In studying to perfect himself in the most beneficent of arts, that of healing humanity's woes by spiritual means, the Christian Scientist may avail himself of both the inductive and the deductive mode of instruction as set forth by the four evangelists. They gave to all ages inspired impressions of their Master's sublime teaching and preaching, which supply both these modes of reasoning. They also gave vital statistics consisting of specific illustrations of his healing works, from which may be deduced metaphysical points indispensable to the healer.
Counting only those instances in which some form of so-called physical disease was healed or the dead were raised, the evangelists have immortalized in more or less detailed accounts twenty-six instances taken from the three years' public ministry of Christ Jesus. These healings ranged in locality from Phoenicia and Galilee in the north to the cities of Jerusalem and Bethany in the south. They manifest that love which blesses alike slave and nobleman, a beggar by the roadside, and the daughter of the head of a synagogue.
In examining the first of these vital examples of Jesus' healing ministry, we find a nobleman of Capernaum seeking Jesus at Cana and imploring him to come down to Capernaum to heal his child. In dealing with the subject of healing a patient at a distance, Mary Baker Eddy says: "Christian Science, recognizing the capabilities of Mind to act of itself, and independent of matter, enables one to heal cases without even having seen the individual,—or simply after having been made acquainted with the mental condition of the patient" (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 43). Whether his patient is present or in another locality, this elucidates two points vital to the healer. The first is the need to realize the power of Mind to act without aid from matter; and the second the need to recognize the patient's mental state as that which primarily requires healing. A correction was made in the December 1941 Journal: When published, the quote from Miscellaneous Writings was mistakenly attributed to The First Church of Christ Scientist, and Miscellany.
