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Science and
Health
with Key to the Scriptures
by Mary Baker Eddy
Chapter 1
— Prayer
For verily I say unto you,
That whosoever shall say unto
this mountain, Be thou removed,
and be thou cast into the sea;
and shall not doubt in his heart,
but shall believe that those
things which he saith shall come
to pass; he shall have whatsoever
he saith. Therefore I say unto
you, What things soever ye desire
when ye pray, believe that ye
receive them, and ye shall have
them.
Your Father knoweth what
things ye have need of, before ye
ask Him.
— CHRIST
JESUS.
The prayer that reforms the
sinner and heals the sick is an
absolute faith that all things
are possible to God, — a
spiritual understanding of Him,
an unselfed love. Regardless of
what another may say or think on
this subject, I speak from
experience. Prayer, watching, and
working, combined with
self-immolation, are God's
gracious means for accomplishing
whatever has been successfully
done for the Christianization and
health of mankind.
Thoughts unspoken are not
unknown to the divine Mind.
Desire is prayer; and no loss can
occur from trusting God with our
desires, that they may be moulded
and exalted before they take form
in words and in deeds.
What are the motives for
prayer? Do we pray to make
ourselves better or to benefit
those who hear us, to enlighten
the infinite or to be heard of
men? Are we benefited by praying?
Yes, the desire which goes forth
hungering after righteousness is
blessed of our Father, and it
does not return unto us void.
God is not moved by the breath
of praise to do more than He has
already done, nor can the
infinite do less than bestow all
good, since He is unchanging
wisdom and Love. We can do more
for ourselves by humble fervent
petitions, but the All-loving
does not grant them simply on the
ground of lip-service, for He
already knows all.
Prayer cannot change the
Science of being, but it tends to
bring us into harmony with it.
Goodness attains the
demonstration of Truth. A request
that God will save us is not all
that is required. The mere habit
of pleading with the divine Mind,
as one pleads with a human being,
perpetuates the belief in God as
humanly circumscribed, — an
error which impedes spiritual
growth.
God is Love. Can we ask Him to
be more? God is intelligence. Can
we inform the infinite Mind of
anything He does not already
comprehend? Do we expect to
change perfection? Shall we plead
for more at the open fount, which
is pouring forth more than we
accept? The unspoken desire does
bring us nearer the source of all
existence and blessedness.
Asking God to be God is
a vain repetition. God is "the
same yesterday, and to-day, and
forever;" and He who is immutably
right will do right without being
reminded of His province. The
wisdom of man is not sufficient
to warrant him in advising
God.
Who would stand before a
blackboard, and pray the
principle of mathematics to solve
the problem? The rule is already
established, and it is our task
to work out the solution. Shall
we ask the divine Principle of
all goodness to do His own work?
His work is done, and we have
only to avail ourselves of God's
rule in order to receive His
blessing, which enables us to
work out our own salvation.
The Divine Being must be
reflected by man, — else man
is not the image and likeness of
the patient, tender, and true,
the One "altogether lovely;" but
to understand God is the work of
eternity, and demands absolute
consecration of thought, energy,
and desire.
How empty are our conceptions
of Deity! We admit theoretically
that God is good, omnipotent,
omnipresent, infinite, and then
we try to give information to
this infinite Mind. We plead for
unmerited pardon and for a
liberal outpouring of
benefactions. Are we really
grateful for the good already
received? Then we shall avail
ourselves of the blessings we
have, and thus be fitted to
receive more. Gratitude is much
more than a verbal expression of
thanks. Action expresses more
gratitude than speech.
If we are ungrateful for Life,
Truth, and Love, and yet return
thanks to God for all blessings,
we are insincere and incur the
sharp censure our Master
pronounces on hypocrites. In such
a case, the only acceptable
prayer is to put the finger on
the lips and remember our
blessings. While the heart is far
from divine Truth and Love, we
cannot conceal the ingratitude of
barren lives.
What we most need is the
prayer of fervent desire for
growth in grace, expressed in
patience, meekness, love, and
good deeds. To keep the
commandments of our Master and
follow his example, is our proper
debt to him and the only worthy
evidence of our gratitude for all
that he has done. Outward worship
is not of itself sufficient to
express loyal and heartfelt
gratitude, since he has said: "If
ye love me, keep my
commandments."
The habitual struggle to be
always good is unceasing prayer.
Its motives are made manifest in
the blessings they bring, —
blessings which, even if not
acknowledged in audible words,
attest our worthiness to be
partakers of Love.
