The Importance of Virtue: Introduction to an Examination of Our Modern World in Light of the Ten Commandments
This post is meant for Christian Scientists searching for a better understanding of God and the Science of Healing, but anyone who is interested is welcome to read it.
In the early days of the Christian Science movement, its healing powers were indisputable. Healings came quickly and easily. When Frances Thurber Seal went to Germany, for instance, she healed every single case presented to her. (see Christian Science In Germany )
Due to this tremendous healing power, Christian Science spread rapidly. Churches were booming. Scientists could be found in all walks of life, from top Hollywood stars to members of the British Parliament.
My family came to Christian Science during this period. My grandfather was suffering from a cold. He walked into the office of a Christian Scientist practitioner, which he happened to pass. By the time he walked out, not only was his cold gone, he had also been healed of the desire to smoke. He was so impressed with this experience that he brought the teachings of Christian Science home to his family and many lovely healings ensued.
Nowadays, however, there is a thought that healing is harder than once it was in Christian Science. Healings continues. One can hear of excellent healings that have only just occurred, if one attends Wednesday Night Testimony meetings—but some feel that healings are less quick to occur, more difficult to achieve.
As I have been praying about this issue, I came upon the following quote. In Science and Health: with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy writes: To cure a bodily ailment, every broken moral law should be taken into account and the error be rebuked. (, pg. 392:4-5 )
I have read this many times and questioned myself as to whether I had broken any moral law. Occasionally, this has caused me to pray to overcome some vice or failing. However, only recently, did I suddenly ask myself the question: What am I accepting as moral that, in Mrs. Eddy’s time, would have been considered a sin?
The more I thought about it, the more I was startled by the difference between what we accept today and what might have been acceptable in the 1900s. Some changes are obvious and come easily to mind, but others were more subtle, changes in our general approval or disapproval of certain topics that most of us probably do not even realize has changed.
So, in a series of upcoming posts, I hope to examine the Ten Commandments and which aspects of each commandment might have been overlooked by our modern outlook.
