"An understanding that is free of limited mortal thought"

2) In your own words, what would you say is meant by “the spiritual meaning of the Bible”?

The spiritual meaning of the Bible gives us an understanding that is free of limited mortal thought. A direct inspiration from God to man. It opens our thinking to the infinite idea of our being God’s perfect reflection, a complete Truth; Love demonstrated, Life lived, Principle seen, Soul felt, Mind expressed, Spirit activated. Sometimes it only gives you hope to hold onto, but it can also blow away the mortal dream and let one experience reality. The spiritual meaning of the Bible reveals how Jesus healed and gives us the understanding to practice that science that Jesus introduced.

3) Give three examples of passages or stories in the Bible (other than the Lord’s Prayer SH, pp16-17) for which Science offers a spiritual interpretation.  And please explain each spiritual interpretation that you select.

The following three examples are obvious, but one can read any weekly Lesson Sermon and see many more. Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures is full of spiritual insight throughout its pages.

Genesis 1. 1.  “In the beginning” The big one!  Science blows away the folklore and gets down to Truth. “The beginning is employed to signify the only, - that is the eternal verity and unity of God and man, including the universe.” My explanation is that “There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter.” There is no Adam dream. We have never for a moment been separate from God. The second and third chapters point out the misinterpretation of creation and allow us to be alert to the lie.

Genesis 1. 7. “And God said let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” S&H “Spiritual understanding, by which human conception, material sense, is separated from Truth, is the firmament.”  All existence is Spiritual. The ideas of mater are unreal, a false idea.

Luke 7:37 And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.  Science and Health make it clear that this woman was soliciting forgiveness and spiritual peace.

4) Identify some practical benefits to you individually as a practicing CSt from searching the Scriptures, reading the weekly Bible Lesson, and becoming more familiar with the Key to the Scriptures.

Christian Science is a practice. It takes practice to stay close to Truth and Love and to be alert to AM & MAM. I did not grow up with any relation to the Bible. We were fairly religious and went to church every Sunday but we did not have a Bible and my church did not teach us the Bible.  When I started being interested in CS I had a hard time getting anything out of the Bible. The Bible Lessons were and are great because they organize our study for us and with the support of the carefully chosen S&H citations, it gives us ways to learn about the lessons in the Bible and their spiritual significance. I got to know the Bible through the Lesson-Sermons and when I got to know the Bible’s many stories, I saw how they gave me ways to understand our relationship with God and that helped me understand my place in the the world and how to live in it. 

5) Why should the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures be our “only preachers”?  Would you say that was old fashioned?  What’s the purpose behind it?

 Old fashioned? WHAT!? Previous to my intro to CS, I had spent many Sundays listening to sermons from all sorts of religions that were fruitless. Many seemed determined to make me feel guilty; others were full of personal opinion or intellectual pride that sometimes seemed interesting but none of them satisfied my need to understand Spirit and my spiritual existence.  Now that’s what I call old fashioned! I was so turned off by churches and preachers that for months after I discovered CS I only went to Wednesday services. When I figured out that there were no “ministers or priests” in CS, I thought it was fabulous. Having the Bible and Science and Health and Key to the Scriptures as our preachers give us Mind’s and Love’s ideas more directly and unfiltered by a human interpreter. We should put up big billboards saying: “Tried of listening to your preacher? Come to our service that’s free of humans preaching at you and full of God’s ideas.” I think a lot of people would love us for that alone. They would also like learning what God is.

6) What does Christian Science have to offer those who value the Bible but are put off or confused by Biblical criticism which seems to invalidate Bible accounts such as the resurrection of Christ Jesus or “miracles” of healing of sickness?

Christian Science is the Science of Christ. It is so logical, pure and clear that it cuts through the confusion of Biblical criticism and demonstrates the Truth with healing. It explains confusions and seeming contradictions found in the Bible and gives us a sure foundation.

"It has a motion or movement that blesses"

2) In your own words, what would you say is meant by “the spiritual meaning of the Bible”?

The “spiritual meaning of the Bible” must be the substance or conviction of Truth that heals the sick. More than an intellectual concept, it has a motion or movement that blesses. It's a reincarnation of the spirit of those who wrote and inspired the writings in the Bible. 