Simply asking that we may love
God will never make us love Him;
but the longing to be better and
holier, expressed in daily
watchfulness and in striving to
assimilate more of the divine
character, will mould and fashion
us anew, until we awake in His
likeness. We reach the Science of
Christianity through
demonstration of the divine
nature; but in this wicked world
goodness will "be evil spoken
of," and patience must bring
experience.
Audible prayer can never do
the works of spiritual
understanding, which regenerates;
but silent prayer, watchfulness,
and devout obedience enable us to
follow Jesus' example. Long
prayers, superstition, and creeds
clip the strong pinions of love,
and clothe religion in human
forms. Whatever materializes
worship hinders man's spiritual
growth and keeps him from
demonstrating his power over
error.
Sorrow for wrong-doing is but
one step towards reform and the
very easiest step. The next and
great step required by wisdom is
the test of our sincerity, —
namely, reformation. To this end
we are placed under the stress of
circumstances. Temptation bids us
repeat the offence, and woe comes
in return for what is done. So it
will ever be, till we learn that
there is no discount in the law
of justice and that we must pay
"the uttermost farthing." The
measure ye mete "shall be
measured to you again," and it
will be full "and running
over."
Saints and sinners get their
full award, but not always in
this world. The followers of
Christ drank his cup. Ingratitude
and persecution filled it to the
brim; but God pours the riches of
His love into the understanding
and affections, giving us
strength according to our day.
Sinners flourish "like a green
bay tree;" but, looking farther,
the Psalmist could see their end,
— the destruction of sin
through suffering.
Prayer is not to be used as a
confessional to cancel sin. Such
an error would impede true
religion. Sin is forgiven only as
it is destroyed by Christ, —
Truth and Life. If prayer
nourishes the belief that sin is
cancelled, and that man is made
better merely by praying, prayer
is an evil. He grows worse who
continues in sin because he
fancies himself forgiven.
An apostle says that the Son
of God [Christ] came to
"destroy the works of the
devil." We should follow our
divine Exemplar, and seek the
destruction of all evil works,
error and disease included. We
cannot escape the penalty due for
sin. The Scriptures say, that if
we deny Christ, "he also will
deny us."
Divine Love corrects and
governs man. Men may pardon, but
this divine Principle alone
reforms the sinner. God is not
separate from the wisdom He
bestows. The talents He gives we
must improve. Calling on Him to
forgive our work badly done or
left undone, implies the vain
supposition that we have nothing
to do but to ask pardon, and that
afterwards we shall be free to
repeat the offence.
To cause suffering as the
result of sin, is the means of
destroying sin. Every supposed
pleasure in sin will furnish more
than its equivalent of pain,
until belief in material life and
sin is destroyed. To reach
heaven, the harmony of being, we
must understand the divine
Principle of being.
"God is Love." More than this
we cannot ask, higher we cannot
look, farther we cannot go. To
suppose that God forgives or
punishes sin according as His
mercy is sought or unsought, is
to misunderstand Love and to make
prayer the safety-valve for
wrong-doing.
Jesus uncovered and rebuked
sin before he cast it out. Of a
sick woman he said that Satan had
bound her, and to Peter he said,
"Thou art an offence unto me." He
came teaching and showing men how
to destroy sin, sickness, and
death. He said of the fruitless
tree, "[It] is hewn
down."
It is believed by many that a
certain magistrate, who lived in
the time of Jesus, left this
record: "His rebuke is fearful."
The strong language of our Master
confirms this description.
The only civil sentence which
he had for error was, "Get thee
behind me, Satan." Still stronger
evidence that Jesus' reproof was
pointed and pungent is found in
his own words, — showing the
necessity for such forcible
utterance, when he cast out
devils and healed the sick and
sinning. The relinquishment of
error deprives material sense of
its false claims.
Audible prayer is impressive;
it gives momentary solemnity and
elevation to thought. But does it
produce any lasting benefit?
Looking deeply into these things,
we find that "a zeal . . . not
according to knowledge" gives
occasion for reaction unfavorable
to spiritual growth, sober
resolve, and wholesome perception
of God's requirements. The
motives for verbal prayer may
embrace too much love of applause
to induce or encourage Christian
sentiment.
Physical sensation, not Soul,
produces material ecstasy and
emotion. If spiritual sense
always guided men, there would
grow out of ecstatic moments a
higher experience and a better
life with more devout
self-abnegation and purity. A
self-satisfied ventilation of
fervent sentiments never makes a
Christian. God is not influenced
by man. The "divine ear" is not
an auditory nerve. It is the
all-hearing and all-knowing Mind,
to whom each need of man is
always known and by whom it will
be supplied.
