Article April 9, 2018 Issue

The Christian Science Bible Lesson: a starting point for daily prayer

Alex Griffin

Christian Science is the divine Science Christ Jesus showed to the world—the Science of Christ that reveals man in harmony with God, the divine source of his being. Prayer based on this Science is effective, bringing harmony both to individuals’ daily lives and to communities or societies as a whole. Prayer, imbued with the power of the Christ, revealing man as the wholly harmonious, spiritual reflection of God, destroys error, which is defined by the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures in part as “a supposition that pleasure and pain, that intelligence, substance, life, are existent in matter” (p. 472).

One of the ways to pray every day is through the study of the weekly Bible Lesson from the Christian Science Quarterly. Each week’s Lesson is focused on a central theme, and is composed of passages from the Bible and from the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health, which is a scripturally based book that helps readers more readily understand the Bible in its full spiritual meaning. The Bible Lesson is an immense and invaluable resource for inspiration. Each week, it serves to focus prayers around a central theme that can help bring healing to oneself and the world.

Yet, the Christian Science Bible Lesson is not the ending point for daily and weekly prayer. It is the starting point. Mrs. Eddy writes in Science and Health how important it is to “study thoroughly the letter and imbibe the spirit” (p. 495). In my own study of the Bible Lesson, I read directly from my books, as I find the full worth of the passages and stories becomes more apparent when read in the context of their placement. The full breadth and depth of the Bible and Science and Health provide an infinite resource of healing inspiration to draw upon.