Q: Since the Bible has changed so many times since its inauguration, how can we believe what it says? How do we “take the inspired Word” when we don’t know what has been changed? I love Science and Health but I really don’t like the Bible for these reasons, and because extremists take it so literally. How can I change my opinion?
—From a summer intern at The Mother Church
A1: I can certainly understand your concerns. For decades my copy of Science and Health was far more worn than my Bible. While regular study of the Christian Science Bible Lesson kept me from being completely ignorant about the Bible, my Bible study was mainly confined to the Bible references from the Lesson. Any extra study I did was of Mrs. Eddy’s writings.
But I was never comfortable about that when the first tenet of our Church affirms that the inspired Word of the Bible is “our sufficient guide to eternal Life” (Mary Baker Eddy, Church Manual, p. 15). To get to the inspired Word of the Bible I knew I had to study it far more deeply. And that meant the whole Bible, not just the parts I liked and knew. So I enrolled at a seminary where I took courses which greatly helped me negotiate my way through the murky waters of variant translations and interpretations of the Bible.