The danger from prayer is that
it may lead us into temptation.
By it we may become involuntary
hypocrites, uttering desires
which are not real and consoling
ourselves in the midst of sin
with the recollection that we
have prayed over it or mean to
ask forgiveness at some later
day. Hypocrisy is fatal to
religion.
A wordy prayer may afford a
quiet sense of
self-justification, though it
makes the sinner a hypocrite. We
never need to despair of an
honest heart; but there is little
hope for those who come only
spasmodically face to face with
their wickedness and then seek to
hide it. Their prayers are
indexes which do not correspond
with their character. They hold
secret fellowship with sin, and
such externals are spoken of by
Jesus as "like unto whited
sepulchres . . . full . . . of
all uncleanness."
If a man, though apparently
fervent and prayerful, is impure
and therefore insincere, what
must be the comment upon him? If
he reached the loftiness of his
prayer, there would be no
occasion for comment. If we feel
the aspiration, humility,
gratitude, and love which our
words express, — this God
accepts; and it is wise not to
try to deceive ourselves or
others, for "there is nothing
covered that shall not be
revealed." Professions and
audible prayers are like charity
in one respect, — they
"cover the multitude of sins."
Praying for humility with
whatever fervency of expression
does not always mean a desire for
it. If we turn away from the
poor, we are not ready to receive
the reward of Him who blesses the
poor. We confess to having a very
wicked heart and ask that it may
be laid bare before us, but do we
not already know more of this
heart than we are willing to have
our neighbor see?
We should examine ourselves
and learn what is the affection
and purpose of the heart, for in
this way only can we learn what
we honestly are. If a friend
informs us of a fault, do we
listen patiently to the rebuke
and credit what is said? Do we
not rather give thanks that we
are "not as other men"? During
many years the author has been
most grateful for merited rebuke.
The wrong lies in unmerited
censure, — in the falsehood
which does no one any good.
The test of all prayer lies in
the answer to these questions: Do
we love our neighbor better
because of this asking? Do we
pursue the old selfishness,
satisfied with having prayed for
something better, though we give
no evidence of the sincerity of
our requests by living
consistently with our prayer? If
selfishness has given place to
kindness, we shall regard our
neighbor unselfishly, and bless
them that curse us; but we shall
never meet this great duty simply
by asking that it may be done.
There is a cross to be taken up
before we can enjoy the fruition
of our hope and faith.
Dost thou "love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart, and with
all thy soul, and with all thy
mind"? This command includes
much, even the surrender of all
merely material sensation,
affection, and worship. This is
the El Dorado of Christianity. It
involves the Science of Life, and
recognizes only the divine
control of Spirit, in which Soul
is our master, and material sense
and human will have no place.
Are you willing to leave all
for Christ, for Truth, and so be
counted among sinners? No! Do you
really desire to attain this
point? No! Then why make long
prayers about it and ask to be
Christians, since you do not care
to tread in the footsteps of our
dear Master? If unwilling to
follow his example, why pray with
the lips that you may be
partakers of his nature?
Consistent prayer is the desire
to do right. Prayer means that we
desire to walk and will walk in
the light so far as we receive
it, even though with bleeding
footsteps, and that waiting
patiently on the Lord, we will
leave our real desires to be
rewarded by Him.
The world must grow to the
spiritual understanding of
prayer. If good enough to profit
by Jesus' cup of earthly sorrows,
God will sustain us under these
sorrows. Until we are thus
divinely qualified and are
willing to drink his cup,
millions of vain repetitions will
never pour into prayer the
unction of Spirit in
demonstration of power and "with
signs following." Christian
Science reveals a necessity for
overcoming the world, the flesh,
and evil, and thus destroying all
error.
Seeking is not sufficient. It
is striving that enables us to
enter. Spiritual attainments open
the door to a higher
understanding of the divine
Life.
One of the forms of worship in
Thibet is to carry a
praying-machine through the
streets, and stop at the doors to
earn a penny by grinding out a
prayer. But the advance guard of
progress has paid for the
privilege of prayer the price of
persecution.
Experience teaches us that we
do not always receive the
blessings we ask for in prayer.
There is some misapprehension of
the source and means of all
goodness and blessedness, or we
should certainly receive that for
which we ask. The Scriptures say:
"Ye ask, and receive not, because
ye ask amiss, that ye may consume
it upon your lusts." That which
we desire and for which we ask,
it is not always best for us to
receive. In this case infinite
Love will not grant the request.
Do you ask wisdom to be merciful
and not to punish sin? Then "ye
ask amiss." Without punishment,
sin would multiply. Jesus'
prayer, "Forgive us our debts,"
specified also the terms of
forgiveness. When forgiving the
adulterous woman he said, "Go,
and sin no more."
