A beautiful image of the scope of Jesus’ life is painted by the words of the Apostle John. He concludes his gospel report of all that people had seen by saying, “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written” (John 21:25).
Something echoing that could be said of the impact of Mary Baker Eddy’s Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures since it was first published on October 30, 1875. The collective gratitude felt by readers for their experiences of healing is incalculable. If just a single healing has resulted from every copy of the Christian Science textbook in circulation over the past 150 years, that would amount to over ten million healings. Yet the book’s hundred-page chapter “Fruitage” points to so much more. It shows how studying and pondering the truths in Science and Health leads to a life transformed by Christ, with God’s demonstrated presence and power woven into the very fabric of every day.
For all that, the book is in the early days of all it can and will do for humankind. It’s the key to the Scriptures, and therefore unlocks the timeless spiritual understanding of the Bible that is pivotal to humanity’s salvation. It also brings into sharp relief the mental nature of both the problems we face and the solutions they call for. It says, “Truth is an alterative in the entire system, and can make it ‘every whit whole’ ” (p. 371). Understanding the truth that God’s nature as divine Spirit is expressed in each of us as a wholly spiritual identity, the very image of God, adjusts discord to harmony in our bodies and our characters, and in any aspect of our lives.
