Q: A poll from The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, reported in the Christian Science Sentinel, cited a trend: that a majority of individuals who are part of a religious tradition feel there are other means than theirs to enlightenment (see Christian Science Sentinel, “Faiths in America—Diverse But Tolerant,” July 21 & 28, 2008, p. 4). I love the embrace of that, but I’m wondering: Is there such a wide embrace in Christian Science? —A reader in Canaan, Connecticut, US
A. Every religious or human doctrine may have some elements of truth. The extraordinary thing about Christian Science, however, is that it really does contain the complete statement of Truth (meaning God). It explains the rules of Truth’s demonstration, thus giving humanity everything it needs to find salvation—to find safety, deliverance, freedom from want, and the healing of all manner of disease. And in Christian Science, not one of God’s children, regardless of background or religion, resources or connections, is left out of this great promise.
Christian Science is how “God explains Himself” (Mary Baker Eddy, Message to The Mother Church for 1901, p. 5). It is what the Old Testament prophets waited for with great expectancy, and what Jesus himself foresaw when he spoke of the Comforter. This Science explains and makes practical Jesus’ glorious teachings, which have the purpose of restoring, redeeming, and uplifting all of humanity, not in some future time or place, but here and now, as we learn and demonstrate it step by step.
