Teaching the Bible to Sunday school pupils, like all Christian Science teaching, has a practical purpose. Its object is to make the Bible the chart of life for them. This teaching is based on the conviction stated by Mary Baker Eddy that "the one important interpretation of Scripture is the spiritual" (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 320). The aim of all Sunday school teaching to pupils of every age must, therefore, be to help them find this spiritual interpretation.
For guidance in this matter a Christian Scientist will turn naturally to Mrs. Eddy's textbook, Science and Health; indeed he will find in the Manual of The Mother Church (Art. XX, Sect. 3) the direction that in the teaching of the older children use shall be made of the Christian Science Quarterly Bible Lessons, which include correlative citations from the Bible and Science and Health. Here in these citations for weekly and daily study are to be found examples of how the Bible is to be spiritually interpreted. But while the Quarterly Lessons are specially indicated in the Manual, the plan on which they are composed prevents the inclusion of more than a few verses in each section; these convey the ideas immediately relevant to the particular Lesson. It is often desirable for pupils to read the Bible narratives or arguments at length in their contexts and understand how these fit into the book as a whole.
A sound knowledge of the Bible was formerly traditional in the American and British peoples, and formed a basic element in their education. It is to be hoped that it will again be so. Just as the younger children should have the Bible read to them or be told stories out of it, so the older pupils should be encouraged to read in it widely for themselves. In their study of the two textbooks, the Bible and Science and Health, they should be encouraged to take note of other correlative passages, similar to those set out in the Lesson-Sermons.
