Looking under the word "Scriptures" in the Concordances to Mary Baker Eddy's writings, we find many references. A study of these references inspires us to a higher than academic sense of what it means to teach the Scriptures. In one instance she says, "Rightly to read and to practise the Scriptures, their spiritual sense must be discerned, understood, and demonstrated. God being Spirit, His language and meaning are wholly spiritual. Uninspired knowledge of the translations of the Scriptures has imparted little power to practise the Word." ^{The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 238}

The question before the Christian Science Sunday School teacher as he prepares for his class is what he can do to teach the Scriptures to the pupils so that they will read them rightly and practice them —discern, understand, and demonstrate their spiritual sense. The teacher may need factual information about the Bible story the class will discuss. But in his thought and preparation he will need to subordinate all this knowledge except what throws real light on the spiritual message the story brings.

If too much emphasis is placed upon the underlying facts, the teacher will eventually run into the problem of the pupil who has enough scholarly curiosity to question whether or not they really are facts. If the teacher implies that historical accuracy is essential to the authority of the Scriptures, he is thereby inviting the inquisitive pupil to ask, for example, whether the story of Daniel and the lions' den was written to inspire people to worship God or to encourage civil disobedience. He may also challenge the record of Noah preserving "all flesh, wherein is the breath of life" by taking them "into the ark, two and two" ^{Gen. 7:15} to ride out the flood. Such questioning may sound like rebellion against the truth, but it is simply the young thought doing its duty as a scholar.

Bible stories provide spiritual meanings that can be invaluable in the pupil's efforts to understand himself, who he is, what he sees in his environment, how he can improve it, and so on. Their authenticity is in the inspiration and practical guidance they provide.

For one who expects to use a Scriptural passage to bring out a spiritual lesson, an understanding of the design of human history is essential. Christian Science itself is God's law operating throughout history, and the progress of humanity out of material beliefs toward an understanding of spiritual cause and effect is the story of this divine law operating in human consciousness.

To understand history as the effect of this law is to understand what we are doing today in Christian Science. A Christian Science healing today is directly related to the experiences of Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Daniel, John the Baptist, Jesus, the apostles including Paul, and the writing of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mrs. Eddy. One who is working out a problem in Christian Science, if he understands this, can feel the power of the divine Principle operating now, and his study of the Scriptures can assure him that the law which has brought humanity to the point where many people now understand the law is able to bring about in human consciousness a solution to the immediate problem. A healing must result.

History is still going on, and the pupils in a Sunday School class are an important part of it. A lesson is successful if the pupils come to see a little more of themselves, to understand their purposes, to recognize some of the possibilities of their limitless identities, and to know what they can do to take advantage of new truths they have come to know.

To achieve these results, the teacher will need to use the one truly effective teaching aid—his own life. If he prepares for the class with true dedication to God, he will show a sufficient interest in that portion of God's family known to him as the Sunday School class to give deep, prayerful study to the pupils' needs. The pupils, not the Scriptures, are the reason for this lesson. The Scriptures are the logical means for meeting those needs. If the preparation is right, and if the teaching is clear, the pupils will know that their needs are being met, and they will eagerly return for more.

The teacher who works out his Sunday School lesson with Christly love will give heed to the message of Christ Jesus' parable of the Samaritan, who "as he journeyed, came where he [the wounded man] was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine." ^{Luke 10:33,34} If the teacher's preparation is in the spirit of coming where the pupil is, he will do whatever research may be helpful in relating his lesson to the pupil's own search for identity, but primarily he will seek out the spiritual meanings of the Scriptures that will help him meet the pupil where the pupil thinks he is. Turning to Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy for deeper understanding of the Samaritan mission of the coming class session, he may find useful such correlative statements as the following: "Oil. Consecration; charity; gentleness; prayer; heavenly inspiration." ^{Science and Health, p. 592} "Wine. Inspiration; understanding." ^{p. 598}

Carl J. Welz