The message which Christ Jesus brought to the world was twofold: the divine perfection of God and His sons, and the way of proving that perfection by purifying the human self. After giving some specific directions for carrying out such purification, Jesus said, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."Matt. 5:48;
In modern terminology we can say that Jesus dealt with both absolute and relative values. Regarding the former, he made radical statements such as, "My Father . . . is greater than all"John 10:29, 30; and "I and my Father are one." And regarding the latter, he gave the matchless Sermon on the Mount, the parables, the new commandment to love as he loved. And his glorious healing works implemented his teachings as an essential example of the effect of Truth on human thought.
Christian Science makes a clear distinction between absolute truth and relative values. For the purpose of understanding this Science and its healing method, it suffices to say that absolute means unqualified, unlimited, not comparable. Mary Baker Eddy says of God: "He is universal and primitive. His character admits of no degrees of comparison."Miscellaneous Writings, p. 102; Again and again in her explanations of the Science she discovered, Mrs. Eddy shows that statements of absolute truth admit no other existence but that which is perfect, divine, real.
