In Biblical times, and still in some cultures today, a birthright entitles a first-born to blessings derived solely from priority in birth order. By contrast, Christian Science teaches that the birthright of each one of us is to be the beloved child of God, unhampered by material beliefs of life stages—birth, childhood, adolescence, maturity, old age, and death—and opens our lives to freedom from the limitations associated with human existence.

Birthright is defined as “a right, privilege, or possession to which a person is entitled by birth” (merriam-webster.com). Each of us is entitled to be, indeed is, the child of a perfect, wholly good, Father-Mother God. We were never born into material circumstances and were never destined to inherit a mix of good and bad traits from human parents or to repeat past mistakes and failures. Our origin was never in a “birth,” but is forever derived from our oneness with all that God is.

Mary Baker Eddy writes in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: “Jesus acknowledged no ties of the flesh. . . . He recognized Spirit, God, as the only creator, and therefore as the Father of all” (p. 31). Jesus knew and relied on his birthright of divine sonship and trusted God’s power to heal. Encountering a man who’d been born blind, he rebuked his disciples’ attempt to identify a cause of the condition, knowing that the man was one with his only Parent, God, and he healed him.