They had come to dedicate a church edifice. She called it a temple. The Temple is a structure for celebration, celebrating the completeness of both God and by reflection, man. The Church, on the other had is a structure for discovery, a structure of science, of divine Science, a workhouse in which we discover our completeness in the reflected completeness of God. The 16 elements of her foursquare structure cover both grounds, with the two aspects standing side by side.

All the 16 sections of the Manual therfore appear to be designed to interrelate both vertically within their development and horizontally with each other in the form of a reflection. They interrelate vertically according to the definition of the 'river' that defines the development process within a column. And they interrelate horizontally reflecting the common cardinal point of the specific row (or level of the structure).  For example the lowest level right across the board represents a grouping of elements in which society is severely exposed to failures in civilization and is urgently in need of healing. We can find the related aspect of a specific need referenced on both sides, reflected in Church and in the Temple. Thus in the horizontal context the individual elements can be seen to correlate between identical positions within the two major parts of the structure. For example a correlation would result between element 1 and 9, or 5 and 13, see above.

"Guardianship of Funds" (9)
"Church Officers" (1)

The concept of "Guardianship of Funds" is located on the bottom row as an element of Church. The location on the bottom row tells us that it is an element that is in serious need of healing. It has been noted in the previous chapter that this element, "Guardianship of Funds,"  when see in the universal context relates to the crucial need of society to safeguard the value of its currency as an expression of its inherent creative and productive power. It has been further noted that this safeguarding is currently failing, ensuing potentially catastrophic consequences. The vast scope of the ongoing worldwide economic collapse indicates that a great deal of healing is required for the process to function again to safeguard society's currency, society itself, and civilization as a whole, without which the physical existence of much of society is in danger of disintegrating. 

Obviously the required healing of a failure that goes immensely deep, down to the very heart and soul of mankind in its self-perception, cannot be achieved by merely changing governmental policy. The healing has to be won on a platform of science that is rooted in the Sublime of our humanity and is manifest in the spiritual dimension of the Christ principles that are reflected in human culture and support the structure of civilization. 

This pattern, of taking a healing to the deepest level in our spiritual self-perception, extends through the entire bottom row and finds it equivalent in both halves of Mary Baker Eddy's foursquare structure. The position-defined equivalent section of the Manual would therefore be the section "Church Officers." Element 1 and 9 are both the first element in their respective part.

So what about the section "Church Officers?" What causes an impending crisis here that is in urgent need of healing? In the context of Mary Baker Eddy's organizational structure, which is designed to be functioning in the Temple, the officers are not positioned as leaders, but are positioned at the lowest point in the first column, in the servants quarter so to speak, to function as the temple servants. That includes both the Board of Directors and the President. The demand that comes to light here is immense. It demands in the universal context that every President, King, Queen, Prime Minister, Viceroy, politician, or the like perceive themselves as but servant in the temple whose task it is to see to it that the furnace is stoked, the roof repaired, the bills are paid, and whatever society requires to advance its general welfare is made available to the greatest extend possible. If this was to happen, society would function. Unfortunately we are far from that.

The bottom line is, the king on the block is society, celebrating the completeness of God reflected in humanity. That's the tallest position. No one can exceed that. The only form of leadership that is possible is reflected in the fullness of that celebration, celebrating the profundity of it to the fullest extend possible as Christ Jesus had defined the position of leadership in the Temple. Any other form is mythological heterodoxy.

Jesus rose from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. (reported in John 13:5-17)

Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet?

 Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. 

Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. 

Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. 

Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. 

Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all. 

For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean. So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.  If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.

In today's world the officers that should serve society want to masters; potentates; the deciders in-chief; the dictators in-chief; rulers of empires; kings in pompous palaces -- thy want to be bowed to, cheered, respected, hailed, and be called "leader," though they haven't got a clue what civilization is, much less how it operates, or even what the general welfare it. And so, the world goes to hell.

