THE AUTHOR OF SCIENCE AND HEALTH, MARY BAKER EDDY, also founded The First Church of Christ, Scientist. She realized early on that personalities and politics, all kinds of human opinions and prejudices, could influence members of any denomination. Consequently, in 1894, she designated a unique pastor—an impersonal pastor—to teach, maintain, guide, and support the Church she founded—forever. And today these two books continue to provide daily, hourly, moment-by-moment nurturing, consoling, energizing, and healing messages to everyone who studies them. Taken together, the Bible and Science and Health supply practical, immediate help and spiritually satisfying answer that no human pastor could ever provide. They give scientific answers about how to heal every trouble that humanity faces. Truly a universal pastor, these books are always available to the entire world, 24 hours a day, every day, now and eternally.
These books work in tandem with one another—Science and Health "unlocks" the Scriptures through divine revelation, and the Bible supports the foundation and very life of Science and Health. Precisely because Science and Health delves into the spiritual meaning of the Bible, Christian Scientists have gained profound insights that expand and enrich traditional Christian concepts that have been practiced for millennia.
This month's feature, FIVE CHRISTIAN CONCEPTS, begins with Mary Trammell's article on sacrament. The next four articles address the Christian Science perspective on several other religious concepts—communion, new birth, baptism, and resurrection. Following upon centuries of religious tradition, such as communion through partaking of wine and bread, baptism by water, or a once-a-year Easter commemoration of Jesus' resurrection, Christian Science throws new light on religious rituals and embraces their deepest meanings. So, turn the page, and join our writers as they explore what "these two books have to say. ..."
