Christian Science has often been beautifully described as the redeemer of human consciousness; and this it truly is, for the mission of Christ is purely redemptive. In human experience the Christ is revealed in spiritual ideas. Every spiritual idea appearing, or unfolding, in human consciousness redeems and saves us, individually and collectively, from some false belief. It is therefore highly important that the redemptive and regenerative character of Christian Science be kept in mind.
Christian Science is not merely a therapeutic or healing system designed to relieve men of physical distress or financial straits, nor is it a beautiful, abstract philosophy to be enjoyed intellectually. In her book "Rudimental Divine Science" Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, writes (pp. 2, 3): "Healing physical sickness is the smallest part of Christian Science. It is only the bugle-call to thought and action, in the higher range of infinite goodness. The emphatic purpose of Christian Science is the healing of sin; and this task, sometimes, may be harder than the cure of disease; because, while mortals love to sin, they do not love to be sick. Hence their comparative acquiescence in your endeavors to heal them of bodily ills, and their obstinate resistance to all efforts to save them from sin through Christ, spiritual Truth and Love, which redeem them, and become their Saviour, through the flesh, from the flesh,—the material world and evil."
To assume or believe that mere philosophic or metaphysical reasoning, or even audible declarations, will bring about character regeneration would be a great mistake. It would indicate a failure to grasp the real import of Christian Science and the life purpose of the Master, Christ Jesus. We must not lose sight of the fact that the purpose of Christian Science is to make the world and ourselves better by redeeming the consciousness of those who live in it. Christian Science is founded on the teachings and life of Jesus. On page 271 of her textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mrs. Eddy refers to the Sermon on the Mount as the essence of this Science. And why? Because that great discourse deals wholly with the regeneration of the individual. The surest, in fact the only, way to redeem the world is to redeem ourselves; that is, we must redeem and transform our individual consciousness of being. To be ever conscious of good is to be never conscious of evil. We learn, therefore, to ask ourselves frequently, "What does it mean to be a Scientist—not only a Scientist, but a Christian Scientist?"