The cultural failure that we see here is a mirror image of the cultural failure that is reflected in the section related to "Guardianship of Funds." When society begins to discover its inherent value as human beings and brings it to light to the point that it finds this value reflected in the value of its currency, reflecting its creative and productive power, then the corresponding scene in the Temple will change and the dance of kings will be replaced with the dance of the temple servants. That's inevitable.

The example shows how deeply the correlated individual elements of Church and Temple complement each other.

"Committee on Publication."
"Reading Rooms."

For example, on the second-lowest row we find the Manual-section "Committee on Publication." In its specific form it pertains to the functioning of the Church of Christ Scientist. In this context it is the function of the committee is to correct false statements in public literature about Mary Baker Eddy and her discovered science that she named, "Christian Science." It is the committee task in this context to assure that false statements in the public media are corrected and that the truth be published. While the committee is set up to serve a useful function in this context, in the universal sense Mary Baker Eddy established with this provision a model that is of critical importance for the functioning of civilization. It becomes a model for universally assuring truth in journalism and related aspects. 

In today's world truth is largely omitted, up to 99.9% of it in the most critical areas of published journalism. This drifting away from the truth creates a dangerous environment for society. Frank Herbert said in his "Dune" series of novels, "Who controls the spice, controls the universe." In the imperial world it is being said, "Who controls the oil, controls the world." It is also being said in the modern world that, "who controls the media, controls the mentality of society, and thereby owns society."

For millennia civilization has been under the gun of the war of empire versus mankind, and as Hitler's propaganda minister had pointed out "who owns the media does own the nation." Guess who owns the media today? The modern empire has its banners that boldly proclaim, though thinly concealed, "In Lies we Trust." 

It is not an understatement therefore to say that truth in journalism is one of the great pillars of civilization. It is actually more than that. To underscore its critical importance Mary Baker Eddy assigned the highest salary in her church to the manager of that function related to her church, almost twice the salary that she assigned to its directors. In time society as a whole might institute such a function for its own self-government as a necessary step for its self-defense in the still-raging war of empire versus civilization. 

We assume that the news media presents the truth faithfully and fully. In real terms we are extremely far from that happening. One day we may get to it if we care for it enough for the truth. In the mean time we suffer the dire consequences. A people who don't care to protect their mentality, allowing the truth to be discounted to zero,  loose their humanity and with it their culture and civilization.

Also there is again a correlation apparent between the two sides for the specific element-position. For example, the focus on truth in journalism and related aspects, which is focused on in the section of "Committee on Publication" is focused on is a similar manner in respect to the public domain, in the domain of the Temple. We find this correlative aspect in the section of "Reading Rooms." 

Specifically for her church, Mark Baker Eddy established the institution of the Reading Room that is designed to function as a quiet place for reading and contemplating, and as a publicly accessible library facility where Christian Science literature is made available for purchase, loan, study, and perusal. It is designed to provide as an oasis of peace and enrichment in the busy world of the fast hubbub of commercial competition and cultural pollution. As a universal model the concept of the Reading Room becomes more than that. It symbolized the responsibility of each one of society to maintain its 'reading room' -- its mental environment -- free from the raging world of cultural warfare that imposes itself under the banner, "In Lies We Trust!" 

Society needs to maintain in its daily activities a state of spiritual peace and carefully guard its mental sanctuary against the flood of lies that flow in the world around it, lies that are glad in garments of sophistry, false environmentalism, racism, corporatism, fascism, destructive political and social structures. Maintaining ones 'reading' room therefore becomes as crucial for the welfare of individuals as it is crucial to achieve and maintain truth in journalism and associated aspects, such as truthfulness in the sciences, education, and politics. 

An example for the process of maintaining ones 'reading room' is found in a recent cooperative project of a group of youth made a major effort to help their fellow youth to keep the mental environment from becoming destroyed by the currently unfolding cyber revolution. The title of their alerting project is: Is the Devil in Your Laptop? The research results were published in a mass-distribution pamphlet that was distributed by them by the hundreds of thousands across the major campuses in North America. While the project touches only the fringe of the problem, it nevertheless sets a direction that reflects the direction that Mary Baker Eddy had established a hundred years ago with her model for the "Reading Rooms."

