Chapter 0: 'Science and Health with Key to The Scriptures' by Mary Baker Eddy

Preface

viii:1
the treatment of disease as well as of sin, her system has

been fully tested and has not been found wanting; but

to reach the heights of Christian Science, man must live

in obedience to its divine Principle. To develop the full

might of this Science, the discords of corporeal sense

must yield to the harmony of spiritual sense, even as the

science of music corrects false tones and gives sweet con-

cord to sound.

viii:9
Theology and physics teach that both Spirit and

matter are real and good, whereas the fact is that

Spirit is good and real, and matter is Spirit's oppo-

site. The question, What is Truth, is answered by

demonstration, – by healing both disease and sin; and

this demonstration shows that Christian healing con-

fers the most health and makes the best men. On this

basis Christian Science will have a fair fight. Sickness

has been combated for centuries by doctors using ma-

terial remedies; but the question arises, Is there less

sickness because of these practitioners? A vigorous

"No" is the response deducible from two connate

facts, – the reputed longevity of the Antediluvians,

and the rapid multiplication and increased violence of

diseases since the flood.

viii:24
In the author's work, RETROSPECTION AND INTROSPEC-

TION, may be found a biographical sketch, narrating

experiences which led her, in the year 1866, to the dis-

covery of the system that she denominated Christian

Science. As early as 1862 she began to write down and

give to friends the results of her Scriptural study, for

the Bible was her sole teacher; but these compositions

were crude, – the first steps of a child in the newly dis-

covered world of Spirit.