The Bible and
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures
by Mary Baker Eddy
First Church of Christ, Scientist, La Cañada Flintridge
Wednesday Meeting Readings
w111130
The 400th anniversary of the King James Bible
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Section I
2
Deut 8:3 man
3
Deut 32:1-4
1Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
2My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:
3Because I will publish the name of the Lord: ascribe ye greatness unto our God.
4He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.
4
Jer 36:1-4,10,14-23,27-29,31,32
1And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, that this word came unto Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,
2Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spake unto thee, from the days of Josiah, even unto this day.
3It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them; that they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.
4Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah: and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord, which he had spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book.
14Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, unto Baruch, saying, Take in thine hand the roll wherein thou hast read in the ears of the people, and come. So Baruch the son of Neriah took the roll in his hand, and came unto them.
15And they said unto him, Sit down now, and read it in our ears. So Baruch read it in their ears.
16Now it came to pass, when they had heard all the words, they were afraid both one and other, and said unto Baruch, We will surely tell the king of all these words.
17And they asked Baruch, saying, Tell us now, How didst thou write all these words at his mouth?
18Then Baruch answered them, He pronounced all these words unto me with his mouth, and I wrote them with ink in the book.
19Then said the princes unto Baruch, Go, hide thee, thou and Jeremiah; and let no man know where ye be.
20¶And they went in to the king into the court, but they laid up the roll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and told all the words in the ears of the king.
21So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll: and he took it out of Elishama the scribe's chamber. And Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes which stood beside the king.
22Now the king sat in the winterhouse in the ninth month: and there was a fire on the hearth burning before him.
23And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth.
27¶Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the roll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying,
28Take thee again another roll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned.
29And thou shalt say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, Thus saith the Lord; Thou hast burned this roll, saying, Why hast thou written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from thence man and beast?
5
Ps 12:6,7
6
Ps 19:7-11
7The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
8The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
9The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
10More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
11Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.
7
Acts 17:1-12
1Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews:
2And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,
3Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.
4And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.
5¶But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.
6And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also;
7Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus.
8And they troubled the people and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things.
9And when they had taken security of Jason, and of the other, they let them go.
10¶And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.
11These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
12Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few.
8
II Tim 3:14-17 continue
14continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;
15And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
16All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
1
S&H 272:8
9
Mark 16:17
2
S&H 501:1-10
501:1Scientific interpretation of the Scriptures prop‐
erly starts with the beginning of the Old Testa‐
Spiritual
interpretation 3ment, chiefly because the spiritual import of
the Word, in its earliest articulations, often
seems so smothered by the immediate context as to
6require explication; whereas the New Testament narra‐
tives are clearer and come nearer the heart. Jesus il‐
lumines them, showing the poverty of mortal existence,
9but richly recompensing human want and woe with
spiritual gain.
3
S&H 536:30-4
30Genesis iii. 22-24. And the Lord God [Jehovah] said,
Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good
537:1and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take
also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever; therefore
3the Lord God [Jehovah] sent him forth from the garden
of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
4
S&H 537:24
24 Inspired writers interpret the
Word spiritually, while the ordinary historian interprets
it literally. Literally taken, the text is made to appear
27contradictory in some places, and divine Love, which
blessed the earth and gave it to man for a possession, is
represented as changeable. The literal meaning would
30imply that God withheld from man the opportunity to
reform, lest man should improve it and become better;
but this is not the nature of God, who is Love always, —
538:1Love infinitely wise and altogether lovely, who "seeketh
not her own."
5
S&H 320:4-8
6
S&H 256:2-5
7
S&H 497:3
8
S&H 410:9
9
S&H 28:6
10
S&H 139:9-27
9 Reforms have commonly been attended with
bloodshed and persecution, even when the end has been
brightness and peace; but the present new, yet old, re‐
12form in religious faith will teach men patiently and wisely
to stem the tide of sectarian bitterness, whenever it flows
inward.
