It may be said that throughout all history the ideal of the individual has been the attainment of freedom. Whether the human sense of freedom has been able to confer the benefits supposedly attaching to it is questionable; nevertheless, the desire has persisted and will persist, until the deep heart-longing of every individual shall be satisfied through finding his birthright of freedom as a child of God. That this is so has been made unmistakably clear through the revelation of Christian Science, based upon the Bible.
In the twenty-second chapter of Acts it is recorded that Paul, when he was bound, was questioned as to his Roman citizenship by the chief captain, who, referring to himself, said, "With a great sum obtained I this freedom." And Paul replied with assurance, "But I was free born." In Christian Science we have the understanding that real freedom is not to be purchased "with corruptible things, as silver and gold," but through the recognition of one's spiritual identity as a child of God.
A student of Christian Science gratefully remembers that a first and lasting impression of the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy, was that its pages from first to last breathe the spirit of freedom. It might be said that one can scarcely find therein a page or paragraph which does not, either directly or indirectly, declare man's complete immunity from every claim of evil. Many instances of healing could be given as the result of claiming man's birthright of freedom through the application of even a slight knowledge of spiritual law as stated in clear and unmistakable terms in this book.
