Before I started studying Christian Science, I often questioned the supposed logic of the belief that God, who is good, can create or allow suffering. I couldn't accept the concept that God is a mystery or that suffering is part of His plan for us. Yet while I had an intuitive sense of what God is, there didn't seem to be any place to go to gain a solid and practical understanding of Him.
As I struggled along this line, I was led to Christian Science and to its textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. Here I read of a God who never allowed evil in His creation, who prevents its very existence by virtue of His allness. I learned that God is only good, that He is all-powerful, and that spiritual healing proves His omnipotence and goodness. What I loved most about Christian Science was that it was enabling me to get to know God.
Science and Health points out various Bible-based synonyms for God. It describes Him as Love, Life, Truth, Soul, Spirit, Mind, and Principle. As I thought about each of these terms, I realized that I was dropping my human theories of Him, theories that would make God manlike. I was coming to understand Him as wholly apart from materialistic concepts.
