Through Christian Science the Scriptures are illumined, and the parables and sayings of Jesus unfold in clarity and meaning as the student turns in thought from the material sense of creation, commonly accepted as real, to the spiritual sense, based on the first chapter of Genesis.
In the textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy, the chapter headed "Glossary" enables one to translate material terms into their spiritual meaning, which, when apprehended, furthers progress.
The parable of Dives and Lazarus, as found in the Gospel of Luke, presents a striking contrast between the belief of life and pleasure in matter and the improved state of thought which results from the acceptance of the spiritual idea of being. These two characters might be thought of as representing different stages of human consciousness—the corporeal belief of selfhood, which is fed and clothed sumptuously and carefully tended, and the spiritual idea of life, which often is neglected, starved, and granted only a meager allotment of our time and interest.