"Church-Building"
"Relation and Duties of Members to Pastor Emeritus."

Another similarly interesting correlation between Church and Temple can be found on the second-highest row from the top, connecting the Church-related Manual-section "Church-Building" (this denotes a process) with the corresponding Manual section in the domain of Temple, called "Relation and Duties of Members to Pastor Emeritus." 

While the section in the Manual concerned with "Church-Building" speaks about the structure of an edifice and a deed of trust pertaining to the land on which it stands, the title of the section speaks of a process, the process of building. Otherwise it would not have been hyphenated. In other words, the universal Church as a scientific institution that shapes human culture is still in the process of being built and will always remain so. 

Mary Baker Eddy highlights this sense of continuous Church-building in the preface to the Manual in the last paragraph under Historical Sketch.

THE FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST, IN BOSTON, MASS., is designed to be built,,, thus to reflect in some degree the Church Universal and Triumphant.

The larger sense of the dimension of Church-building is reflective of the forever ongoing need to upgrade human culture, giving it the highest spiritual dimension that can be attained for it. Human culture is an accumulative progression made up of advancing ideas that become a part of the platform of human existence for all times, reflecting the principle of the immortality of good. 

For example, while Plato is long dead, his scientific achievements are still with us. The same holds true for all the achievements of good from before Abraham to beyond our present day. The sum total of it defines human culture, a culture that spans far beyond our lifespan and reflects the boundless quality of Truth and Life. Civilization is a construct of advancing culture. While the genetic development in biology is painfully slow, human culture, which is maintained in thought and ideas, has exceeded all previous limits by many orders of magnitude, both in powers of expression and in the rapidity of progression . Anthropology tells us that it took mankind a million years to stand with a fully erect posture, while cultural progression enabled us to build a civilization in less than 10,000 years that makes it possible for mankind to stand on the moon and explore the universe from it, with most parts of this progression stemming from the last few hundred years. And even then, our cultural development seems to have just begun. 

But as history has also shown, cultural achievements are not handed down to us on a silver platter. That Church needs to be built, stone by stone. And the more profoundly spiritual its structure becomes, the freer and more powerful human living becomes. This interrelationship is extensively explored in the previous chapter in the context of the story of Jacob. The same dimension is also reflected in the functional structure of the Temple in the Manual section of, "Relation and Duties of Members to Pastor Emeritus."

Pastor Emeritus is a title that Mary Baker Eddy assumed for herself when she was called upon to become the pastor of her newly created church. She refused the position of serving personally as pastor, saying that she already speaks to the congregation through her textbook. She suggested therefore that she assume the title, Pastor Emeritus, which she did. However she also said about herself in the very preface of this very textbook: "To-day, though rejoicing in some progress, she still finds herself a willing disciple at the heavenly gate, waiting for the Mind of Christ." And she emphasised in a message to her church in 1901 and again in 1902, "Follow your Leader only so far as she follows Christ." (Message... 01, p. 34 /02, p.4)

In the context of Church she defined Christian Science, as the great Exemplar of the Christ-idea, and the example of it (S&H p.577). In the context of Temple the Science of Church becomes everyone's responsibility as pioneered by her example. She makes the advance of human culture everyone's responsibility, powered by the most leading-edge scientific and spiritual development afforded by the function of Church. What begins in Church lights up the Temple. The Pastor Emeritus thereby reflects itself in society as an obligation of it to spiritually and scientifically light up the world.

Here an odd provision comes into play from the Manual section of, "Relation and Duties of Members to Pastor Emeritus." It is made the duty of any member called upon by the Pastor Emeritus, personally represented by Mary Baker Eddy, to serve in her household without hesitation, is so called, regardless of that member's other family obligations. This by-law provides for servitude that borders on slavery and may have never been implemented.  However, its universal implication is profound. 

