A book that remains in continuous publication and has been translated into 16 languages and braille indicates that there is a deep and persistent demand for its ideas. Such a book would be considered an influential work and likely described as a classic, enduring and universally relevant.

That certainly can be said of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, now in its 150th year of continuous publication, which came about because its author, Mary Baker Eddy, listened to the guidance of God and the heart of humanity. She had a profound love for God and her fellow man, instilled in her by a lifelong love of the Bible, especially its accounts of Jesus’ life and healings. This inspired her compassion and a deep devotion to answering humanity’s demand for lasting solutions to suffering, sickness, instability, and injustice. She was ready to respond with courage and perseverance to the “unsatisfied human craving for something better, higher, holier, than is afforded by a material belief in a physical God and man” (Science and Health, p. 258). 

Mrs. Eddy realized that her discovery of what she eventually called “Christian Science” was the true answer to this deep need. It lifts thought from belief in a material God and man to the spiritual understanding of God and of man made in God’s image, resulting in a practical, systematic method of healing. This healing practice, explained fully in Science and Health, reveals the divine Principle behind Jesus’ words and works and shows the path to salvation. 

Knowing how vital her discovery was to humanity and seeing how deeply it resonated with unprejudiced thinkers, she recognized that “the demand for this book constantly increases” (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 305) and committed the book to “honest seekers for Truth” everywhere (Science and Health, p. xii).

And there are many! New readers of Science and Health I have encountered in my travels have described it in these ways: “Every time I open the book, it reaches into my heart” (Jamaica); “I was a lost sheep, and I needed this book. My sister read the book to me, and I was healed of a serious eye disease” (Brazil).

As more people found healing through the understanding of divine Principle, Mrs. Eddy recognized that a broader, significant change was taking place. She wrote, “The fact remains, that the textbook of Christian Science is transforming the universe” (Miscellaneous Writings 1883–1896, p. 372). While the world—across the fields of science, theology, medicine, human rights, and governance—seems constantly in flux, a far deeper shift is actually occurring. There’s a movement away from a divisive, material view of life to one with a unifying, spiritual, metaphysical basis. 

The qualities of God, Spirit, that we individually reflect as His spiritual expression—such as compassion, unity, reverence, and unselfed love—are increasingly desired and integrated into the core of everyday life as they become a more sought-after standard in our institutions as well as society in general. 

The author understood that the curative impact of divine Science would always be in demand, especially during times of chaos, conflict, war, and illness, and would continue to revolutionize thought for centuries. She described Science and Health as “the voice of Truth to this age” (Science and Health, p. 456) and states that it fully articulates Christian Science, making it a book that must be more widely shared so more people can be healed of suffering and find salvation, wholeness, and freedom from limitation and oppression. As Mrs. Eddy also once said, “Metaphysical healing, or Christian Science, is a demand of the times. Every man and every woman would desire and demand it, if he and she knew its infinite value and firm basis” (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 232). 

The importance of circulating Science and Health was a key topic in letters she wrote to many of her students. Here are some excerpts: 

“I hope you are introducing the book to all you meet—that Book is doing more good than aught else can do” (L10073, Mary Baker Eddy to Mary Hinds Philbrick, March 19, 1888, The Mary Baker Eddy Library, © The Mary Baker Eddy Collection); 

“It is God’s book, and He says, ‘Give it at once to the people’ ” (L02264, Mary Baker Eddy to William G. Nixon, December 18, 1890, The Mary Baker Eddy Library, © The Mary Baker Eddy Collection); 

“I am glad you are undertaking to circulate the book that is doing so much good. My students say the book does as much if not more towards healing than they can” (L05410, Mary Baker Eddy to Caroline D. Noyes, June 27, 1884, The Mary Baker Eddy Library, © The Mary Baker Eddy Collection). 

A new reader commented to me, “When I first read Science and Health, I felt so loved.”

What the book does for the reader is illustrated throughout its final chapter, “Fruitage,” which consists of letters from those healed simply by “the perusal or study” of Science and Health (p. 600). Such healing is alive and well today, as attested to by healings related in articles and testimonies in this issue of the Sentinel. And not just to the benefit of the healed individual. The natural outcome of being healed is wanting to help and heal others. Science and Health teaches how to do that as well as how to establish church on that foundation of healing, enabling others to see its value. 

As in the Bible, where Job’s life turned around when he started praying for his friends, so will we see a renewal, a rebirth of church, as we sharpen our focus on loving God, praying for others, and ensuring that Science and Health is as accessible as possible—leading to more healing and further transformation of individuals, our communities, and our world.

We can ask ourselves, Are we following Christ as Mrs. Eddy did through being animated by a burning love for humanity? A reader from the United States who has experienced the healing power of Christian Science commented to me, “When I first read Science and Health, I felt so loved.” Are we willing to love even more deeply, broadly, and unselfishly, so people are drawn to this healing Science? Another reader told me, “The moment I opened it and began to read, I was breathless. I believe that the pure spiritual knowledge in [Science and Health] will touch and inspire the hearts of everyone” (Mexico). Are we open to recognizing those hearts ready to receive this deeper, divinely sourced happiness and sharing Science and Health with them?

Each decade of experience provides forward momentum as well as ample opportunities for further progress. Mrs. Eddy’s unselfish and unswerving commitment is evident in her words: “All my work, all my efforts, all my prayers and tears are for humanity, and the spread of peace and love among mankind” (interview with W. T. MacIntyre, New York American, August 26, 1907). Let us continue to join her in her commitment with a joyful boldness, attentive love, and renewed devotion, as we increasingly find ways to respond to the ever-growing demand for the book that contains the complete statement of the Science of Christ—Christian Science.