First Church of Christ, Scientist, La Cañada Flintridge
Wednesday Meeting Readings
- Neh. 8:1-3, 5, 6, 8
1And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded to Israel.
2And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.
3And he read therein before the street that was before the water gate from the morning until midday, before the men and the women, and those that could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law.
... 5And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people; (for he was above all the people;) and when he opened it, all the people stood up:
6And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground.
... 8So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.
- Prov. 2:1-5
1My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;
2So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;
3Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;
4If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;
5Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.
- John 5:17 Jesus (to 1st ,), 39
Jesus answered them,
39¶ Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
- Matt. 22:15-30
15¶ Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk.
16And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men.
17Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Cæsar, or not?
18But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites?
19Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny.
20And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription?
21They say unto him, Cæsar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Cæsar the things which are Cæsar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.
22When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way.
23¶ The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection, and asked him,
24Saying, Master, Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.
25Now there were with us seven brethren: and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased, and, having no issue, left his wife unto his brother:
26Likewise the second also, and the third, unto the seventh.
27And last of all the woman died also.
28Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her.
29Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.
30For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.
- Luke 18:1, 18-22
1And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
... 18And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
19And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.
20Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother.
21And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up.
22Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.
- Luke 24:13-32
13¶ And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs.
14And they talked together of all these things which had happened.
15And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them.
16But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.
17And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad?
18And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?
19And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people:
20And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him.
21But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to-day is the third day since these things were done.
22Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre;
23And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive.
24And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not.
25Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:
26Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?
27And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
28And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further.
29But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them.
30And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them.
31And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.
32And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?
- SH 146:23-26
- SH 406:1 (only)
The Bible contains the recipe for all healing.
- SH 131:10
- SH 24:4
Acquaintance with the original texts, and willingness to give up human beliefs (established by hierarchies, and 6Life’s healing currentsinstigated sometimes by the worst passions of men), open the way for Christian Science to be understood, and make the Bible the chart of life, where 9the buoys and healing currents of Truth are pointed out.
- SH 272:8
- SH 501:1-7
Scientific interpretation of the Scriptures prop-erly starts with the beginning of the Old Testa-3Spiritual interpretationment, chiefly because the spiritual import of the Word, in its earliest articulations, often seems so smothered by the immediate context as to 6require explication; whereas the New Testament narra-tives are clearer and come nearer the heart.
- SH 319:21-1
The divine Science taught in the original language of the Bible came through inspiration, and needs inspi-Scriptures misinterpretedration to be understood. Hence the misappre-24hension of the spiritual meaning of the Bible, and the misinterpretation of the Word in some instances by uninspired writers, who only wrote 27down what an inspired teacher had said. A misplaced word changes the sense and misstates the Science of the Scriptures, as, for instance, to name Love as merely 30an attribute of God; but we can by special and proper capitalization speak of the love of Love, meaning by that what the beloved disciple meant in one of his epistles, 320 320:1when he said, “God is love.”
- SH 320:4-8
- SH 110:13
In following these leadings of scientific revelation, the Bible was my only textbook. The Scriptures were 15Scriptural foundationsillumined; reason and revelation were recon-ciled, and afterwards the truth of Christian Science was demonstrated. No human pen nor tongue 18taught me the Science contained in this book, Science and Health; and neither tongue nor pen can over-throw it. This book may be distorted by shallow criti-21cism or by careless or malicious students, and its ideas may be temporarily abused and misrepresented; but the Science and truth therein will forever remain to be dis-24cerned and demonstrated.
- SH ix:20-9
Her first pamphlet on Christian Science was copy-21righted in 1870; but it did not appear in print until 1876, as she had learned that this Science must be demonstrated by healing, before a work on the subject 24could be profitably studied. From 1867 until 1875, copies were, however, in friendly circulation.
Before writing this work, Science and Health, she 27made copious notes of Scriptural exposition, which have never been published. This was during the years 1867 and 1868. These efforts show her comparative 30ignorance of the stupendous Life-problem up to that time, and the degrees by which she came at length to its solution; but she values them as a parent x x:1may treasure the memorials of a child’s growth, and she would not have them changed.
3 The first edition of Science and Health was pub-lished in 1875. Various books on mental healing have since been issued, most of them incorrect in theory 6and filled with plagiarisms from Science and Health. They regard the human mind as a healing agent, whereas this mind is not a factor in the Principle of 9Christian Science.
- SH 456:25
A Christian Scientist requires my work Science and Health for his textbook, and so do all his students and 27This volume indispensablepatients. Why? First: Because it is the voice of Truth to this age, and contains the full statement of Christian Science, or the Science of healing 30through Mind. Second: Because it was the first book known, containing a thorough statement of Christian Science. Hence it gave the first rules for demonstrating 457 457:1this Science, and registered the revealed Truth uncon-taminated by human hypotheses. Other works, which 3have borrowed from this book without giving it credit, have adulterated the Science. Third: Because this book has done more for teacher and student, for healer and 6patient, than has been accomplished by other books.
- SH 361:21
I have revised Science and Health only to give a clearer and fuller expression of its original meaning. Spir-itual ideas unfold as we advance. A human perception of 24divine Science, however limited, must be correct in order to be Science and subject to demonstration. A germ of in-finite Truth, though least in the kingdom of heaven, is the 27higher hope on earth, but it will be rejected and reviled until God prepares the soil for the seed. That which when sown bears immortal fruit, enriches mankind only 30when it is understood, — hence the many readings given the Scriptures, and the requisite revisions of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.
- SH 126:22
I have set forth Christian Science and its application to the treatment of disease just as I have discovered them. 24Biblical basisI have demonstrated through Mind the effects of Truth on the health, longevity, and morals of men; and I have found nothing in ancient or in modern 27systems on which to found my own, except the teachings and demonstrations of our great Master and the lives of prophets and apostles. The Bible has been my only au-30thority. I have had no other guide in “the straight and narrow way” of Truth.
- SH xii:23
Hymn 12: “...The Word of God is power divine”
Hymn 114: “Holy Bible, book divine”
Hymn 251: “O Word of God, most holy”