15The decisions by vote of Church Councils as to what
should and should not be considered Holy Writ; the man‐
Science
obscured ifest mistakes in the ancient versions; the
18thirty thousand different readings in the Old
Testament, and the three hundred thousand in the New,
— these facts show how a mortal and material sense stole
21into the divine record, with its own hue darkening to some
extent the inspired pages. But mistakes could neither
wholly obscure the divine Science of the Scriptures seen
24from Genesis to Revelation, mar the demonstration of
Jesus, nor annul the healing by the prophets, who foresaw
that "the stone which the builders rejected" would be‐
27come "the head of the corner."
11
S&H 560:24
24 Persecution of all who have
spoken something new and better of God has
not only obscured the light of the ages, but has been fatal
27to the persecutors. Why? Because it has hid from
them the true idea which has been presented. To mis‐
understand Paul, was to be ignorant of the divine idea he
30taught. Ignorance of the divine idea betrays at once a
greater ignorance of the divine Principle of the idea — igno‐
561:1rance of Truth and Love. The understanding of Truth
and Love, the Principle which works out the ends of eternal
3good and destroys both faith in evil and the practice of
evil, leads to the discernment of the divine idea.
12
S&H 37:5-12
History is full of records of suffering. "The blood of
6the martyrs is the seed of the Church." Mortals try in
Martyrs
inevitable vain to slay Truth with the steel or the stake,
but error falls only before the sword of Spirit.
9Martyrs are the human links which connect one stage with
another in the history of religion. They are earth's lumi‐
naries, which serve to cleanse and rarefy the atmosphere of
12material sense and to permeate humanity with purer ideals.
13
S&H 388:1-4
14
S&H 126:22
I have set forth Christian Science and its application
to the treatment of disease just as I have discovered them.
Biblical
basis 24I have demonstrated through Mind the effects
of Truth on the health, longevity, and morals
of men; and I have found nothing in ancient or in modern
27systems on which to found my own, except the teachings
and demonstrations of our great Master and the lives of
prophets and apostles. The Bible has been my only au‐
30thority. I have had no other guide in "the straight and
narrow way" of Truth.
15
S&H 146:23
Divine Science derives its sanction from the Bible,
24and the divine origin of Science is demonstrated through
Christian
Science
as
old as God the holy influence of Truth in healing sick‐
ness and sin. This healing power of Truth
27must have been far anterior to the period in
which Jesus lived. It is as ancient as "the Ancient of
days." It lives through all Life, and extends throughout
30all space.
16
S&H 24:4
Acquaintance with the original texts, and willingness
to give up human beliefs (established by hierarchies, and
Life's healing
currents 6instigated sometimes by the worst passions of
men), open the way for Christian Science to be
understood, and make the Bible the chart of life, where
9the buoys and healing currents of Truth are pointed
out.
17
S&H 547:23-8
The Scriptures are very sacred. Our aim must be to
24have them understood spiritually, for only by this under‐
True theory
of the
universe standing can truth be gained. The true the‐
ory of the universe, including man, is not in
27material history but in spiritual development.
Inspired thought relinquishes a material, sensual, and
mortal theory of the universe, and adopts the spiritual and
30immortal.
It is this spiritual perception of Scripture, which lifts
humanity out of disease and death and inspires faith.
548:1"The Spirit and the bride say, Come! . . . and whoso‐
ever will, let him take the water of life freely." Christian
Scriptural
perception 3Science separates error from truth, and breathes
through the sacred pages the spiritual sense of
life, substance, and intelligence. In this Science, we dis‐
6cover man in the image and likeness of God. We see that
man has never lost his spiritual estate and his eternal
harmony.
From the Christian Science Hymnal:
Hymn 114: "Holy Bible, book divine"
Hymn 241: "O Spirit, source of light"
Hymn 226: "O Lord of life, to Thee we lift Our hearts in praise"
Hymn 114: "Holy Bible, book divine"
Hymn 241: "O Spirit, source of light"
Hymn 226: "O Lord of life, to Thee we lift Our hearts in praise"
