"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet"

Duncan Sinclair

Christian Scientists regard the Bible as indispensable to them. If the Psalmist, thinking no doubt of the Scriptures possessed by his people, which were treasured and read by them as the inspired Word of God, could say, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path," how much more can Christian Scientists declare the same of the Bible, which contains not only the sacred writings beloved of the Hebrew race, but also the New Testament, bearing the record of the inspired sayings and doings of Christ Jesus and of his followers of the early Christian Church. The Bible to them is indeed the Book of books. So much so, that, as Mrs. Eddy writes in the tenets of The Mother Church (Science and Health, p. 497; and Church Manual, p. 15), "As adherents of Truth, we take the inspired Word of the Bible as our sufficient guide to eternal Life."

Now it was not always thus with those who are now Christian Scientists. Although many of them, before they heard of Christian Science, had a very warm corner in their hearts for the Bible, were appreciative of the marvelous literary beauty of much that it contained, and were grateful for the moral and ethical precepts which it unfolded and inculcated, still, they did not value it as in very truth the Word of God; they looked upon it, as a whole, more as a compilation of documents of great value, certainly, to mankind, but not absolutely essential to the future progress of world salvation. That has been changed through Christian Science; for now they look upon the Bible in precisely the way Mrs. Eddy has spoken of it in the tenet just quoted.

After Mrs. Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, was instantaneously healed, through spiritual understanding, of a bodily condition which had been pronounced incurable by the physician in attendance upon her, she set herself the task of discovering in the Bible evidence of the divine Principle which had healed her, and which she felt sure had enabled the spiritually inspired, whose records are chronicled therein, to do the marvels, wonders, or miracles accredited to them. In this she was successful. And having discovered in the Bible this evidence of the divine presence and power, she lost no time in proving to herself that her understanding of divine Principle could be used to heal the sick and the sinning in exactly the same way as the Founder of Christianity, Christ Jesus himself, had done.

After she had thus put her understanding of Principle to the test, and had scientifically demonstrated it by healing many cases of sickness and sin, she proceeded to impart her knowledge to others,—her students,—enabling them also to heal through spiritual understanding, while at the same time she worked diligently to place on perpetual record the great truths she had discovered. The result was that in 1875 her book "Science and Health" appeared; and from time to time thereafter revised editions of this book were issued by her. On page 361 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" she writes, "I have revised Science and Health only to give a clearer and fuller expression of its original meaning." The Christian Science Bible Lessons, contained in the Christian Science Quarterly, are compiled from the final edition of Science and Health and the King James Version of the Bible, and these same editions of Science and Health and the Bible—and these alone—are used at all Christian Science services in The Mother Church and throughout the world.

The Bible and Science and Health are the Christian Scientist's inseparable companions. Why? Because they help to keep him close to God; they instruct him as to God's divine nature and will; they warn him of the dangers which beset mortal existence; they reveal to him the everlasting truths of divine Being, teaching him how to apply these truths by rule to the solution of the many and varied problems which confront humanity. Many a lesson the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments teach him of God's goodness and love to man, of God's omnipresence, of God's omnipotence. They speak to him as plainly as friend speaks to friend, sometimes in direct, sometimes in figurative language, but always with the authority of Truth. Referring to Jesus' walk to Emmaus after the resurrection, our Leader writes on page 46 of Science and Health, "The divine Spirit, which identified Jesus thus centuries ago, has spoken through the inspired Word and will speak through it in every age and clime."

Just as the reading of Science and Health has repeatedly healed disease, even when it has been regarded as incurable, so has the reading of the Bible. Especially is this true when the Bible is read with spiritual understanding. He who studies the Word of God with some knowledge of the divine Principle which Christian Science imparts, is sure to discover in it innumerable examples of the power of God, and to find it teeming with the grandest affirmations of the healing truth.

Duncan Sinclair

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