Some years ago I came across a photograph of the interior of an ancient rock-hewn sepulcher in Jerusalem, traditionally reputed to be the tomb from which Christ Jesus was resurrected. I was stunned. Up to this point I had accepted Jesus' resurrection with some incredulity, as if it lay more in the realm of legend than historical fact.

Perhaps my reaction was not surprising, since at that time I regarded myself as a nominal Christian rather than a practicing one. Accepting the Scriptural accounts of Jesus on trust, my small Christian faith rested upon a tenuous belief that "if the Bible says it's true, then I guess it must be true." But I knew this was a blind faith, for I failed to see just how or why Jesus' bodily resurrection could be fully accepted as a historical fact. And even though I realized that the historical authenticity of the pictured tomb might be in some doubt, for some indefinable reason I suddenly found myself fully acquiescing to Jesus' resurrection with a deep sense of awe and wonder.

For some time I had been cherishing a deep desire to understand God. A few months after encountering the photograph of Jesus' tomb, I was introduced to Christian Science and began to study, in conjunction with the Bible, the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. With growing spiritual perception I read the New Testament as if for the first time. The Scriptural accounts came alive and began to make sense. They were beautiful, logical, practical. I found Science and Health a vital key to the Scriptures, abundantly fulfilling its author's statement "Truth has furnished the key to the kingdom, and with this key Christian Science has opened the door of the human understanding." ^{Science and Health, p. 99.}

As the door to understanding was gently opened to me, this revealed God as infinite divine Spirit and man as God's spiritual reflection, or image. I began to see that because matter is not the solid reality it seems to be but an illusion of the material senses, it cannot oppose the power of God, Spirit, or separate man from God's goodness and love. I saw that these must have been the same truths that enabled Jesus to heal and to demonstrate immortality through his resurrection. Indeed, I found I could now perceive in a measure why Jesus' resurrection can be accepted as a historical fact. I saw that it evidenced the ultimate triumph of Truth over error, Spirit over matter, Life over death, and thus was the supreme criterion for accepting Jesus as the Saviour of mankind.

Reluctance to believe his resurrection is perhaps understandable, especially in our secular, materialistic age. Even Jesus' own disciples were incredulous. Thomas, who had not seen Jesus during his first reappearance to the disciples after the crucifixion, doubted and demanded physical proof. But when Jesus again appeared to his disciples (this time while Thomas was with them), he said to Thomas: "Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing." Thomas immediately replied, "My Lord and my God," indicating not only his acceptance of Jesus' bodily resurrection but also his recognition of Jesus' spiritual identity as the Christ, or Son of God. Jesus then made the point so significant to all: "Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." ^{John 20:27–29.}

During the almost two millenniums that have elapsed since that portentous incident, many have "not seen, and yet have believed." But others have felt the need for something to corroborate the Biblical record, some evidence of spiritual power now. Like Thomas, they have needed something humanly tangible to stir conviction. This "something" has now been reinstated through Mrs. Eddy's discovery and founding of Christian Science in 1866, revealing two vital aspects of Christianity that had been either hidden or lost to the world for centuries.

First, through Science and Health Mrs. Eddy recorded God's revelation that man and the universe are wholly spiritual and good, even as the first chapter of Genesis indicates. In the light of this revelation it could be seen that Jesus' bodily resurrection was not only possible but also logical—proof that matter and evil are not the realities of existence they seem to be but illusion, error that can be overcome by Christ, Truth.

In view of Jesus' resurrection and ascension, perhaps it may be said that no further proof of man's spirituality, goodness, and immortality is necessary. Certainly the Master gave the supreme example of man's actual Godlikeness. Nevertheless—and this is the second aspect of Mrs. Eddy's discovery—further proof has been abundantly provided. Through actual demonstration, Christian Science has reintroduced the unlimited possibilities of a practical Christianity that can be proved through prayer-based spiritual healing, healing based on the same divine Principle that resurrected Jesus from the grave.

Let's look at it this way: the Master's resurrection was achieved through spiritual power alone. It demonstrated the omnipotence of divine Spirit, destroying the seeming power and substantiality of matter. At the same time, in order to dispel Thomas's doubts, Jesus displayed his hands and side. Evidence of his struggle on the cross must have been still visible. But healing had occurred, enabling Jesus to walk, use his hands, and show himself to his disciples. This healing was further proof. It went hand in hand with his resurrection and gave the physical evidence that many needed in order to believe. Even so, today Christian Science offers further proof of the healing power of the Christ.

Through Christian Science, healing and resurrection are thus seen as important continuing aspects of scientific Christianity. For Christian healing involves a change of consciousness through moral and spiritual regeneration. This Christ-healing method is identical in Principle with resurrection as defined in Science and Health: "Spiritualization of thought; a new and higher idea of immortality, or spiritual existence; material belief yielding to spiritual understanding." ^{Science and Health, p. 593.}

In presenting healing and resurrection as fundamentally spiritual, Christian Science does not attempt to "spirit away" Jesus and his great triumph over the flesh. To the material senses, matter and flesh are very real and substantial. But Jesus overcame this false sense. "The flesh profiteth nothing," ^{John 6:63.} he said. His clear understanding that man's life is in Spirit, not matter, enabled him to rise above the human illusion and demonstrate the unchanging perfection of his spiritual identity, the Christ.

The Christ is divine sonship with God, our loving Father-Mother. Today, as in Jesus' time, the Christ-power denies, rejects, and destroys the false beliefs in sin, disease, and limitation. Through "spiritualization of thought" we can experience, in some degree, resurrection into "a new and higher idea of immortality, or spiritual existence." And our awakening out of the mesmeric dream of material sense is the concomitant of healing. But to bring the Christ-power to bear upon our problems, we need to develop Christliness in the way Jesus taught.

Jesus is our Way-shower. His healing works and resurrection revealed boundless possibilities for our individual spiritual growth, whereby we can heal ourselves and others. Following him, we too can rise up and reach out for a higher sense of spiritual reality and of God's infinite goodness and love. As the Apostle Paul put it: "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above .... For . . . your life is hid with Christ in God." ^{Col. 3:1, 3.}