3) Give three examples of passages or stories in the Bible (other than the Lord’s Prayer SH, pp16-17) for which Science offers a spiritual interpretation.  And please explain each spiritual interpretation that you select.

a. The 23rd Psalm. “Divine Love is my shepherd…” It’s interesting that this is the last paragraph in the main part of Science and Health (the Key to the Scriptures). She’s emphasizing Love again, and giving the sense of what Love does: leads, restores, is present, comforts, prepares, anoints, and houses. Besides being everything we could ask for as a movement, this Love loves the entire world, and can be the answer to its lack of direction, hunger, and search for home.

b. The above reminds me of another line she quotes (and capitalizes): “perfect Love casteth out fear”, part of the longer quote which she says is “a definite and inspired proclamation of Christian Science” (p 410). It gets to the core of Christian Science, the heart and soul—Love (113). Many times I’ve thought of your advice to love more, as a healing agent, especially my family. And I’ve loved the letter to a First Reader (My 247), where Mrs. Eddy advises “tender persuasion.” This is becoming my call to action for reading from the desk.

c. Without this Love, Mrs. Eddy says, “the letter is but the dead body of Science”. Jesus raised Lazarus, and Mrs. Eddy interpreted his saying that “our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep” as indication that Jesus understood that Lazarus had never died, and actually “never lived or died in his body.” This must have something to do with spiritual understanding overriding material belief, and restoring the visible, which is subservient to reality.

4) Identify some practical benefits to you individually as a practicing CSt from searching the Scriptures, reading the weekly Bible Lesson, and becoming more familiar with the Key to the Scriptures.

The wisdom in the Bible is much higher than mortals', and includes wisdom from experiences which would take hundreds of years to reproduce, if ever possible again. I love Paul’s admonition to be temperate “in all things”, and Jesus’ thanking God that He heard him always because God just makes it that way. When I learned that temperance was acceptable to God, I thanked Him, and knew that this acknowledgement had a precedent as Jesus did before. Also, all the references to bridling the tongue and being slow to anger from Proverbs have been very helpful. The weekly Bible lesson steadies me, and brings the focus back to God, giving me the balance I need for the day (although I don’t make it entirely through the Lesson everyday).

5) Why should the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures be our “only preachers”?  Would you say that was old fashioned?  What’s the purpose behind it?

I don’t think it’s too far out to mention that since I’ve taken the First Reader position, I’ve paid off my business debt and most of our family credit card debt. A lot of the credit goes to me being a faithful worker in my profession, patience, and the ability from God to be successful. The spirit that I get from serving the church and being familiar with the Scriptures, gives me “acuteness and comprehensiveness” like Mrs. Eddy explains. It’s beautiful that Mrs. Eddy confined our preachers to those two books. Without it we wouldn’t have the Sunday sermons that are “uncontaminated and unfettered by human hypotheses, and divinely authorized”. She had undoubtedly seen how churches vary by the quality of their preacher, and it was obvious this Science needed a preacher that wouldn’t change.

I don’t know if there is anything old fashioned about this approach, as I don’t recall any other church ever doing it! It does seem old in the pure sense of getting back to Christian roots and the early days of seeking inspiration through the Spirit.

6) What does Christian Science have to offer those who value the Bible but are put off or confused by Biblical criticism which seems to invalidate Bible accounts such as the resurrection of Christ Jesus or “miracles” of healing of sickness?

I have a friend, another dad in the town where I live, who is a lawyer and loves asking questions, who had left the Catholic Church, then came back and gave up his drinking. We used to get together sometimes at a local coffee shop in the morning to talk about Bible things. For a while he had wondered if Jesus really did rise from the dead, but then came to the conclusion for himself that because of what it inspired—all the acts of the apostles and good activity throughout the world since—something special had to have happened. People just don’t get inspired like that if nothing happens. And that was proof enough for him.

Especially, Christian Science has modern-day examples of healing like happened in Biblical times. Christian Science also has a tangible spirit of Love and Truth that can be felt at the services and in our own study and interaction with other Scientists. I think as that spirit grows stronger. it will heal the sick in our services and elsewhere. Mrs. Eddy said the reader could prove for himself the truth of this Science, and that is true for everyone.

