MARY BAKER EDDY wrote, "Jesus of Nazareth was the most scientific man that ever trod the globe." She then continued, with what I think of as a definition of what her declaration means: "He [Jesus] plunged beneath the material surface of things, and found the spiritual cause" (Science and Health, p.313). So apparently, being "scientific" is plunging beneath the material surface of things and finding the spiritual cause—the infinite, creative, divine Mind. But does this mean that Christian Scientists oppose scientific endeavors? And why would Mrs. Eddy have called her discovery of Jesus' healing system "Christian Science" if we were not to be scientists of reality?
If I had to sum up what Christ Jesus proved and what Mrs. Eddy discovered in three words, I would say, "Reality is perfect!" Jesus did not come here to impress us with miracles—momentarily setting aside the laws of the universe—in order that he might get us to conform to a certain religious behavior. What would be the point of that? But, on the other hand, if he perceived the much deeper spiritual laws of the universe—only beginning to be hinted at with today's natural sciences—and understood that these perfect laws express the Principle of the universe, infinite Love, then revealing this understanding is a great and wonderful purpose! I can't think of anything more sacred than to awaken thought to perfect spiritual reality, which results in the healing of limitations of any kind, freeing ourselves and others from sickness, sin, and death.
Jesus said, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect" (Matt. 5:48). Science and Health puts it this way: "The Christlike understanding of scientific being and divine healing includes a perfect Principle and idea,—perfect God and perfect man,—as the basis of thought and demonstration" (p. 259). And it explains Jesus' purpose in this way: "His mission was to reveal the Science of celestial being, to prove what God is and what He does for man....
