Once, when called upon in an emergency to help another, a student was impressed with the fact that Christian Science is an exact, demonstrable Science, and is to be systematically studied as such. Sometimes Christian Science may be appealed to in an emergency very much as one might turn to a material remedy. Then, relief having been received, the recipient goes his way, taking no further steps to inform himself as to how to prevent such an occurrence.
In her textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mary Baker Eddy, the beloved Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, writes (pp. 123, 124): "Christian Science differs from material science, but not on that account is it less scientific. On the contrary, Christian Science is preeminently scientific, being based on Truth, the Principle of all science." Does it not follow, then, that this Science requires of its students the same thorough and systematic study and application as do the commonly accepted material so-called sciences?
In the study of mathematics, for example, the pupil must learn the rules and then apply them in working out the problems. Is it always understood by the student of Christian Science that in the working out of his daily problems he must carefully study the rules of this Science and apply them continually in thought and deed? Only so, when a test comes, will he be ready to meet it. We should not expect to pass a test in mathematics without the necessary preparation and application of what we had learned. Being thoroughly prepared by our study, we should not be dismayed at the impending test, but go confidently forward to the best of our understanding until the right solution is arrived at. So it is with our application of the rules of the Science of being, Christian Science.
