Welcome

When people read the Bible, they find that the tenor, or spirit, of the Word can touch their lives in any number of ways. The Word of God presented in the Ten Commandments, in the Sermon on the Mount, in the rich accounts of Jesus' life, defines and provides what is needed for worthwhile living in every age.

We're glad you've opened up this issue of The Christian Science  Journal —even if you've just done it out of curiosity! And if you've never looked at a copy of this magazine before, we hope you won't feel like a stranger. This Journal was written for you.

Dear Reader, "Physicality renewed, and lost lives regenerated through spiritual healing—that's our story. " These were some of the words spoken at the Annual Meeting of The Mother Church this past June.

We think you'll love this month's Journal. No, we aren't thinking of this in quite the way that some people love to sit down and read a good novel or go to an interesting movie.

If hard-working Christian people become too accustomed to thinking of their local church as a fragile thing, in danger of failing or falling apart, they can be surprised when spiritual breakthroughs show that Church actually sustains them in difficult times. When the Saviour described his church as something against which "the gates of hell shall not prevail," he was declaring the absolute permanence of God's power to govern the lives of His people.

We are brought together each month by something much more powerful than paper and ink. What unites Journal readers is a deep commitment to scientific Christianity—and the vital church experience that supports Christ-healing.

Dear Reader, When the churches in Eastern Europe began to come out from under communist repression and we saw what a force for change spiritual renewal could be, we cheered. And many of us felt strengthened in regard to our prayers for this kind of renewal in our own churches and communities.

This issue of the Journal offers some Christianly scientific perspective on issues of special concern to many people right now—particularly the world's deep-rooted economic problems, which cause unemployment, poverty, and homelessness. If we were to try to look for solutions entirely within the framework of recognized cause and effect for these problems, we might quickly come to the gloomy conclusion that the need is too great and there is simply not enough good to go round.

All over the world as 1992 gets underway, people's quest for freedom remains foremost in the news. The desire to be free wells up in those who live under political domination.

At the beginning of the chapter called "Fruitage" in the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, the author, Mary Baker Eddy, writes, "Thousands of letters could be presented in testimony of the healing efficacy of Christian Science and particularly concerning the vast number of people who have been reformed and healed through the perusal or study of this book. " Along with the Bible, Science and Health is the foundation and superstructure for the demonstrable Science of Christian healing today.