vi:1 To those leaning on the sustaining infinite, to-day is
  big with blessings. The wakeful shepherd beholds
 vi:3 the first faint morning beams, ere cometh the full radiance
  of a risen day. So shone the pale star to the prophet-
  shepherds; yet it traversed the night, and came where, in
 vi:6 cradled obscurity, lay the Bethlehem babe, the human
  herald of Christ, Truth, who would make plain to be-
  nighted understanding the way of salvation through Christ
 vi:9 Jesus, till across a night of error should dawn the morn-
  ing beams and shine the guiding star of being. The Wise-
  men were led to behold and to follow this daystar of
 vi:12 divine Science, lighting the way to eternal harmony.

            The time for thinkers has come. Truth, independent
  of doctrines and time-honored systems, knocks at the
 vi:15 portal of humanity. Contentment with the past and
  the cold conventionality of materialism are crumbling
  away. Ignorance of God is no longer the stepping-
 vi:18 stone to faith. The only guarantee of obedience is a
  right apprehension of Him whom to know aright is
  Life eternal. Though empires fall, "the Lord shall
 vi:21 reign forever."

            A book introduces new thoughts, but it cannot make
  them speedily understood. It is the task of the sturdy
 vi:24 pioneer to hew the tall oak and to cut the rough
  granite. Future ages must declare what the pioneer
  has accomplished.

            vi:27 Since the author's discovery of the might of Truth in
 vii:1 the treatment of disease as well as of sin, her system has
  been fully tested and has not been found wanting; but
 vii:3 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
 vii:6 must yield to the harmony of spiritual sense, even as the
  science of music corrects false tones and gives sweet con-
  cord to sound.

            vii: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-
 vii:12 site. The question, What is Truth, is answered by
  demonstration, by healing both disease and sin; and
  this demonstration shows that Christian healing con-
 vii:15 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-
 vii:18 terial remedies; but the question arises, Is there less
  sickness because of these practitioners? A vigorous
  "No" is the response deducible from two connate
 vii:21 facts, - the reputed longevity of the Antediluvians,
  and the rapid multiplication and increased violence of
  diseases since the flood.

            vii: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-
 vii:27 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
 vii:30 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.

            ix:1 She also began to jot down her thoughts on the
  main subject, but these jottings were only infantile
 ix:3 lispings of Truth. A child drinks in the outward world
  through the eyes and rejoices in the draught. He is
  as sure of the world's existence as he is of his own; yet
 ix:6 he cannot describe the world. He finds a few words,
  and with these he stammeringly attempts to convey his
  feeling. Later, the tongue voices the more definite
 ix:9 thought, though still imperfectly.

            So was it with the author. As a certain poet says of
  himself, she "lisped in numbers, for the numbers
 ix:12 came." Certain essays written at that early date are
  still in circulation among her first pupils; but they are
  feeble attempts to state the Principle and practice of
 ix:15 Christian healing, and are not complete nor satisfac-
  tory expositions of Truth. To-day, though rejoicing
  in some progress, she still finds herself a willing dis-
 ix:18 ciple at the heavenly gate, waiting for the Mind of
  Christ.

            Her first pamphlet on Christian Science was copy-
 ix:21 righted in 1870; but it did not appear in print until
  1876, as she had learned that this Science must be
  1876, as she had learned that this Science must be
  demonstrated by healing, before a work on the subject
 ix:24 could be profitably studied. From 1867 until 1875,
  copies were, however, in friendly circulation.

            Before writing this work, SCIENCE AND HEALTH, she
 ix:27 made copious notes of Scriptural exposition, which
  have never been published. This was during the years
  1867 and 1868. These efforts show her comparative
 ix:30 ignorance 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:1 may treasure the memorials of a child's growth, and
  she would not have them changed.

            x: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
 x:6 and 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
 x:9 Christian Science. A few books, however, which are
  based on this book, are useful.

            The author has not compromised conscience to suit
 x:12 the general drift of thought, but has bluntly and hon-
  estly given the text of Truth. She has made no effort
  to embellish, elaborate, or treat in full detail so in-
 x:15 finite a theme. By thousands of well-authenticated
  cases of healing, she and her students have proved the
  worth of her teachings. These cases for the most part
 x:18 have been abandoned as hopeless by regular medical
  attendants. Few invalids will turn to God till all
  physical supports have failed, because there is so little
 x:21 faith in His disposition and power to heal disease.

            The divine Principle of healing is proved in the
  personal experience of any sincere seeker of Truth. Its
 x:24 purpose is good, and its practice is safer and more po-
  tent than that of any other sanitary method. The un-
  biased Christian thought is soonest touched by Truth,
 x:27 and convinced of it. Only those quarrel with her
  method who do not understand her meaning, or dis-
  cerning the truth, come not to the light lest their
 x:30 works be reproved. No intellectual proficiency is req-
  uisite in the learner, but sound morals are most de-
  sirable.

            xi:1 Many imagine that the phenomena of physical heal-
  ing in Christian Science present only a phase of the
 xi:3 action of the human mind, which action in some unex-
  plained way results in the cure of disease. On the con-
  trary, Christian Science rationally explains that all
 xi:6 other pathological methods are the fruits of human
  faith in matter, faith in the workings, not of Spirit,
  but of the fleshly mind which must yield to Science.

            xi:9 The physical healing of Christian Science results
  now, as in Jesus' time, from the operation of divine
  Principle, before which sin and disease lose their real-
 xi:12 ity in human consciousness and disappear as naturally
  and as necessarily as darkness gives place to light and
  sin to reformation. Now, as then, these mighty works
 xi:15 are not supernatural, but supremely natural. They are
  the sign of Immanuel, or "God with us," a divine
  influence ever present in human consciousness and re-
 xi:18 peating itself, coming now as was promised aforetime,

            To preach deliverance to the captives [of sense],
  And recovering of sight to the blind,
 xi:21 To set at liberty them that are bruised.

            When God called the author to proclaim His Gospel
  to this age, there came also the charge to plant and
 xi:24 water His vineyard.

            The first school of Christian Science Mind-healing
  was started by the author with only one student in
 xi:27 Lynn, Massachusetts, about the year 1867. In 1881,
  she opened the Massachusetts Metaphysical College in
  Boston, under the seal of the Commonwealth, a law
 xi:30 relative to colleges having been passed, which enabled
  her to get this institution chartered for medical pur-
 xii:1 poses. No charters were granted to Christian Scien-
  tists for such institutions after 1883, and up to that
 xii:3 date, hers was the only College of this character which
  had been established in the United States, where
  Christian Science was first introduced.

            xii:6 During seven years over four thousand students
  were taught by the author in this College. Meanwhile
  she was pastor of the first established Church of
 xii:9 Christ, Scientist; President of the first Christian Sci-
  entist Association, convening monthly; publisher of
  her own works; and (for a portion of this time) sole
 xii:12 editor and publisher of the Christian Science Journal,
  the first periodical issued by Christian Scientists. She
  closed her College, October 29, 1889, in the height of
 xii:15 its prosperity with a deep-lying conviction that the
  next two years of her life should be given to the prep-
  aration of the revision of SCIENCE AND HEALTH, which
 xii:18 was published in 1891. She retained her charter, and
  as its President, reopened the College in 1899 as auxil-
  iary to her church. Until June 10, 1907, she had never
 xii:21 read this book throughout consecutively in order to elu-
  cidate her idealism.

            In the spirit of Christ's charity, as one who "hopeth
 xii:24 all things, endureth all things," and is joyful to bear
  consolation to the sorrowing and healing to the sick,
  she commits these pages to honest seekers for Truth.