A magistrate sometimes remits
the penalty, but this may be no
moral benefit to the criminal,
and at best, it only saves the
criminal from one form of
punishment. The moral law, which
has the right to acquit or
condemn, always demands
restitution before mortals can
"go up higher." Broken law brings
penalty in order to compel this
progress.
Mere legal pardon (and there
is no other, for divine Principle
never pardons our sins or
mistakes till they are corrected)
leaves the offender free to
repeat the offence, if indeed, he
has not already suffered
sufficiently from vice to make
him turn from it with loathing.
Truth bestows no pardon upon
error, but wipes it out in the
most effectual manner. Jesus
suffered for our sins, not to
annul the divine sentence for an
individual's sin, but because sin
brings inevitable suffering.
Petitions bring to mortals
only the results of mortals' own
faith. We know that a desire for
holiness is requisite in order to
gain holiness; but if we desire
holiness above all else, we shall
sacrifice everything for it. We
must be willing to do this, that
we may walk securely in the only
practical road to holiness.
Prayer cannot change the
unalterable Truth, nor can prayer
alone give us an understanding of
Truth; but prayer, coupled with a
fervent habitual desire to know
and do the will of God, will
bring us into all Truth. Such a
desire has little need of audible
expression. It is best expressed
in thought and in life.
"The prayer of faith shall
save the sick," says the
Scripture. What is this healing
prayer? A mere request that God
will heal the sick has no power
to gain more of the divine
presence than is always at hand.
The beneficial effect of such
prayer for the sick is on the
human mind, making it act more
powerfully on the body through a
blind faith in God. This,
however, is one belief casting
out another, — a belief in
the unknown casting out a belief
in sickness. It is neither
Science nor Truth which acts
through blind belief, nor is it
the human understanding of the
divine healing Principle as
manifested in Jesus, whose humble
prayers were deep and
conscientious protests of Truth,
— of man's likeness to God
and of man's unity with Truth and
Love.
Prayer to a corporeal God
affects the sick like a drug,
which has no efficacy of its own
but borrows its power from human
faith and belief. The drug does
nothing, because it has no
intelligence. It is a mortal
belief, not divine Principle or
Love, which causes a drug to be
apparently either poisonous or
sanative.
The common custom of praying
for the recovery of the sick
finds help in blind belief,
whereas help should come from the
enlightened understanding.
Changes in belief may go on
indefinitely, but they are the
merchandise of human thought and
not the outgrowth of divine
Science.
Does Deity interpose in behalf
of one worshipper, and not help
another who offers the same
measure of prayer? If the sick
recover because they pray or are
prayed for audibly, only
petitioners (per se or by
proxy) should get well. In divine
Science, where prayers are
mental, all may avail
themselves of God as "a very
present help in trouble." Love is
impartial and universal in its
adaptation and bestowals. It is
the open fount which cries, "Ho,
every one that thirsteth, come ye
to the waters."
In public prayer we often go
beyond our convictions, beyond
the honest standpoint of fervent
desire. If we are not secretly
yearning and openly striving for
the accomplishment of all we ask,
our prayers are "vain
repetitions," such as the heathen
use. If our petitions are
sincere, we labor for what we
ask; and our Father, who seeth in
secret, will reward us openly.
Can the mere public expression of
our desires increase them? Do we
gain the omnipotent ear sooner by
words than by thoughts? Even if
prayer is sincere, God knows our
need before we tell Him or our
fellow-beings about it. If we
cherish the desire honestly and
silently and humbly, God will
bless it, and we shall incur less
risk of overwhelming our real
wishes with a torrent of
words.
If we pray to God as a
corporeal person, this will
prevent us from relinquishing the
human doubts and fears which
attend such a belief, and so we
cannot grasp the wonders wrought
by infinite, incorporeal Love, to
whom all things are possible.
Because of human ignorance of the
divine Principle, Love, the
Father of all is represented as a
corporeal creator; hence men
recognize themselves as merely
physical, and are ignorant of man
as God's image or reflection and
of man's eternal incorporeal
existence. The world of error is
ignorant of the world of Truth,
— blind to the reality of
man's existence, — for the
world of sensation is not
cognizant of life in Soul, not in
body.
If we are sensibly with the
body and regard omnipotence as a
corporeal, material person, whose
ear we would gain, we are not
"absent from the body" and
"present with the Lord" in the
demonstration of Spirit. We
cannot "serve two masters." To be
"present with the Lord" is to
have, not mere emotional ecstasy
or faith, but the actual
demonstration and understanding
of Life as revealed in Christian
Science. To be "with the Lord" is
to be in obedience to the law of
God, to be absolutely governed by
divine Love, — by Spirit,
not by matter.
