IT might almost seem, from the attention which Christian Scientists devote to the healing of sickness, that this work is indeed, as some believe, the sole object of their ministry; but Mrs. Eddy makes this distinct statement: "The emphatic purpose of Christian Science is the healing of sin" (Rudimental Divine Science, p. 2). Its fulfilment of our Lord's command to "heal the sick" may be at present its most distinctive feature, but this is only because of the more abundant opportunity to help mankind physically than is afforded to meet their deeper need of moral and spiritual enlightenment.
The mission of Christian Science, now and always, is to redeem mortals from their belief of separation from God, expressed in the sense of sin and death as well as in the sense of disease, but it necessarily takes up this work at the first and easiest point within reach, which is physical healing; for, as Mrs. Eddy goes on to say, "while mortals love to sin, they do not love to be sick" (Ibid., p. 3). Nevertheless, if one will look behind the scenes he will see that much more is transpiring than outwardly appears, for the physical betterment accomplished through Christian Science involves a degree of moral improvement that cannot be obtained from any purely human system.
That human pathological systems are palliative rather than eradicative is evident from the material premises upon which they are founded. Let us suppose, for instance, that all mankind were healed of their diseases today by these means: according to mortals' beliefs, the whole human race, if they continued to hold their present material beliefs, would be on the highway to disease again before the next morning. Although temporarily relieved of suffering, yet retaining the belief in material origin and moral depravity, with the vices that result therefrom; retaining the belief in material law, with the fears that necessarily accompany that belief, in what other direction could humanity go, unless these errors of belief were corrected and replaced with the spiritual sense of being? Despite its best efforts, the human mind is unable to eliminate or to escape from its own errors, since it is itself the fountain from which these errors spring, and the same fountain cannot produce both truth and error. Notwithstanding the lofty motives and faithful work of medical practitioners, which Christian Scientists do not desire to depreciate, it is apparent that mankind have not been lifted thereby a single degree out of their belief in evil and its supposed power. The utmost that material methods inspire in mortals is the hope that, by these means, their earthly sojourn may be made as long and as pleasant as possible.
