I’ve always loved the biblical accounts of Elijah and Elisha. They’ve grown to mean more to me over time. In the Glossary of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy’s definition of Elias (another form of Elijah) includes “Christian Science, with which can be discerned the spiritual fact of whatever the material senses behold” (p. 585). Since Elisha was a student of Elijah’s, I like to think of Elisha as a student of Christian Science. Studying these Bible stories with this perspective has opened them up to me in new ways.
Take, for example, the account of a widow who was facing the loss of her two sons to a creditor (see II Kings 4:1–7). Upon being asked to help, Elisha’s response was, “What hast thou in the house?” All the widow had was a pot of oil. She was instructed to borrow vessels from all of her neighbors, shut the door, and pour oil into each one. She did so, and then she was able to sell the oil to pay the debt. She followed Elisha’s instructions and lived with her sons off of the remaining profit.
I like to think of Elisha as a student of Christian Science.