Culture is the soul of humanity. Without it, what would we have? When the call comes upon one from the Sublime of our humanity to enrich it with ever-greater spiritual contributions, the call cannot really be turned down, can it? Culture is the life of society. It is a living construct and ultimately the only true riches we have. Indeed, most of the great scientific, spiritual, artistic, literary, and technological contributions that have enriched human culture through the ages were freely offered and often with an intensity of devotion that makes slavery appear like a holiday. Mary Baker Eddy devoted everything to her mission, as inspired by the Christ, holding back nothing. That is the model that she sets before us, reflected in the Temple as Pastor Emeritus, the standard-bearer for the Christ. Her standard is the highest spiritual achievement that she attained. That is what she demands society to emulate. The interrelationship is well illustrated in the painting Christmas Morn.

It appears that all the great advances in culture were produced in this process of following the call of the Sublime, such as the great symphonies of music that have enriched human culture, and the great achievements in science, and likewise the lesser contributions that aid the cultural projects, like contributions of support. When Mary Baker Eddy published the first edition of her textbook, the printing cost took all that she had and the result was useless, being filled with printing errors. So she had to get it redone, which added to the burden. Also the renting of suitable halls for her early public presentation imposed enormous burden on her budget. But in time the contribution were received to advance the work that would in time uplift the whole of human culture with a contribution that has barely begun to unfold. Many became a part of this process in their own way. As the result, thirty years later, her work had permeated and uplifted the nation and had spread into many parts of the world and enriched society universally with a wave of healing which still continues to some degree. When in 1902 the modest church edifice in Boston was deemed too small, two million dollars were pledged in a motion, to built a larger one to seat 5000, which was completed and dedicated in 1906, all fully paid for when it was completed with donations from all over.  More than 30,000 had come to Boston to attend the dedication service that had to be repeated all day long.

The directive by Mary Baker Eddy to serve in the household of the Pastor Emeritus is essentially a model for society to dedicate itself to its own cultural advancement. If that is neglected, what is one's life worth? When society is unprepared to serve in its own household, then it serves as slaves to someone else, or something worse, wasting its life in an ultimately empty pursuit.

A story comes to mind here that appears to be applicable. In the Gospel of John we read about a woman named Mary who took a large supply of costly ointment and anointed the feet of Christ Jesus with it. But Judas objected. "Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?" he asked. Christ Jesus replied to him, "the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always." (John 12) That answer still applies. Modern society maintains huge charitable organizations to still the ever-growing human need brought on by ravishing poverty, and even then the charity is rarely sufficient. Wouldn't it have been far more efficient for society to dedicate its effort to the cultural requirement of creating a poverty-free world, taking a few simple steps to shut down the war of empire versus civilization that leaves a trail of poverty in its wake? In the above story the woman Mary had put the emphasis on where the efficient solution lies. Modern society has not risen yet to match her example. It lets the bleeding continue and supplies a few Band Aids to patch up the worst of the wounds.

In many places throughout the Manual Mary Baker Eddy requires the major decisions to be made "subject to the approval of the Pastor Emeritus." The woman Mary evidently got her approval from the Pastor Emeritus and rightfully so, Her Sublime act was so profound that it still remains a beacon after two millennia of passing history. The approval by the Pastor Emeritus that is required by law in the Manual is one of the greatest demands for constitutional government that has ever been put into law. It literally demands the approval of the Christ in human consciousness, so that the criterion is determined by what most efficiently advances the cultural power of mankind. This criterion demands absolute honesty with oneself. No deceit is possible without deceiving oneself. If this bylaw is understood as a universal model it becomes impossible not not to have a new renaissance erupting on this planet. It is by far the most spiritually demanding bylaw in the Temple.

"Church Manual" 
"The Mother Church and Branch Churches"

On the top level we have a similar connection unfolding, this time between the section "Church Manual" pertaining to Church, and the section "The Mother Church and Branch Churches" pertaining to the Temple. 