"Put God first and love others as we love ourselves"

2) In your own words, what would you say is meant by “the spiritual meaning of the Bible”?

To not rely on the material picture or senses and to rely on one mind God good for all of our supply, including circumstances, dealing with personality, and our own thought process as a means of healing sin, disease and death. Its main commandments teach us to put God first and to love others as we love ourselves.  

3) Give three examples of passages or stories in the Bible (other than the Lord’s Prayer SH, pp16-17) for which Science offers a spiritual interpretation.  And please explain each spiritual interpretation that you select.

The transformation of Saul to Paul is highlighted in both the bible (Acts 9:1-16) and Science and Health (326:23-32). Saul is blinded by the vision of the Christ during which He speaks to Saul and in the process Saul yields to spiritual sense of putting off the material and turning to the spiritual. It was the old man becoming the new man in Christ.

In 1John 4:20 he says “If someone says, ‘I love God’ and hates his brother, he is a liar, for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.” We see this explained in SH 366:12-21. One of the most important things Mrs. Eddy brings up in her writings is to put God first and do unto others as we would do unto ourselves, which in essence means to put others first. We demonstrate our love for God by loving others.

In Gen 32:22-32 we read the story of how Jacob wrestled with God and is spiritually interpreted in SH 308: 16-32 and 309:1-23. Jacob is wrestling with a belief in mortal mind and proving its unreality. After the demonstration is made, he still holds tight to the Truth or the angel thoughts so as not to fall back into old habits of thinking, thus changing him from Jacob to Israel, which means may God prevail. 

4) Identify some practical benefits to you individually as a practicing CSt from searching the Scriptures, reading the weekly Bible Lesson, and becoming more familiar with the Key to the Scriptures.

Christian Science has given me an expanded capacity to do my job with excellence and precision even in situations that seems dire. It has given me a greater awareness of others and their needs as well as myself, which has enabled me to help others and myself to demonstrate out of the shadow of mortal belief. As a result it has brought me many physical healings as well as be able to overcome many challenging circumstances that would not have turned out harmoniously without Christian Science at work.

5) Why should the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures be our “only preachers”?  Would you say that was old fashioned?  What’s the purpose behind it?

The Bible and SH as our only preachers is not old fashion. Any other books or ideas, no matter how good the intentions, are manmade and ultimately fail. The only way to truly help others is through One Mind and the only books written to align our thought with that One Mind, to help others and ourselves, is the Bible and SH. The Bible is written about the actions of others before us expressing that One Mind, and most importantly tells us about Jesus Christ who is the ultimate expression of God or One Mind. SH is the interpretation of the bible inspired by The Comforter.

6)What does Christian Science have to offer those who value the Bible but are put off or confused by Biblical criticism which seems to invalidate Bible accounts such as the resurrection of Christ Jesus or “miracles” of healing of sickness?

SH spiritually interprets the Bible and puts it into practical terms. If the Bible is read at face value from a material sense or literal view it would be unpractical and even confusing at times. But when you take the spiritual interpretation that SH brings to the Bible it illuminates the meaning of it and no longer requires the Bible to be measured in terms of scientific evidence or material means, and it no longer needs to be looked at as just an historical record.

"The way things really are"

 2) In your own words, what would you say is meant by “the spiritual meaning of the Bible”? 

It is what the Bible is really saying.  It tells us the way things really are.  This meaning can only come to us from on high.  We each have access to this meaning but we must awaken to it.  Science and Health, which itself has come from on high, has opened the way for us.   

 3) Give three examples of passages or stories in the Bible (other than the Lord’s Prayer SH, pp16-17) for which Science offers a spiritual   interpretation.  And please explain each spiritual interpretation that you select.

Because of a healing I had last fall [see #4, below], I became interested in the story of the man by the pool at Bethesda.  Jesus told him to “rise, take up thy bed, and walk.”  I interpret his command “to rise” as rising to a higher sense than the material or human; “take up thy bed” means to lift up your sense of life, your prospects, where you find comfort or misery, and handle these things from a lifted-up sense, not from the prone sense of incapacity and helplessness; “and walk” means to proceed from this lifted-up sense to demonstrate the truth which heals.  

