While Christian Scientists frequently quote, as their authority for healing sickness and sin, the words of Jesus, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also," they also quote, as setting forth the promise of Christian Science, his familiar statement, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Sometimes, however, we fail to give proper significance to the first word in the verse, the conjunction "and," which is really very essential because it makes this knowledge of the truth which makes "free" contingent on something preceding this verse.
Going back, then, to the preceding verse and taking the two together, we read: "Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." This knowledge of the truth which makes for freedom, first demands of us that we believe in Jesus, that we acknowledge him as the Wayshower of whom our Leader says: "Jesus aided in reconciling man to God by giving man a truer sense of Love, the divine Principle of Jesus' teachings, and this truer sense of Love redeems man from the law of matter, sin, and death by the law of Spirit,—the law of divine Love" (Science and Health, p. 19).
We are next told that in order to become his disciples, his "taught ones," we must continue in his word. The revised version uses the word "abide" instead of "continue." Much, however, hinges upon our apprehension of the full meaning of "word" as used in the King James version. The Greek expression for "word" is logos, and we find that even in ordinary use, logos not only stands for the outward form by which inward thought is expressed, but also for the inward thought itself. It means not only oratio, speech, but also ratio, reason manifesting itself in the power of speech. The word also has a certain special signification as used by Jesus and by John in stating the truths of Christianity. Mrs. Eddy speaks of "the inadequacy of material terms for metaphysical statements" (Science and Health, p. 115), and in order to adapt the Greek language to something so foreign to the Greek understanding as the teachings of Jesus, special meaning is given to some expressions and phrases, and even to single words. For instance, in the very first chapter of John, we read, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God." Here "the Word" means the essential word, doctrines, or teachings of God, infinite wisdom and power, source of life, creative, law-giving, revealing activity.
