The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand! With these words, John the Baptist and Christ Jesus ushered in a new era in human history.
When Jesus was asked, “when the kingdom of God should come,” he answered, “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation… for behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17: 20-21). As St. Paul wrote, “now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation” (II Corr. 6:2).
Jesus commanded his disciples, “As ye go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:7-8).
It was the healing work of the early Christian apostles and disciples that led to the explosive growth of Christian churches in the first two centuries. Until the church became institutionalized, their works proved their words to be divine and gave life to Jesus’ message that the kingdom of heaven is come, the kingdom of heaven is within you — not in some far-off future, but right now.
The First Church of Christ, Scientist was organized by Mary Baker Eddy in 1879 to (in her words) “Commemorate the words and works of our Master [Christ Jesus], which should reinstate primitive Christianity and its lost element of healing.”
A devoted Christian and avid student of the Bible since her childhood, Mrs. Eddy turned to the Gospels following an accident diagnosed as fatal. The inspiration she gained led to her complete recovery and gave her a spiritual understanding of the Bible and an apprehension of spiritual laws, and she named her discovery Christian Science. Why science? Because the laws of God, correctly applied, reliably result in healing.
She documented this discovery in her book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, which became the Christian Science textbook, to be studied along with the Bible. The first chapter begins, “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.”
Mrs. Eddy took Jesus’ promise to his followers seriously: “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also” (John 14:12). She proved what she taught through her own healing works and encouraged her adherents to do likewise.
On Saturday, May 30, at 3:30 p.m. at 110 Federal St. in Greenfield, there will be a one-hour talk entitled “CAN PRAYER BE SCIENTIFIC?” The speaker, Emra Farkas, is a Christian Science practitioner and teacher with experience of helping others to heal through prayer.
Mrs. Eddy wrote in Science and Health, “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.”
“Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32)
Judith Truesdell lives in Greenfield.