4) Identify some practical benefits to you individually as a practicing CSt from searching the Scriptures, reading the weekly Bible Lesson, and becoming more familiar with the Key to the Scriptures.

As a practicing CSt from searching the Scriptures, reading the weekly Bible Lesson, and becoming more familiar with the Key to the Scriptures, I don’t just read the Lesson, I really study it.  I find it very helpful to take notes on what I think the passages mean.  Articulating my thoughts this way helps to sharpen my thinking about them.  I ask myself questions about particular words or phrases used.  I also mark a passage that stands out as a prayer to be lived that day or through the week.  It is amazing how the Lesson always seems to address something that needs healing attention, be it personal or for the world.      

I started doing this two years ago when I broke my wrist, which was for me a wake-up call to get back to more disciplined study and practice of Science.  Although I quickly regained use of my hand for general things, the one thing I could not do was to play the violin — I could not turn my arm/wrist into position to play.  This was pretty devastating to me, but right from the beginning, I knew I was not going to accept this; I was going to make the whole incident about demonstrating the truth in Science, and that before I left this world I was going make this demonstration.                  

Then, last September (more than a year later), a friend from our small local orchestra emailed me, lamenting for the umpteenth time that I was not playing with the group anymore.  And, for the umpteenth time, I went to fetch my violin, unable to accept that I could not play.  To my utter astonishment, I was easily able to bring my hand right around into position!  I could play across all four strings and in all positions up and down the fingerboard!

My thought immediately went back to an article I had read recently in the Sentinel, about the man by the pool at Bethesda.  The author had pointed out that when Jesus asked him if he wanted to be healed, the man gave all kinds of reasons why he could not be.  This is how material thinking works — it argues for the error, not for the good!  I realized that I had been thinking God wanted me to “learn” something before I could be healed, and I was trying to find whatever it was, when actually His healing goodness is available to us every moment it is needed, and we need never put restrictions on our healing.  Jesus saw the man at Bethesda as whole already, with his lifted-up sense of the truth about this man — this was the “rising up” and it came first; then, having risen, the man was able to take up his bed and walk.  God had enabled me, too, to take up my bed and walk — I had been doing it all along, right from the beginning when I “rose up” and categorically refused to accept that I would never play the violin again.  At the time of the Sentinel article, I felt a turning in thought, something I have come to recognize and cherish because these are moments of actual, concrete growth in spiritual understanding, when we glimpse a higher view, and it is something that can never be taken from us.

Although the healing with my wrist is not complete and there is still visible evidence of this, it has not hindered me from playing anything I want on the violin, and, in fact, I play significantly better now than I have ever played before.                     

But the real healing here is about the spiritual turn-around for me.  I am not where I was two years ago.  I find my thought now is more anchored in a lifted-up way of thinking that has become more and more my natural mental habitat.  It is more natural to “tune” my thought correctly, like my violin, because I am already there with my daily study and practice of Science, bolstered by the many moments of spiritual insight and healings along the way.  There is nothing like seeing results from your efforts, to build conviction in Science.  This doesn’t mean that all is smooth sailing now — far from it!  I am learning really, really hard lessons — lessons about self-will and self-righteousness and a few other selfs.  This is “taking up my bed and walking,” this is demonstration.

5) Why should the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures be    our “only preachers”?  Would you say that was old fashioned?  What’s the   purpose behind it?

Is it old-fashioned to say that two plus two equals four?  Should we try a different number for a little variety and freshness? 

The problem isn’t with our preachers.  What is stale is mortal mind’s way of looking at them — as “closed books” that cannot be understood, because…“I don’t really have time for them right now.”  Mortal mind does not want to be destroyed just yet.  When grappled with, those two books open up wonderful adventures in learning, and they are as fresh as the first time we opened our thought to them. 

6) What does Christian Science have to offer those who value the Bible but are put off or confused by Biblical criticism which seems to invalidate Bible accounts such as the resurrection of Christ Jesus or “miracles” of healing of sickness.

Christian Science offers a changed perspective in which to view the Bible.  It is as simple as that.