FOR many centuries the word "church" has been used with a variety of meanings. It may mean a place where people meet periodically to worship God. It may indicate a group of individuals banded together in support of a certain body of religious principles.
It remained for Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer of Christian Science and Founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist, to explain Jesus' statement to Peter (Matt. 16:18), "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." She points out that the name "Peter" is derived from the Greek word petros, or stone, which in Jesus' statement represents the power of Truth, or God.
Thus Jesus built his church on the foundation of God's power, against which the dashing waves of error, sin, disease, and death, beat in vain. The church which Jesus established was primarily a healing church, for he told his disciples to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, and raise the dead —those asleep in ignorant and sinful beliefs and practices.
