THE unerring example of Christ Jesus in the demonstration of the fundamental truths which constitute the Science of being, furnishes the true model for Christian Science practice. Through the denial of the testimony o material sense and the recognition and understanding that the evidence of spiritual sense alone is real and eternal, Jesus healed the sick and destroyed sin, thereby removing the sad consequences of sin. Through the overcoming of every so-called law which supports material belief and opposes itself to God, good, Jesus revealed the spiritual law of Life, which enabled him to multiply the loaves and fishes, to walk the water, still the tempest, and raise the dead. His demonstration, in fact, included an unparalleled labor of self-sacrificing love, through which he revealed to mankind the certain and only way of salvation from all evil,—sin, disease, death; and he finally proved man's indissoluble union with his heavenly Father, an idea inseparable from its divine Principle.
Without a deep, conscientious recognition and appreciation of the spirit and purpose of Jesus' life-work, a recognition made possible through the prayerful study of the Christian Science text-book, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mrs. Eddy, no Christian Scientist is properly equipped for the work of healing and the endeavor to regenerate mankind. The letter of the rule of Christian Science practice, without the spirit of divine Love, becomes merely a mental argument, carrying with it none of the purifying and healing elements essential to the practitioner's success. Mrs. Eddy says: "The vital part, the heart and soul of Christian Science, is Love. Without this, the letter is but the dead body of Science,—pulseless, cold, inanimate" (Science and Health, p. 113). Love therefore is the Principle of true brotherhood, its recognition of the inherent rights of one's fellow men and the accordance of these rights uninfluenced by any personal motives.
One of the chief characteristics of Jesus' work was its justice and true brotherliness. Nowhere in his ministry does there appear a personal motive for any word or act, nor was he in any sense governed or controlled by the personal sense of others, whether his open enemies or his dearly loved friends. He preached and practised the truth of being from the standpoint of divine Science, by adherence to its impersonal and spiritual rule. In view of the perfect nature and unerring results of the Master's teaching and practice, and moreover, since Science and Health furnishes a correct and demonstrable statement of the Principle and rule for the proof of his teaching, it were well for Christian Scientists to examine carefully their methods of practice and to avoid if possible any limited or personal sense of the work of healing. By employing the scientific rule laid down in our text-book, we may prove that the divine Principle which governed Jesus' work is as operative today as when the great Teacher healed the multitudes, and as effectual as when later his disciples in some degree emulated his example in healing the sick and raising the dead.
