If man was not already perfect, we should never be able to demonstrate or attain perfection, for we can never demonstrate or prove anything that is not already a fact. It was from that basis of understanding that Christ Jesus declared (Matt. 5:48), "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." He possessed accurate and scientific knowledge of God as the one self-existent and perfect cause and also of man as His exact image. He knew the infinite perfection of both cause and effect—the perfection of all being. It was the understanding of that primary fact which underlay his healings and his demonstration of unsurpassed spiritual power, and it is that same understanding of perfection which is the basis of healing in Christian Science today.
Referring to this, Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer of Christian Science, writes in her textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 259): "In divine Science, man is the true image of God. The divine nature was best expressed in Christ Jesus, who threw upon mortals the truer reflection of God and lifted their lives higher than their poor thought-models would allow,—thoughts which presented man as fallen, sick, sinning, and dying. The Christlike understanding of scientific being and divine healing includes a perfect Principle and idea,—perfect God and perfect man,—as the basis of thought and demonstration."
Throughout the various books of the Bible, the perfection of God is constantly proclaimed and emphasized. The way of God is perfect, we are told. He is declared perfect in knowledge and wisdom. His creation, all His works, are perfect and are governed by perfect law. Perfection is the essential and fundamental nature of God as understood in Christian Science, and it is the eternal fact of all being. One of the words most frequently used in the vocabulary of Christian Science is "perfect," and because of this its full and inspiring definition should be clearly perceived and spiritually assimilated by all who use it. In order to fully know perfection we need to understand and appreciate what "perfect" really means.
