You may have asked yourself what it will take for humanity to rid itself of the aggressive and persistent evils that thwart our efforts to live peaceful, productive, meaningful lives. Some radically suggest it will take another world war or some other cataclysmic events. Or, as one contemporary author suggests, that biomedical technology will save us, leading us to a future where humanity manages its most pressing problems through morphing human beings into something less human and more technological. But can’t we place our hope in something more promising? Something beyond matter-based endeavors or events?
In the mid-1800s a woman with a keen spiritual intellect, divinely inspired perception, and a deeply compassionate heart saw in the spiritual meaning of the Bible a practical, transforming power able to overcome the physical and moral ills pervasive in our world and etched into humanity’s consciousness as reality. This saving power is the Christ, the divine idea of God, unseen by material perception, yet ever coming to human consciousness. This woman, Mary Baker Eddy, saw that the man Jesus was truly inseparable from Christ, his spiritual identity as the Son of God, but she also glimpsed that his human life didn’t circumscribe the Christ; the Christ presence and power did not begin with Jesus’ birth or end with his ascension. She pondered Jesus’ teachings and his healing ministry, and with her substantial evidence of success in healing others, she proved the scientific nature of Christ-healing and named her discovery Christian Science. Though Jesus stands alone in his total exemplification of the Christ, his own command to his followers to “heal the sick” (Matthew 10:8) implied the accessibility of Christ-healing to all of humanity for all time.
Although the names Christ and Jesus have been used synonymously for the last two thousand years, Christian Science clarifies that Christ is the incorporeal, eternal manifestation of God and Jesus was the fullest human corporeal expression of the Christ-power. Jesus’ words and actions—animated by a God-impelled desire and God-appointed mission to heal and save humanity from sin, disease, and death—epitomized the Christ-nature. Jesus demonstrated that at the core of the expression of Christ is the awareness of the spiritual unity of God and man. He showed that inherent in this realization that man is the offspring of God, Spirit, is availing oneself of the divine power able to heal diseased bodies, corrupt minds, and hardened hearts. He referred to God as his Father and our Father. He taught that the Father loves His sons and daughters and that we have the necessity and ability to love God and one another.
