Although Article VIII of the Church Manual is headed "Guidance of Members," the guidance in Section 1 is of equal benefit to all Christian Scientists. Thus, every Christian Scientist, whether now or not yet a member of The Mother Church, should "daily watch and pray to be delivered from . . . influencing or being influenced erroneously." One should do this for his own benefit and as an obligation to all who may be concerned. To influence or to be influenced erroneously is an evil, and its avoidance requires constant vigilance. The adverb "daily" means "day by day" as well as "every day."
An instance for the present discussion is furnished by class instruction from an authorized teacher. The experience of some teachers is that their classes occasionally include a few pupils who have waited to get this aid to progress longer than was necessary. Not only have they failed to get the benefits of class teaching when ready for it, but some of them have been discouraged or misled by mistaken theories, or by inaccurate reports of what teachers have said.
Our Leader's prescription for readiness is simple: "Christian Scientists who are teachers shall carefully select for pupils such only as have good past records and promising proclivities toward Christian Science" (Manual, Art. XXVI, Sect. 2). In these words there is no hint that readiness for class instruction requires many years of study. In fact, class instruction is not intended to complete one's training as a Christian Scientist; it should be regarded as an aid to further study and to practice.
