In "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" Mary Baker Eddy defines first the absolute spiritual sense of Church, and then the function of Church as it relates to human experience. The entire definition follows (p. 583): "Church. The structure of Truth and Love; whatever rests upon and proceeds from divine Principle.
"The Church is that institution, which affords proof of its utility and is found elevating the race, rousing the dormant understanding from material beliefs to the apprehension of spiritual ideas and the demonstration of divine Science, thereby casting out devils, or error, and healing the sick."
The teachings of Jesus, disclosing the pure and perfect nature of God and His idea, man, were accompanied by reformation and redemption of the human character. The accounts of Jesus' healings are brief and give little detail, but as one comprehends the Master's teachings and acts through the study of Christian Science he comes to realize that reformation of thought frequently preceded physical healing.
