It has been said that the greatest thing a human being ever does in this world is "to see something and tell what he saw, in a plain way." There is no place where clear seeing and plain telling should receive greater attention than in the Christian Science Sunday school. When a teacher has a clear concept of the spiritual import of the lesson to be taught, he is seeing the truth of being as revealed through Christian Science to this age; and he then should be able to present it in such a clear, accurate, and convincing manner that the children in his class may know beyond a doubt that it is the absolute truth by which they can work out all the intricate problems of their lives. A good lawyer proves his case not alone by arguments, but by confirming his arguments with citations from annotated commentaries, the statute books, and other recognized authorities; and in quoting from them he gives the exact words of the text. The mind of a child, keen and quick to grasp simple facts, wants the last letter of proof in answer to his questions; and a teacher needs to know, not only the text of "the law and the prophets," but how to state it correctly, to discern its spiritual meaning, and to show how it may be applied to everyday life.
In that superb discourse, generally called the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus reached a bold climax when he said to the multitude before him: "Let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil." How simply told! "Yea, yea," is the affirmation of truth. "Nay, nay," is the denial of error. If we all followed this exact rule for expressing ourselves one to another, how different our world would become. "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mrs. Eddy is largely made up of this kind of "Yea, yea," and "Nay, nay," and that is why it heals the sick and reclaims the sinner. This is also one reason why it should be accurately quoted. To do otherwise is not only an injustice to the author but a perversion of the spiritual revelation given to this materiality-bound age to liberate it and all subsequent ages from the illusions of personal sense.
In her Message to The Mother Church for 1901 (p. 22), Mrs. Eddy says, "I adhere to my text, that one and one are two all the way up to the infinite calculus of the infinite God." Truth is truth "all the way up." Is there any place in that "infinite calculus" for an error of statement in premise, in argument, or in conclusion? In the "scientific statement of being," on page 468 of Science and Health, she has expressed the answer in the plainest language that could possibly be used, in perfect conformity to the admonition of Jesus, revealing the eternal "Yea" and "Nay" of universal being.
