On page 330 of the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," the author, Mary Baker Eddy, makes this statement: "When the following platform is understood and the letter and the spirit bear witness, the infallibility of divine metaphysics will be demonstrated." Immediately following this profound statement she sets forth with irrefutable logic the fundamental spiritual facts which constitute the "platform" of Christian Science.
A platform is something whereon to stand and declare oneself with authority, and ours, being built on spiritual facts, necessarily calls for spiritual declarations. It has been shown me that when we stand foursquare on the platform of Christian Science, error can be prevented from making good its claims in our experience.
An unusual but excellent opportunity was once afforded me to prove the unshakable stability of this spiritual platform and at the same time effectively set aside the lie that man is a material personality and therefore subject to the ravages of evil or animal magnetism. At the time, I was First Reader of a branch church. Between one and two o'clock one Sunday morning, I was suddenly and severely attacked by ptomaine poisoning with all of its accompanying physical pain and discomforts. Having undergone a prolonged siege with this malady some years before I became interested in Christian Science, I recognized the symptoms. My immediate concern on this occasion was for the service of the church at eleven the next morning rather than my own condition, though it appeared critical. The lateness of the hour seemed to exclude the thought of communicating with a substitute to read in my place.