Become conscious for a single
moment that Life and intelligence
are purely spiritual, —
neither in nor of matter, —
and the body will then utter no
complaints. If suffering from a
belief in sickness, you will find
yourself suddenly well. Sorrow is
turned into joy when the body is
controlled by spiritual Life,
Truth, and Love. Hence the hope
of the promise Jesus bestows: "He
that believeth on me, the works
that I do shall he do also; . . .
because I go unto my Father,"
— [because the Ego is
absent from the body, and present
with Truth and Love.] The
Lord's Prayer is the prayer of
Soul, not of material sense.
Entirely separate from the
belief and dream of material
living, is the Life divine,
revealing spiritual understanding
and the consciousness of man's
dominion over the whole earth.
This understanding casts out
error and heals the sick, and
with it you can speak "as one
having authority."
"When thou prayest, enter into
thy closet, and, when thou hast
shut thy door, pray to thy Father
which is in secret; and thy
Father, which seeth in secret,
shall reward thee openly."
So spake Jesus. The closet
typifies the sanctuary of Spirit,
the door of which shuts out
sinful sense but lets in Truth,
Life, and Love. Closed to error,
it is open to Truth, and vice
versa. The Father in secret
is unseen to the physical senses,
but He knows all things and
rewards according to motives, not
according to speech. To enter
into the heart of prayer, the
door of the erring senses must be
closed. Lips must be mute and
materialism silent, that man may
have audience with Spirit, the
divine Principle, Love, which
destroys all error.
In order to pray aright, we
must enter into the closet and
shut the door. We must close the
lips and silence the material
senses. In the quiet sanctuary of
earnest longings, we must deny
sin and plead God's allness. We
must resolve to take up the
cross, and go forth with honest
hearts to work and watch for
wisdom, Truth, and Love. We must
"pray without ceasing." Such
prayer is answered, in so far as
we put our desires into practice.
The Master's injunction is, that
we pray in secret and let our
lives attest our sincerity.
Christians rejoice in secret
beauty and bounty, hidden from
the world, but known to God.
Self-forgetfulness, purity, and
affection are constant prayers.
Practice not profession,
understanding not belief, gain
the ear and right hand of
omnipotence and they assuredly
call down infinite blessings.
Trustworthiness is the foundation
of enlightened faith. Without a
fitness for holiness, we cannot
receive holiness.
A great sacrifice of material
things must precede this advanced
spiritual understanding. The
highest prayer is not one of
faith merely; it is
demonstration. Such prayer heals
sickness, and must destroy sin
and death. It distinguishes
between Truth that is sinless and
the falsity of sinful sense.
Our Master taught his
disciples one brief prayer, which
we name after him the Lord's
Prayer. Our Master said, "After
this manner therefore pray ye,"
and then he gave that prayer
which covers all human needs.
There is indeed some doubt among
Bible scholars, whether the last
line is not an addition to the
prayer by a later copyist; but
this does not affect the meaning
of the prayer itself.
In the phrase, "Deliver us
from evil," the original properly
reads, "Deliver us from the evil
one." This reading strengthens
our scientific apprehension of
the petition, for Christian
Science teaches us that "the evil
one," or one evil, is but another
name for the first lie and all
liars.
Only as we rise above all
material sensuousness and sin,
can we reach the heaven-born
aspiration and spiritual
consciousness, which is indicated
in the Lord's Prayer and which
instantaneously heals the
sick.
Here let me give what I
understand to be the spiritual
sense of the Lord's Prayer:
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Our Father which art
in heaven,
Our Father-Mother
God,
all-harmonious,
Hallowed be Thy
name.
Adorable One.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy kingdom is come;
Thou art
ever-present.
Thy will be done in
earth, as it is in
heaven.
Enable us to know,
— as in heaven, so
on earth, — God is
omnipotent,
supreme.
Give us this day our
daily bread;
Give us grace for
to-day; feed the
famished
affections;
And forgive us our
debts, as we forgive our
debtors.
And Love is reflected
in love;
And lead us not into
temptation, but deliver
us from evil;
And God leadeth us
not into temptation, but
delivereth us from sin,
disease, and
death.
For Thine is the
kingdom, and the power,
and the glory,
forever.
For God is infinite,
all-power, all Life,
Truth, Love, over all,
and All.
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to Chapter 2: Atonement and
Eucharist
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