Science and Health is a book that offers unlimited possibilities for study, and there is no formula or set pattern for its study. It may be read in parts or consecutively from beginning to end. It may be read to find certain themes or ideas and to savor their meaning. Chapters, paragraphs, and sentences may be examined individually and in depth.
Prayer, based on a sincere desire to know God better, has led me to each of these methods of study, and they have all deepened my understanding of the divine Science taught in this book. Prayer can guide the reader into the way of study best for him or her at any given time. Science and Health, the Christian Science textbook, came to Mary Baker Eddy through divine revelation and has a healing purpose. Anyone who studies this book with an open and honest heart naturally finds inspiration and healing.
In-depth study of individual chapters often reveals a logical sequence of ideas. This is especially evident to me in the chapter titled "Recapitulation," the chapter on which Christian Science Primary class instruction is based. This chapter starts with an explanation of God, and of the need to have one God, one Mind. It proceeds to discuss the true nature of being—of substance, Life, intelligence, Mind—and its supposed opposite. It also makes clear the true nature of man and answers pertinent questions about body and Soul and the actual source of intelligence. It then moves on to discuss the importance in healing of the truths of God and man, what healing in Christian Science does and doesn't include, and the significance of spiritual understanding, as opposed to fraudulent material sense, in perceiving and demonstrating the reality of being. The chapter ends with the religious tenets of Christian Science.
