To preserve and glorify the Scriptures, there began to appear, in fifth-century Eastern Europe, beautiful vellum manuscripts of the Old and New Testaments. They often were written wholly or partially in gold and further decorated in brilliant colors. After reading through pages of the usual black, script, to come upon one of these illuminated pages is arresting. While few of us today read the Scriptures from decorated vellum, the Bible is often illumined for us in another way. We become aware of its spiritual meaning. This illumination brings healing.
The Bible was Mrs. Eddy's only textbook in discovering Christian Science, as she herself says.Science and Health110:13-17. Her own healing from the severe effects of a fall was brought about by a sudden dawning of spiritual enlightenment or illumination, after she had read the Biblical account of Jesus' healing of the palsied man. This led her to search the Scriptures diligently to find the divine Principle and rules that she felt must be behind the healing power manifested by Christ Jesus and practiced by the early Christians. "The Scriptures were illumined; reason and revelation were reconciled, and afterwards the truth of Christian Science was demonstrated,"Ibid. she writes. Her findings were published in the textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.
The spiritual illumination of a Bible passage brought a beautiful healing in the experience of a young mother. One morning her baby showed symptoms of German measles. The disease had been much publicized in the local papers, and it seemed rampant in her community.
