Christian Science Quarterly Bible Lessons
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The Christian Science Quarterly Bible Lessons are a publication of the Christian Science Publishing Society. Each week's Lesson that is used for individual study during the week, and as the Sunday sermon read during Christian Science church services around the world. It is not an originally written sermon unto itself, but is comprised of a series of references from the Bible and Mary Baker Eddy's Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. The particular topic for each week's lesson follows one of twenty-six subjects chosen by Christian Science founder, Eddy. They are in order: God; Sacrament; Life; Truth; Love; Spirit; Soul; Mind; Christ Jesus; Man; Substance; Matter; Reality; Unreality; Are Sin, Disease and Death Real?; Doctrine of Atonement; Probation After Death; Everlasting Punishment; Adam and Fallen Man; Mortals and Immortals; Soul and Body; Ancient and Modern Necromancy, alias Mesmerism and Hypnotism, Denounced; God the Only Cause and Creator; God the Preserver of Man; Is the Universe, Including Man, Evolved by Atomic Force?; and Christian Science.
This series of 26 subjects is repeated to comprise the 52 weekly lessons each year. Yet, each week's "Lesson-Sermon" is unique, and relates to its subject in a fresh and timely way. Each lesson begins with a "Golden Text" -- a short quote from the Bible that helps set the tone and focus of that lesson; followed by a "Responsive Reading: -- a brief series of Bible citations that help overview and lead into the lesson. During Christian Science Sunday services, the individual citations in this Responsive Reading are read alternating between the First Reader, and the congregation. The body of the Lesson is divided into a series of sections. Following each Lesson's Golden Text and Responsive Reading, the sections develop different aspects of the subject. Bible verses are read first in each section, followed by passages from Science and Health, which reveal the spiritual meaning of the Scriptures.
During Sunday services there are two "Readers" who conduct the service. When they come to the portion of the service where the Bible lesson is read, they take turns reading the citations in each section. The "Second Reader" reads the Bible citations, then the "First Reader" reads the citations from Science and Health. They repeat this for each section.
The Christian Science Bible Lessons are available in multiple editions: Citation Edition, which contains references for reading directly from the books (available in 13 languages); Study Edition and Large Print Study Edition, which include the complete text of the Lesson; audio cassettes and CDs; eBibleLesson.com; and myBibleLesson.com, which includes Bible notes, word definitions, and study questions. For more information, visit CSBibleLesson.com.
