The Manual of The Mother Church by Mary Baker Eddy is an integral part of the whole Christian Science movement. The author gives it great importance when she lists it with the Bible and with her book "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" in the following passage from "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany" (pp. 251, 252): "Adhere to the teachings of the Bible, Science and Health, and our Manual, and you will obey the law and gospel."
The beginner in the study of Christian Science may be inclined to think of the Manual as a mere set of Rules because its phraseology differs from that of Science and Health and because it deals with the organization of The Mother Church. But as the spiritual sense of Church, which permeates the Manual, is gained through the unfoldment of the truth to individual consciousness, the importance of this book is realized. It becomes a wise guide, a faithful counselor, a guard against mistakes, and a loving protection on our journey from earth to heaven.
When founding the Church of Christ, Scientist, our Leader thought that laws of limitation would never be needed for a Christian Scientist, but experience taught her otherwise (see Miscellany, p. 229). Without the Manual, pure Christian Science, with its element of healing, would soon be lost to the world. Instead of one authorized set of Rules governing the whole movement, many diverse opinions would creep in, thus breaking the unity upon which Christian Science is founded. The Church must be protected not only from opponents who would deride it, but also from the conscious or unconscious mistakes made by students of Christian Science.
None knew better than Mrs. Eddy the value of the Manual. She often spent nights of prayer over a single By-Law. In compiling these By-Laws, she never swerved from the teachings of Christ Jesus (Matt. 22:37): "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind," and (Luke 6:31), "As ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise."
The more deeply the By-Laws of the Manual are studied in the light of Christian Science and the more they are recognized as divorced from personal sense, the more they are seen to mirror forth Mind's sacred power to bless and heal all who serve our Cause. Through watching, working, and praying and through constant selfimmolation our revered Leader brought the Manual to its final edition. Nothing can be added to it, nor can anything be taken from it. Like Science and Health, it is established for eternity.
The Manual is prefaced by an extract from a letter in "Miscellaneous Writings." In this passage, speaking of the By-Laws and Rules in the Manual, our Leader says (p. 148): "They were impelled by a power not one's own, were written at different dates, and as the occasion required. They sprang from necessity, the logic of events, —from the immediate demand for them as a help that must be supplied to maintain the dignity and defense of our Cause; hence their simple, scientific basis, and detail so requisite to demonstrate genuine Christian Science, and which will do for the race what absolute doctrines destined for future generations might not accomplish."
Here Mrs. Eddy emphasizes the importance of the Church Manual in the foundational stage of her great discovery. Christian Science, being revolutionary in its nature and contrary to many of the world's religious beliefs, needed to be presented to human thought in a way that could be understood.
Simple rules had to be drawn up for a generation unprepared for the reception of absolute doctrines. The milk of Truth must be given before the meat of Truth can be digested.
Our Leader writes (Miscellany, p. 230) "This church is impartial. Its rules apply not to one member only, but to one and all equally. Of this I am sure, that each Rule and By-law in this Manual will increase the spirituality of him who obeys it, invigorate his capacity to heal the sick, to comfort such as mourn, and to awaken the sinner."
As we study and obey our Church Manual, the magnitude of our Leader's life-work dawns upon human thought. Then we understand why we take our stand with the many thousands who call her blessed.