The section, "Church Manual," limits the use of the Manual as an exclusive structure of the Mother Church and assures its endurance without amendments, deletions, and alterations. The provision acknowledges its self-completeness requiring no external improvements. It stands as a monument for the homosexual principle explored throughout the previous chapter. Likewise, it counterpart in the Temple, the section "The Mother Church and Branch Churches" acknowledges that each individual expression of Church is sovereign, distinct, and unique. It assures that there can never be any 'cross-border' controls or imposition between churches of Christ Scientist, including the Mother Church. 

Can you imagine what the world would be like today if this simple law of the Sublime was heeded in the political sphere? All the wars would stop. Indeed, all the world wars of this and the last century would have been avoided, from World War I to the present, which have claimed well over 100,000,000 lives. Even the current Bush-Wars against Iraq and Afghanistan, which accomplish nothing for civilization and cause 30,000 deaths a months (conservatively), wanton destruction, and are costing America $500 million a day (conservatively) that the whole of mankind is paying for, would simply not have been thought of.

On the political platform this single bylaw would assure that every elected member to the U.S. Congress and Senate, for example, would stand as a sovereign individual. It would eradicate the rule of political parties over them (which are not defined in the Constitution); and the rule of the money bags, the financiers, the hedge funds, and the cartels (that have no place in civilization); as well as the rule of the lobbying power groups, industries, the media, and so forth; and the rule of the White House manipulators (that are detrimental to culture). It would bring freedom and honesty to government. Of course it would also close the door to the rule of empire, and that would in itself be ample cause for great celebration.

"Board of Lectureship"
"Church Services"

This combination takes us back to the bottom row where we find the elements that have the most immediate requirement for healing. Here we find the Manual section,  "Board of Lectureship" as an element of Church, and "Church Services" as an element of the Temple.

Both sections are related to scientific education, but of a type that is not accessible anywhere else. High schools, colleges, and universities offer education in all sorts of scientific disciplines, such as the science of engineering, biology, physics, mathematics, chemistry, and so on, but not Christian science, the one science that most directly supports culture and civilization. The specific discipline of Christian Science is not yet an element of the public education system, even while it is of greater importance than other forms of science and is of critical importance to the development of culture and the advance of civilization. This crucial element of civilization is currently addressed exclusively by a function of Church and by its corresponding expression in a similar function in the Temple.

The Board of Lectureship as a function of Church provides an educational Church-resource that is available to the public to educate it in the innermost dimension of science, which is Christian Science, the science that supports culture and civilization and society's supporting homosexuality as complete spiritual beings. The reflection of it is found in Church Service, a Church-expression in the Temple, which provides for the public's celebration of Science. This Church-expressed service-function includes also a provision for an appropriate form of the celebration of Christian Science in the Sunday School. 

In considering the critical role that scientific spiritual education plays for the advance of culture and civilization one should expect the lecture halls to be full and overflowing as an expression of Church, and likewise the Temple become a crowded place. We are not there yet. In fact society is moving away from it. This negative trend does not reflect a failing Church or a crumbling Temple, but reflects the larger trend of society loosing sight of itself. It reflects the warfare of "cultural freedom" (freedom from culture) imposed by the dark blanket of sophistry, the art of the sophistication of lies, the art of empire. For over a hundred years society has been loosing itself 'progressively,' dropping ever deeper into the sewer. It has correspondingly become a century of war, fascism, terror, and looting, with the blanket getting evermore dense so that hardly anyone remembers the sunshine anymore. Now, education has been put in reverse with the introduction of shooting games in the cyber world where blasting people to smithereens becomes entertainment, and relationship games and financial games become the new controllers of society catering to the great mind-killer, consensus.

