"LIKE our nation, Christian Science has its Declaration of Independence. God has endowed man with inalienable rights, among which are self-government, reason, and conscience. Man is properly self-governed only when he is guided rightly and governed by his Maker, divine Truth and Love." So declares Mary Baker Eddy on page 106 of the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures." This Declaration of Independence is universal, unlimited in scope, unconfined to location, and unrestricted as regards race, creed, or color.
From early childhood our revered Leader made the Bible her closest companion and guiding friend. Consistently and persistently she read and studied the Holy Scriptures, all the time searching for a fuller understanding of God and of Christ Jesus' great works. Accepting the Bible declaration (Deut. 4:35), "The Lord he is God; there is none else beside him," Mrs. Eddy raised a new standard of liberty. She challengingly declared that man, God's idea, is wholly dependent upon God, the cause of his being. Man, living in Spirit, is inseparable from good, at one with his Maker. He is spiritual, perfect, freeborn. In the spiritual realm of Truth and Love the son is ever guided by his Father. He moves in accord with and under the protection and government of Mind, divine Principle. Therefore, he is never erroneously influenced, misdirected, or subjected to intrusions of carnal mind suggestions. In the completeness of God's universe of righteous activity there is no place for matter.
Mrs. Eddy shows mankind how effectively to utilize its inalienable rights. Her Declaration of Independence repudiates mortal mind as the source of intelligence or as a channel through which good flows, and annuls its simulated influence, power, or government. In the face of ridicule and opposition she proved that radical reliance upon God frees mankind from subjection to material limitation, enslavement to physical disability, or ensnarement of binding suggestions of the five physical senses.
