When people read the Bible, they find that the tenor, or spirit, of the Word can touch their lives in any number of ways. The Word of God presented in the Ten Commandments, in the Sermon on the Mount, in the rich accounts of Jesus' life, defines and provides what is needed for worthwhile living in every age.
In Christian Science churches, the Bible, along with Mary Baker Eddy's Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, is central to the worship services. These books do not simply provide background for a sermon presented by a pastor; in Churches of Christ, Scientist, the Bible and Science and Health themselves combine as the ordained pastor. The perfect, spiritual nature of omnipotent God, and of man created in God's likeness, is an essential teaching of this pastor.
Can anything replace the Bible, with its unparalleled message of hope, healing, and regeneration? In contemporary society, materialism and physiological theories of healing, in many ways, have mistakenly been accepted as the "bibles" of our time. Yet, for genuine reformation, progress for mankind, and healing, the inspired lessons of the Holy Scriptures are absolutely essential. Nothing can substitute for spiritual truth. Commenting on this, Mrs. Eddy wrote in No and Yes, "If the Bible and Science and Health had the place in schools of learning that physiology occupies, they would revolutionize and reform the world, through the power of Christ."
