A student of Christianity

What does it mean to be a student of Christianity? When I was 15, I started to find an answer to that question. My family had always gone to the Methodist church down the street, but although I attended Sunday School regularly, I never really thought of myself as a student of Christianity. Then one day my mother, who had become interested in Christian Science through her uncle, brought home a copy of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy and invited me to read it along with the Bible.

I remember reading about “the divine Science which ushered Jesus into human presence” (Science and Health, p. 325 ). Mrs. Eddy insists that Jesus’ teachings can be learned and practiced today. At the time I was studying biology and chemistry in high school. In labs we were required to prove the ideas in the textbooks, so it was easy for me to see that Mrs. Eddy actually believed we could prove the Science of Christianity. She and many early Christians knew we were to follow the example of Jesus’ healing work.

Around this time, my mother took my brother and me to the Christian Science Sunday School, and we all began attending Wednesday testimony meetings together. It was encouraging when those speaking identified themselves as students of Christian Science, even if they had obviously been studying for a long time.

After several months of reading Science and Health, it was clear to me that Mrs. Eddy considered Jesus’ disciples to be his students. This was a whole new concept to me, but it made sense. In the past whenever I had asked questions about the healings in the Bible, I’d always received answers like “We’re not expected to understand.” Yet Jesus clearly said that we could learn to heal (see John 14:12 ).

I wanted to understand how to prove in my own experience what I was reading, and I began to discover passages in the Bible and Science and Health telling me that the real “secret” of Christianity was trusting God exclusively. One passage that really stood out to me in Science and Health was this statement: “If we are Christians on all moral questions, but are in darkness as to the physical exemption which Christianity includes, then we must have more faith in God on this subject and be more alive to His promises” (p. 373 ). 

I chewed on the idea of physical exemption for a long time because I knew that it meant I could trust in God exclusively, even if physical challenges arose.

By the time I was a college freshman, I was reading the Christian Science Bible Lesson each day before attending class, and came to rely more and more on God in solving challenges that popped up. Then one day I woke up with all the symptoms of influenza. My boyfriend, who would later become my husband, took me to his family home, where I spent the day on the couch in their living room. He and his mother were very loving and attentive, but I was barely conscious.

That evening my boyfriend drove me back to campus and checked me into the infirmary. But in spite of the care I received, I was worse the next day, and I felt it was time for me to prove myself as a student of the Science of Christianity. I checked out of the infirmary and returned to my dorm room, where I devoured the chapter on prayer in Science and Health. 

The conviction in this passage spoke clearly to me: “Who would stand before a blackboard, and pray the principle of mathematics to solve the problem? The rule is already established, and it is our task to work out the solution” (p. 3 ).

I saw so clearly that understanding God as divine Principle exempts me from the “revolving door” of material beliefs about different sicknesses. God, Principle, upholds my health and well-being—and this is the same divine Principle that Jesus relied on. By the next day I was completely healed and able to attend all my classes.

As I have sought to be a better student of Christianity, I have seen how those “physical exemptions” have multiplied through all sorts of healings. A conscious awareness of the Science of Christianity has become a reality and power in my life, and I’m so grateful that this Science is available for everyone to understand and utilize.