The therapeutics of Christian Science are divine because they are based wholly on the understanding of the present and eternal perfection of God and man. Mary Baker Eddy's discovery and founding of Christian Science brought to the world the absolute Science of true therapeutics, which was so wonderfully illustrated by the master Metaphysician, Christ Jesus, in his mighty demonstrations of healing. Speaking to his followers in all ages, he said (John 14:12), "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father."
Today, through the Science of the Christ, we all can become Christian metaphysicians and successfully practice the art of divine therapeutics, as did our great Exemplar and those who followed his precepts centuries ago. The teachings of this Science make clear the spiritual fact that the cure for every disease is a correct understanding and application of the power of God that meets the human need. As we meticulously follow the clear instructions on divine metaphysics set forth in the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mrs. Eddy, we can heal ourselves and others of the ills of the flesh.
The anatomy of the material body does not enter into the premise or conclusion of Christian Science treatment. This fact does not imply that the Christian metaphysician ignores the human need by saying that all is well when there is apparent evidence of discord.
On the contrary, his treatment, or scientific prayer, eliminates human suffering by turning thought away from the aggressive universal belief that we are mortals, experiencing either ease or disease in matter, to the understanding of perfect God and perfect man.
This understanding is the remedy for every ill. The man of God's creating, our real selfhood, has no degree of mortality, either good or bad. In reality we are the individualized, immortal, spiritual, and perfect expressions of God and have never been in the Adam-dream, or hypnotic state of mortality.
Christian Science treatment heals instantaneously when thought is lifted above the carnal mind, with its outlined form of a material body, into the realm of divine Mind, where man is found to be the image, the spiritual embodiment, of divine perfection, having no physical, organic, or corporeal structure to be healed.
Mrs. Eddy writes in Science and Health (pp. 476, 477): "Jesus beheld in Science the perfect man, who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals. In this perfect man the Saviour saw God's own likeness, and this correct view of man healed the sick."When our thought is at one with the infinite truth of being, healing is always instantaneous.
Christian healing is impossible if thought is dwelling on an internal or external physical condition. To be healed of fleshly ills, thought must be "absent from the body" and "present with the Lord" (II Cor. 5:8).
Mrs. Eddy states in the textbook (pp. 259, 260), "Deducing one's conclusions as to man from imperfection instead of perfection, one can no more arrive at the true conception or understanding of man, and make himself like it, than the sculptor can perfect his outlines from an imperfect model, or the painter can depict the form and face of Jesus, while holding in thought the character of Judas." And she adds, "The conceptions of mortal, erring thought must give way to the ideal of all that is perfect and eternal."
God's man is spiritual, and because he is spiritual and not physical, he cannot be in a hopeless physical condition. He was never compressed within the limits of the carnal mind's false phenomenon, or objective effect, called a physical body. He lives and moves and has his eternal being in the infinite realm of Spirit, God, where matter and suffering are forever unknown.
The Christian metaphysician never looks for degrees of perfection in matter. Although he discerns and dissects thoughts, he does not make a physical diagnosis of himself or of others. He does not turn thought to the flesh by asking questions about it. Such questions express a doubt as to the real nature of man as God's image and likeness and are a direct implication that he believes man to be material.
If healing seems protracted, we might profitably ask ourselves these questions: What is my real motive for turning to divine metaphysics for healing? Is it to learn more of the eternal perfection of God and man, or is it primarily to find ease in matter? Am I doubting the efficacy of the ever-present healing Christ by harboring the subtle suggestion that if this method of therapeutics fails me, I can always return or resort to material methods of medication, hygiene, psychotherapy, psychology, or hypnotism?
Let us be quick to detect and reject the attempt of animal magnetism or evil to question the existence and power of God. This it does by suggesting that man is a mixture of the spiritual and the material, that it is therefore possible and logical to mix the therapeutics of Spirit with therapeutics of matter and expect healing results. Not only is such a mixture unethical, but it is a direct violation of the First Commandment (Ex. 20:3), "Thou shalt have no other gods before me."
To receive the benefits of Christian Science treatment, it is imperative that one give up not only the application of material means, but also the mental reservation that material means might be of some assistance.
Fidelity to Truth opens wide the door of human consciousness to the healing Christ. Spiritual regeneration is the fundamental purpose of Christian Science treatment. When our sincere and active desire is to learn more of the true nature of God and man, healing is always the inevitable effect.
A faithful student of Christian Science found that "the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Hebr. 4:12). Faced with the appearance of a badly inflamed and swollen hand, she telephoned a Christian Science practitioner, who immediately detected in the student's thought great fear of the infection's spreading and the subtle suggestion that she might find it necessary to have surgical attention.
Answering the student's question, "What shall I do?" the practitioner endeavored to turn the patient's thought away from matter by reassuring her that God's healing power is fully adequate to meet every need. Working faithfully with the practitioner and giving earnest, prayerful study to the Ten Commandments and to "the scientific statement of being," found on page 468 of the textbook, which states in part that "there is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter," the student soon had a complete and permanent healing. Through the operation of divine Love in human consciousness, the flesh opened, and the hand drained. Soon it was restored to its normal condition, without a scar.
When we fully realize the divine fact that God, the great Physician, is capable of meeting every need, our healings will be instantaneous. Referring to God, the Psalmist tells us (Ps. 33:9), "He spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast."This is divine therapeutics.
