If we were all essentially physical entities, and if matter alone were real and causative, then there could be only one logical approach to preserving health, and that would involve material remedies. If, however, we are more than physical beings, then such a limited approach would be inadequate, and healing treatment would consist of gaining expanded views of our true nature as something other than a material machine. “Man is more than a material form with a mind inside, which must escape from its environments in order to be immortal,” observes the Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, in her insightful book about treatment and healing, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (p. 258).
If we are more than material forms, then it makes sense that treatment itself needs to take on more than material forms. Christian Science teaches that all of us, rather than being confined in matter, are actually unencumbered by it—unencumbered to such a degree that we are classified as God’s fully spiritual offspring. This means, then, that instead of striving to determine the effects of matter on matter, truly innovative breakthroughs about treatment must acknowledge the action and effects of thought, of God, and of spirituality.
Christ Jesus, who time and again proved the efficacy of healing spiritually, certainly came up against the world’s intense, materialistic perspectives. The Bible relates how, when the devil challenged him to use his prayerful skill to transform a rock into food, “Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God” (Luke 4:4).
It’s instructive how Jesus didn’t attempt to satisfy a worldly, material standard. Stones into bread, as attractive as that might have seemed (especially after he had been fasting for 40 days), would be a manipulation within the illusive domain of physicality, rather than an exploration of the freedom of God-given infinite spirituality. Jesus’ expanded approach to prayer was based upon God as the sole creative force and upon the resulting spiritual substance of creation. His example opened up a very present spiritual universe, in which healing isn’t about manipulating physicality; it’s about a God-centered, spiritually based transformation of perspective.
The basis for healing treatment in Christian Science is found in how we each exist as a result of God’s creative action. With God, divine Spirit, as the one and only creative force, it follows that we as Spirit’s creations actually have no material constituents. As Spirit’s offspring, we don’t need to leave physicality to become spiritual; we actually are and forever remain spiritual, never material, despite the impressions made upon the so-called physical senses.
On this basis, prayerful treatment in Christian Science addresses the misconceptions—the lies, really—that would wrongly proclaim that Spirit and its spiritual creation could ever be something other than perfect and whole. Healing comes through the stirring revelation in which the perpetually perfect state of God is recognized as permanently expressed in us as God’s entirely flawless creation. Consequently, a healing is not so much a material action as it is a divinely inspired change of thought.
Healing isn’t about manipulating physicality; it’s about a God-centered, spiritually based transformation of perspective.
Here’s an example: A friend of mine was requested to make an appointment with an oral surgeon when a dentist became alarmed at what looked to be a cancerous growth in her mouth. She spent the days before seeing the surgeon treating herself prayerfully and spiritually. Instead of considering herself to be a material entity in danger, she dedicated herself to learning more about the flawless, spiritual nature that she derived from God.
My friend wasn’t intimidated into thinking that prayer was inferior to materially based treatments. Her ensuing spiritual growth, which came as a result of studying the Bible and Science and Health, helped her gain a deeper conviction of what was really true about herself as the expression of God’s spiritually perfect nature.
At a basic level, this new, truthful view changed her whole outlook. She called it “consciousness deep-cleaning.” It became much more clear to her that she is spiritual only, without any alternate aspect to her identity. She knew her effort wasn’t about applying spiritual truths to attain a physical standard; it was about pausing to see how there really is no alternative to spiritual identity. After a few days, she felt a deep, untouchable peace.
Just as Jesus didn’t invest his time in turning stones into bread, my friend hadn’t focused on altering matter. The entirely spiritual creation of God had Jesus’ exclusive interest, and it had hers, too. At her appointment, the surgeon said, “There is nothing for me to see or do. There is no cancer or even any growth visible.” My friend’s fresh view of her God-given spiritual identity, along with that deep-seated peace, has remained with her.
The world’s mainstream approaches to treatment may continue to be based on the assumption that we are predominantly or solely material bodies—little material machines. A more expansive approach is needed; there is a need to stretch thought beyond this narrow perspective and become open to healing treatment based on the pure spirituality with which God has gifted all of us.
Science and Health explains: “The standard of perfection was originally God and man. Has God taken down His own standard, and has man fallen?
“God is the creator of man, and, the divine Principle of man remaining perfect, the divine idea or reflection, man, remains perfect” (p. 470).
Both originally and today, God’s perfection expressed perpetually in God’s creation remains universally true and is the ultimate standard for effective, healing treatment.
