IF someone should ask for a concise formulation of Mary Baker Eddy's contribution to the advancement of human progress, it might be replied that it is the discovery of the practical metaphysics underlying Christ Jesus' works. The study of metaphysics as a theoretical discipline or human philosophy goes back to the early Greeks, and the word "metaphysics" is Greek in origin. In the library of Andronicus of Rhodes, the editor and publisher of Aristotle's works, Aristotle's writings on first principles were placed right after the writings on physics, and therefore he referred to them as meta ta physika — that which comes after physics. This indexing was so suggestive that the term "metaphysics" was generally adopted for these writings on first principles or the essence of being, as lying behind the physical appearance of things.
However, as long as metaphysics was considered to be only a theoretical discipline, or human hypotheses concerning the causes which lie behind a physical universe, it could not be considered a science. And this position is still that taken by modern academics, who do not take Christian Science into account. In order to be scientific, metaphysics must be approached from the standpoint that it is the Science of divine Mind, which presents the one coherent and consistent system of spiritual existence, and which in its lucidity and self-evidence is comparable to the multiplication table. It is not enough, however, for such a spiritual metaphysical system to exist as something abstract, beyond the practical use of mankind in the solution of the problems of daily life. The system to be complete must support its theory by practice, even as the seamless robe which Jesus wore indicated the practical healing power of the Christ which he presented and taught.
As long as the Saviour is looked upon as a person, it is difficult for the accurate thinker to accept the statement of Christ Jesus (John 14:6), "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." How can the sincere seeker for truth relate the findings in the natural sciences to the teachings of Christ Jesus as long as the criteria of truth in the sciences and in the Christian religion are of quite different character? In the sciences the criterion is a law or rule by which observed phenomena can be explained, while in the Christian religion, in its personal interpretation, it is a belief or faith. Many religiously inclined physical scientists have a strong confidence in the validity of the principles and theories which explain natural phenomena and believe that these may be supplemented by a religious synopsis gained by a loose interpretation of the Bible and perhaps from the teachings of other religions. Probably most people believe that behind the physical aspects of the universe there must be an Absolute or a God, but what that First Cause is they find it hard to define.