Whether society drowns in the sewer or gets its life back depends on how badly society wants its life back. The educational foundation to facility it has been well-established. It only needs to be utilized. Of course the effectiveness of the process depends also on how seriously society is interested in the primary tool for its scientific spiritual education, which is the pedagogical structure for divine Science that Mary Baker Eddy has extensively outlined has made all of her major works contributory to, but which is barely known to exist and even then is rarely acknowledged as something of value.

"The Christian Science Publishing Society"
"Church Membership"

Mary Baker Eddy made a provision for a worldwide membership in the Mother Church of Christ Scientist, The First Church of Christ, Scientist in Boston, Massachusetts. Why would anyone want to be a member? What does it mean? It means many things to many people. It offers a few privileges. It also offers a form of identity and a form of punishment by excommunication. But I don't think that where its real importance lies.  

The church membership lives in the Temple, not in Church. It is not a servant of Church or Temple. It is the benefactor of them. There are two individuals shown in the first half of the painting Christ Healing. One is roused from the dead, and one is facilitating the process. Both appear to be representative of Church Membership, operating in the Temple, healing and raising civilization up (from the dead). It is here, in the universal sense, operating in the Temple, were the real significance lies of the Church-process of Membership.

In the modern movie version of the Lord of the Rings, saga by J.R.R. Tolkien the wise Lady Galadriel gives to the hero of the saga, Frodo the ring-bearer, a sense of the importance of his mission, in this case a great mission to save mankind. "This task is appointed to you," she says to Frodo, "if you can't find a way, nobody will." This must also be said about us and each human being.

As human beings we have been given a mission to create a civilization that is expressed in a higher manifest of life than has ever been see before on this planet, a spiritual mission, a metaphysical mission, a mission to enrich the Earth, a mission that no other form of life can carry out, but which mankind is uniquely capable of by virtue of mankind's profound intelligence and creative and productive power as the reflected image of God. Ultimately this mission might include spreading life through the galaxy. 

The mission itself is powered by our culture, and we all share in this mission universally by enriching human culture. And so, it must be said about our individual part in the mission that a task has been appoint to us, and that if we can't find a way to fulfill it, nobody will. In that case we'll die without ever having truly lived and without the faintest evidence that we ever existed. Our individual mission is unique and individual so the truly nobody but us can fulfill it. If we don't fulfill our task, it remains undone, and human culture is cheated by a lost potential. That defines our membership in humanity, unfolding in the temple. We have been given a talent to advance human culture, if we don't do it nobody will.

"The Christian Science Publishing Society" exists to support that mission. It becomes a resource for us in carrying out our mission. It doesn't exist as an indoctrination institution, nor as an arbitrator to authorize perception, but exists as the facilitator for the resulting leading edge research papers and books of an actively publishing society of members of the church. Naturally, what Mary Baker Eddy has put on the table here is a tall demand, but it is not different than the one she made herself of the printing company that printed her early editions of her textbook on Christian Science, a most revolutionary work at the time. She challenged consensus. The printer went along with that. Consensus is the mind-killer. An alert publisher might have realized that even then, acknowledging that consensus closes the door to the leading edge of discovery. That is what currently keeps the Christian Science Publishing Society impotent.

"Teaching Christian Science"
"Discipline"

 The section on "Discipline" covers a wide range of topics, but they all merge into one, namely that discipline has nothing to do with punishment, but with assuring the most efficient path to fulfilling one's mission as a human being. If discipline is not observed, the mission fails. That is where the punishment comes in. It is always self-imposed. While the Board of Directors has the power to excommunicate a member, meaning that the offender's name be dropped from the membership roll, such actions bear no weight in the universal domain. Nothing can touch a person's identity as a spiritual being or alter the scope of one's mission to advance civilization. Removing a name from a list doesn't really alter anything, unless it affects one's self-recognition and self-acceptance.

