that he would go to Lazarus to “awake him out of sleep”—which he did, through his command to “come forth” (John 11:11, 43). Christ is always rousing us to “come forth” and wake out of the mortal dream of sin, disease, and death.

It’s also helpful to know that Mary Baker Eddy says: “The ‘still, small voice’ of scientific thought reaches over continent and ocean to the globe’s remotest bound. The inaudible voice of Truth is, to the human mind, ‘as when a lion roareth’ ” (Science and Health, p. 559). If you had a lion pacing the pews and roaring during the church service, it would be difficult, to say the least, to take a nap! How helpful to know that the Word of God is just as rousing (and more comforting).