Body: | First Church of Christ Scientist
The Manual
By Mary Baker Eddy
The Church of Christ, Scientist:
Section #1: Qualifications For Membership
To become a member of the First Church of Christ, Scientist, the applicant
must be a believer in the doctrines of Christian Science, according to the
teaching contained in our Christian Science textbook, Science & Health by
Rev Mary Baker Eddy. The Bible, together with Science & Health shall be his
only textbooks for self-instruction in Christian Science.
The Bible + Science and Health
"Your dual and impersonal pastor, the Bible, and Science and Health with
Key to the Scriptures, is with you; and the Life these give, the Truth they
illustrate, the Love they demonstrate, is the great Shepherd that feedeth
my flock, and leadeth them 'beside the still waters.'" Mary Baker Eddy
Through prayer, Mrs. Eddy found an answer to this need. In 1894 she
appointed a new and unique pastor for The Mother Church, one that didn't
depend on personality at all. Instead, it was an impersonal pastor
consisting of two books-the ones to which she'd dedicated her whole life.
First, the Bible, the book she'd turned to since childhood as her
guide for living and worshipping God.
Second, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, the fruit of
her lifelong study of the Bible and the complete statement of the Science
of Christianity that she'd found there.
Then, in April of 1895, Mrs. Eddy made these books the pastor not only of
The Mother Church but also of all its branch churches. As she wrote later
to The Mother Church, "Your dual and impersonal pastor, the Bible, and
`Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,' is with you; and the Life
these give, the Truth they illustrate, the Love they demonstrate, is the
great Shepherd that feedeth my flock, and leadeth them `beside the still
waters' " (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 322).
In 1903, Mrs. Eddy extended the authority of "The Christian Science Pastor"
to the whole world. She wrote in the Manual of The Mother Church, "I, Mary
Baker Eddy, ordain the Bible, and Science and Health with Key to the
Scriptures, Pastor over The Mother Church,- The First Church of Christ,
Scientist, in Boston, Mass.,-and they will continue to preach for this
Church and the world" (Manual, Art. XIV, Sect. 1).
Why two books?
Doesn't the Bible alone show us the way to eternal life? Yes, it does. But
humanity had the Bible for close to two millenniums without fully
understanding how to use its truths in a scientifically provable way to
heal and regenerate people like Christ Jesus did. To arrive at that kind of
understanding, humanity needed to comprehend the Bible on a deeper level.
They needed to "unlock" the Bible, so to speak. It was the specific mission
of Science and Health to give the world this "key" to the Scriptures-to
open up their treasures and enable everyone to use them.
But would Science and Health alone be a fully sufficient pastor for the
world? No. Having the Christian Science textbook without the Bible would be
sort of like having a key without a door, a house without a foundation.
Science and Health was built on Scriptural truth. It was in the Bible that
Mrs. Eddy discovered the laws of God, the Science that undergirded Jesus'
healing ministry. As she explained in the textbook, "The Bible has been my
only authority" (Science and Health, p. 126).
(Excerpted from Mary Metzner Trammell, "A pastor for the world," The
Christian Science Journal, May 1994.)
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