The element "Discipline" is located in the first column, which is the functional correlative of the third column with its river 'flowing' in the world of understanding and acknowledgment -- "Divine Science understood and acknowledged." The functional correlative of understanding and acknowledgment, would be the quality of recognition and acceptance unfolding in the Temple where it is defined in the first column as the love of "the good and beautiful and their immortality." The quality of recognition and acceptance of ones own and one-another's spiritual fullness completeness becomes the real discipline, a discipline in thinking that is demanding, but highly rewarding. It is an active discipline that fulfills the passive demands that are normally called discipline, such as to mental and physical invasion and rape. Recognition and acceptance close the door to the invasion of one-another and rape on the whole front of human interaction; sexually; economically; financially; politically; militarily; socially; intellectually; and so on.

The process of "Discipline" in this sense reflects the process of the Decalogue. The Decalogue presents largely a collection of passive moral demands, such as "thou shalt not kill," and "thou shalt not steal," and "thou shalt not commit adultery," and so on. (Exodus 20) However, each passive demand stands an active principle by which the demand becomes met without fail. For the case of adultery the German translation adds a unique facet where the passive directive is, not to break the honourable bond (ehebrechen), such as the bond (or bonds) that love has forged. here the discipline of recognition and acceptance opens a whole new scene for a more profound social platform. These are the wider implications of 'membership' in the universal sense.

The weighty matter in respect to Church is actually located in joining the membership. The application form for joining that membership needs to be signed by an approver, one who approves of the applicant. Each application form has the following note attached relating to the status of the approver: "If you have been taught by a loyal student who has taken a degree at the Massachusetts Metaphysical College, or by one who has passed an examination by the Board of Education, fill this blank." Mary Baker Eddy urges the applicant to evaluate the approver, and to determine if he or she is qualified as an example for the mission that the individual finds essential.

The wording of the note is interesting. The approver can be one who has passed an examination by a Board, or has taken a degree at Mary Baker Eddy's college. The Board awards a bachelor's degree, CSB and issues certificates. That's the current practice. But only the college can award the doctor's degree CSD. However, the college stopped functioning when Mary Baker Eddy died and thereby stopped awarding the degree, though she remained its President. Thus her note suggests that a degree at the college that she is President of can still be obtained, by the deeply conscious act of taking it, based on "Divine Science understood and acknowledged" as it is taught by her through the totality of her works in a spiritual process. Note: the element "Teaching Christian Science" is located in the second horizontal row, the domain that she defined as, spiritual. Here the spiritual dimension is primary, rather than the physical dimension.

Today's convention is that college-course can be taken, but that the resulting degree is always awarded. But with with Mary Baker Eddy's college still intact as a spiritual institution, with Mary Baker Eddy retaining in the position of President, it is possible that she suggests that someone who is taught by Mary Baker Eddy through her writings (in her college) and is by his own honesty qualified for the degree because of the work accomplished, is authorized to "take" (assume) the corresponding degree (but without receiving a certificate that is irrelevant in an environment of self-acceptance). Also, the degree that is thus taken is the higher degree, the CSD degree, instead of the CSB degree that is awarded with a certificate by passing an examination if front of a Board as is the current practice. A certificate is needed only for formal teaching, not for one's self-acknowledgment and self-acceptance. 

In this context the public is alerted that the process of one person sitting in judgement over another person's achievement is inefficient and uncertain, and shouldn't be trusted any further than a bachelor's degree suggests. Mary Baker Eddy seems to suggest that a degree taken from the standpoint of a person's deepest honesty with himself, or herself, is more trustworthy and is of greater value, which raises the whole question of certificates versus achievements, or one person certifying another.

When building a civilization, which is everyone's mission, the mission of Soul, shouldn't the individual person not rather be known by his or her achievement which enriches culture and transcends the ages. This means that a certificate only measures the temporary, while the eternal should really be measured. That puts on the table a critical determinant for the entire system of education with far-reaching consequences. It also defines the parameter of our individual mission as spiritual human beings.

"Board of Education"
"Meetings"

These two elements belong to the highest row where our divine resources are represented.

