The theory that Jesus will return to earth in person undoubtedly stems from a literal interpretation of several of his statements. Such a theory is in opposition to Jesus' own summary of his mission. In prayer to God he said (John 17:3,4): "This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do."
Christian Science teaches that the purpose of the Scriptures is to reveal the wholly spiritual, perfect, and harmonious nature of God and man and mankind's necessity to glorify God in repudiation of the material concepts which have darkened human thought.
In explaining God as the Principle of all being, and man as God's idea or reflection, Christian Science rejects the belief that man is of material origin, subject to sin, disease, and death, and declares man's true nature to be spiritual, perfect, and wholly good. It also proclaims that Christ is not corporeal, but is the divine nature reflected by man. Because of the common belief of life in matter, however, these facts must be individually understood and proved before the harmony they bring is experienced.
