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Articles

Advancing beyond intellectual explanations to Christly understanding

From the July 1984 issue of The Christian Science Journal


Sometimes it may seem much easier to describe what Christian Science is and how it operates than it is to actually demonstrate Christian Science by healing. We may well wonder just what more we need to understand, since Mrs. Eddy states in Science and Health, "We must recollect that Truth is demonstrable when understood, and that good is not understood until demonstrated." Science and Health, p. 323. How do we gain the understanding of Christian Science that heals instead of only explains?

It may be that our approach to studying Christian Science is too intellectual. Do we regard Science as another in a list of academic subjects we have mastered? We may be able to write a lengthy thesis about Christian Science theology, but if we are not able to heal, how helpful is our knowledge?

It's true that Christian Science places great emphasis on understanding God, as opposed to a blind faith in His power. But what kind of understanding? Spiritual understanding. Human analyses would categorize mankind's understanding of God within a humanly psychological framework. At one extreme would be blind faith, trust in divine help without any understanding and with no concept of God's nature. At the opposite end of the spectrum might be a scholastic, formal, intellectual approach to God, accepting nothing and trusting nothing but what could be substantiated with human logic and reasoning.

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