Surely it is the desire of every adherent of Christian Science increasingly to approach in his or her practice of Science the quality and quantity of Christ Jesus' healing work. Jesus said of such an individual, "The works that I do shall he do also."John 14:12. And to do these works we need to go beyond merely appreciating Jesus as the grandest man who ever lived, true and just as it is to revere him as our Exemplar. We must follow Jesus' example. We must understand the divine Principle that undergirds and encompasses Christian healing.
Principle is God; and God impartially endows us all with irresistible authority and invincible power to heal through spiritual means alone and without material aid. We claim this divine authority and power to heal in proportion as we adhere with understanding to Principle, a synonym for God that embraces His whole nature.See Mrs. Eddy, No and Yes 20:11-13 and The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany 225:27-30.
To understand Principle as God, however, dictates looking to a more comprehensive spiritual source for knowledge of Him than language dictionaries provide. Dictionaries define the uncapitalized term principle as basic truth or law. But such definitions fall short of the meaning of Principle as God, for they could be taken to mean humanly originated concepts of truth or law—concepts such as the principle of mathematics or the principle of music. Divine Principle is infinite, eternal Truth; Principle also embraces spiritual law. The Truth that is Principle is not derived from the evidence of the material senses; it is not fallible. In fact, it is underived, self-existent. Truth is God's Word, divine theology. And the law substantiated by Principle does not function only at our summoning or await arbitrary obedience to produce blessings. Omniactive Principle, commanding the obedience of all God's creation—all that really is—ineffably blesses. And we receive that blessing as we understand and obey Principle.
