"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." So the Apostle Paul wrote to his beloved Timothy (II Timothy 3:16,17). Students of Christian Science accept Paul's statement, and they realize the further fact that the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy, is also "given by inspiration of God." It is evident, then, that our Lesson-Sermons, comprised solely of selections from these two books, the Bible and Science and Health, present not human doctrines or opinions but unadulterated statements of revealed truth. In selecting these statements, the Bible Lesson Committee endeavors to make each Lesson-Sermon not a mere intellectual compilation of correlative passages, but a spiritual unfoldment of the subject under the guidance of divine Mind. In the degree in which such guidance is realized and demonstrated, it may be truly said that Mind, and not a person or group of persons, is the author of our sermons.
Of the subjects for the sermons our beloved Leader once said, "These subjects were given of God, they are sufficient and they will remain." Although the same subjects are repeated every six months, their infinite nature is such that they may be used indefinitely without exhausting the possibilities "for instruction in righteousness." Covering as they do the essentials of Christianity and of Christian Science, they provide an ever-continuing unfoldment of the eternal verities of God and man.
It is well to remember that each week many who have become newly interested in Christian Science begin for the first time to study the Lesson-Sermons. For this reason the citations must be selected and arranged so that the Lessons will be clear and helpful to beginners as well as to more advanced students. Naturally this may necessitate the repetition of certain passages used in previous Lessons on the same subject. However, this repetition may be found increasingly valuable to all students of the Lesson, for often a frequently repeated passage will glow with new meaning because of its use in a different connection. Just as a beautiful statue can be fully appreciated only when viewed from different angles, so a familiar Bible verse or passage from Science and Health will bring fresh inspiration when considered from the basis of other citations with which it may not have been previously associated.
