Why is it important to study the Christian Science Bible Lesson using our books, the Bible and Science and Health, when we have other resources, online and the Study Edition of the Christian Science Quarterly?
—A READER FROM Colorado, US
A: The Church Manual by Mary Baker Eddy provides for a weekly Bible Lesson. It’s open as to what we do with it. If you were to give children the outline of a tree—a firm, clear, rooted trunk with branches reaching out—and let them draw leaves, those trees would be as unique as each child. In the same way, conscientious, prayerful, daily study involves adding “leaves” to the basic weekly Bible Lesson, allowing the “divine influence ever present in human consciousness”—the Christ—to fulfill God’s design for our individual spiritual growth (see Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health, p. xi),
As appealing as prepared forms of the weekly Bible Lesson are for their time-saving accessibility, clarity, and informative convenience, they cannot match the unrestricted potential of God’s direct communication with us through Science and Health and the Bible. When we are receptive to our pastor’s guidance, a word, concept, or Bible story, may impel us to further investigation. Often this opens whole new arenas—or branches of thought—unrelated to the current Bible Lesson.
