Section 1

The Bible

14God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM:

19I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee;

5I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:

6That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none else.

12I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.

1O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good:

5To him that by wisdom made the heavens: for his mercy endureth for ever.

13he is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he doeth.

11Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all.

Science and Health with Key to the Scripturesby Mary Baker Eddy

The great I am made all “that was made.” Hence man and the spiritual universe coexist with God.

True theory
of the
universe

The true theory of the universe, including man, is not in material history but in spiritual development. Inspired thought relinquishes a material, sensual, and mortal theory of the universe, and adopts the spiritual and immortal.

The notion of a material universe is utterly opposed to the theory of man as evolved from Mind.

God is Mind: all that Mind, God, is, or hath made, is good, and He made all.

The universe reflects God.

Section 2

The Bible

2behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

18Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.

1God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

2Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;

6The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.

10Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

9And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

10Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ:

Science and Health

Has Spirit resigned to matter the government of the universe?

In divine Science, the supposed laws of matter yield to the law of Mind. What are termed natural science and material laws are the objective states of mortal mind. The physical universe expresses the conscious and unconscious thoughts of mortals. Physical force and mortal mind are one.

Dragon
cast down
to earth

That false claim — that ancient belief, that old serpent whose name is devil (evil), claiming that there is intelligence in matter either to benefit or to injure men — is pure delusion, the red dragon; and it is cast out by Christ, Truth, the spiritual idea, and so proved to be powerless.

The belief that existence is contingent on matter must be met and mastered by Science, before Life can be understood and harmony obtained.

Immortal Mind, governing all, must be acknowledged as supreme in the physical realm, so-called, as well as in the spiritual.

Present
salvation

“Now,” cried the apostle, “is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation,” — meaning, not that now men must prepare for a future-world salvation, or safety, but that now is the time in which to experience that salvation in spirit and in life. Now is the time for so-called material pains and material pleasures to pass away, for both are unreal, because impossible in Science. To break this earthly spell, mortals must get the true idea and divine Principle of all that really exists and governs the universe harmoniously.

Undisturbed amid the jarring testimony of the material senses, Science, still enthroned, is unfolding to mortals the immutable, harmonious, divine Principle, — is unfolding Life and the universe, ever present and eternal.

In divine Science, the universe, including man, is spiritual, harmonious, and eternal.

Section 3

The Bible

11The seed is the word of God.

29And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed;

1the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.

2It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing:

1I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.

11For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;

12The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;

13The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell.

28Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

29even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

Science and Health

God alone makes and clothes the lilies of the field, and this He does by means of Mind, not matter.

Genesis ii. 4, 5. These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God [Jehovah] made the earth and the heavens, and every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God [Jehovah] had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.

Growth is
from Mind

Here is the emphatic declaration that God creates all through Mind, not through matter, — that the plant grows, not because of seed or soil, but because growth is the eternal mandate of Mind. Mortal thought drops into the ground, but the immortal creating thought is from above, not from beneath. Because Mind makes all, there is nothing left to be made by a lower power.

Spiritual
subdivision

Science reveals only one Mind, and this one shining by its own light and governing the universe, including man, in perfect harmony. This Mind forms ideas, its own images, subdivides and radiates their borrowed light, intelligence, and so explains the Scripture phrase, “whose seed is in itself.”

Mind’s pure
thought

The seed within itself is the pure thought emanating from divine Mind.

Christianity causes men to turn naturally from matter to Spirit, as the flower turns from darkness to light.

The floral apostles are hieroglyphs of Deity.

Section 4

The Bible

14Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,

15And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

14there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying,

15Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatic, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water.

16And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.

17Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.

18And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.

19Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?

20And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

37For with God nothing shall be impossible.

Science and Health

When man is governed by God, the ever-present Mind who understands all things, man knows that with God all things are possible. The only way to this living Truth, which heals the sick, is found in the Science of divine Mind as taught and demonstrated by Christ Jesus.

It is neither Science nor Truth which acts through blind belief, nor is it the human understanding of the divine healing Principle as manifested in Jesus, whose humble prayers were deep and conscientious protests of Truth, — of man’s likeness to God and of man’s unity with Truth and Love.

The Christlike understanding of scientific being and divine healing includes a perfect Principle and idea, — perfect God and perfect man, — as the basis of thought and demonstration.

If we wish to follow Christ, Truth, it must be in the way of God’s appointing.

We must forsake the foundation of material systems, however time-honored, if we would gain the Christ as our only Saviour. Not partially, but fully, the great healer of mortal mind is the healer of the body.

Universal
brotherhood

Having one God, one Mind, unfolds the power that heals the sick, and fulfils these sayings of Scripture, “I am the Lord that healeth thee,” and “I have found a ransom.”

Perfection
requisite

When we learn in Science how to be perfect even as our Father in heaven is perfect, thought is turned into new and healthy channels, — towards the contemplation of things immortal and away from materiality to the Principle of the universe, including harmonious man.

Section 5

The Bible

17I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord;

5Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

6In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

7Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.

8It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.

13Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.

2And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

22put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;

23And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

24put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

5Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

Science and Health

The scientific fact that man and the universe are evolved from Spirit, and so are spiritual, is as fixed in divine Science as is the proof that mortals gain the sense of health only as they lose the sense of sin and disease.

The scientific government of the body must be attained through the divine Mind. It is impossible to gain control over the body in any other way. On this fundamental point, timid conservatism is absolutely inadmissible. Only through radical reliance on Truth can scientific healing power be realized.

Disease is not an intelligence to dispute the empire of Mind or to dethrone Mind and take the government into its own hands.

Mortal thought must obtain a better basis, get nearer the truth of being, or health will never be universal, and harmony will never become the standard of man.

Confirmatory
tests

After a lengthy examination of my discovery and its demonstration in healing the sick, this fact became evident to me, — that Mind governs the body, not partially but wholly. I submitted my metaphysical system of treating disease to the broadest practical tests.

The author has cured what is termed organic disease as readily as she has cured purely functional disease, and with no power but the divine Mind.

Tests in
our day

Since God, divine Mind, governs all, not partially but supremely, predicting disease does not dignify therapeutics. Whatever guides thought spiritually benefits mind and body.

Section 6

The Bible

44Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me.

46I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.

14I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.

16And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

17We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.

Science and Health

God creates and governs the universe, including man. The universe is filled with spiritual ideas, which He evolves, and they are obedient to the Mind that makes them.

A closed
question

Mind’s control over the universe, including man, is no longer an open question, but is demonstrable Science. Jesus illustrated the divine Principle and the power of immortal Mind by healing sickness and sin and destroying the foundations of death.

Understanding spiritual law and knowing that there is no material law, Jesus said: “These signs shall follow them that believe, . . . they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them. They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”

Jesus’ promise is perpetual.

The purpose of his great life-work extends through time and includes universal humanity. Its Principle is infinite, reaching beyond the pale of a single period or of a limited following. As time moves on, the healing elements of pure Christianity will be fairly dealt with; they will be sought and taught, and will glow in all the grandeur of universal goodness.