In the Manual of The Mother Church in Article XX, which governs all Christian Science Sunday Schools, our beloved Leader has put forward a wonderful concept of spiritual education. This can be utilized not only in the Sunday school, but also in the home, for the purpose of giving to our children the Christian and scientific knowledge of God and His laws, which will enable them to demonstrate their God-given dominion. In this Article, Mrs. Eddy states that the children shall be taught the Scriptures, and she specifies that the first or foundational lessons shall be three great basic teachings, namely, the Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, with its spiritual interpretation from our textbook (pp. 16, 17), and the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:3-12). As we study these lessons in the light of Christian Science, we see that they epitomize the teachings of the Scriptures, and contain the basic elements of true religion.
In the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," our Leader writes (p. 131), "The central fact of the Bible is the superiority of spiritual over physical power." The subjects given as the first lessons for the Sunday school epitomize this "central fact." The Commandments rebuke the tendencies of physical sense. Obedience to moral and spiritual law is attained through the triumph of Spirit over matter. The Beatitudes unfold the qualities which are needed in the overcoming of mortal selfhood. The Lord's Prayer, with its spiritual interpretation, begins and continues with the affirmation of the allness of Spirit. It is understood as thought rises above material sense; and, when understood in its spiritual significance, it meets all human needs.
In teaching the Commandments we stress the need for honoring and obeying God, and deal specifically with sin, which constitutes disobedience to the laws of God. We cannot ignore the mortal tendencies to disobey these laws; for the beliefs of mortal selfhood must be fearlessly and impersonally uncovered and seen as no part of the real man. Christian Science shows the unreality of evil, and if we would protect ourselves and others from evil, we must be awake to the danger of making evil seem real by indulging in it. We read in the Christian Science textbook (p. 569), "Every mortal at some period, here or hereafter, must grapple with and overcome the mortal belief in a power opposed to God." The Commandments are the signposts leading to an understanding of Principle, which serves to correct the mortal tendency to indulge in evil.