The subject of "Meetings" here pertains to the regular Annual Meetings of the Mother Church at which only the officers are required to be present. The members are not barred, but neither are they required to attend as no special befit would be derived from it. 

The current convention is, and has been for a long time, that thousands are coming for a mass gathering at Annual Meeting time to be entertained with speeches and presentations. But as Mary Baker Eddy points out in the painting Seeking and Finding, that the spiritual resource for individuals is not located in such meetings, but is located in the individual member's unity with God.

The same sense is reflected in the Manual section, "Board of Education." The central focal point here is the position of her college. She writes about the college in the preface of her textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.

The first school of Christian Science Mind-healing was started by the author with only one student in Lynn, Massachusetts, about the year 1867. In 1881, she opened the Massachusetts Metaphysical College in Boston, under the seal of the Commonwealth, a law relative to colleges having been passed, which enabled her to get this institution chartered for medical purposes. No charters were granted to Christian Scientists for such institutions after 1883, and up to that date, hers was the only College of this character which had been established in the United States, where Christian Science was first introduced. During seven years over four thousand students were taught by the author (Mary Baker Eddy) in this College... She closed her College, October 29, 1889, in the height of its prosperity with a deep-lying conviction that the next two years of her life should be given to the preparation of the revision of SCIENCE AND HEALTH, which was published in 1891. She retained her charter, and as its President, reopened the College in 1899 as auxiliary to her church.

She never vacated her office of the President of the Massachusetts Metaphysical College but established a Board of Education for it, consisting of the President (the position she retained), a Vice-President, and a teacher. The question needs to be asked why she didn't resign her position? In fact she complicated the issue by specifying "The signature of the teacher and of the President of the College shall be on all certificates issued," while also stipulating that "Teachers must have Certificates." (Manual p.85 and p.91) 

Did she suggest that all formal teaching of the science of Christian Science must grind to a halt without her presence? After all, a dead person cannot sign certificates, but certificates are required for all teachers. 

With this consideration another question comes to the surface: Is Mary Baker Eddy dead? Or is the President of the Massachusetts Metaphysical College a position that has been established and rests within mankind's cultural continuum of discovered and established spiritual ideas, a continuum that never ends? Didn't she thereby retain her position as the primary teacher? In actual practice, this is the case today. Her position as the primary teacher is still essential, simply because there is not not a single teacher in the field today who is able to teach from the position of her pedagogical structure of divine Science that she made all of her major works subjective to as contributory structures. In fact, there is nobody in the field today, or ever has been, apart from the President of the Massachusetts Metaphysical College, who is qualified to teach Christian Science. Therefore no teaching is actually happening as the result of this fundamental deficiency of not knowing what Christian Science really is based on.

In time this deficiency will likely be corrected and the process as outlined in the painting Christian Unity may begin to unfold, which of course is foundational for the work of the "Board of Lectureship" (which is liked to by this painting) which cannot really function until the primary deficiency is dealt with. 

Mary Baker Eddy may have expected the deficiency to have been dealt with before her passing, at which point the college could have had a new President. But this was not to be. Nor could she have imposed her pedagogical structure onto the field, though she had made all of her works contributory to it. Such an imposition would have created a dogma instead of opening the scene to the process of discovery, which is the leading edge of Science. Christian Science resulted from a discovery and needs to remain on this platform, as the process of discovery is one of the key elements in human culture without which it wouldn't exist.

In the mean time, until the process of discovery comes anew to Christian Science no degree can be awarded in the Board of Education as none of the signing officers are aware of, much less understand, the very foundation for what the college is designed to be teaching. Still, Mary Baker Eddy didn't close the door completely. She suggested in her application forms for Church membership that the degree that cannot be awarded, can however be simply taken by one who understands and can acknowledge his right to do so.

We face a cultural failure here that is not uncommon in the larger world. In many an election for the leaders of State, none of the candidates who stood for election, or were allowed to stand, were actually qualified for the task, resulting in enormous tragedies in society. In this sense Mary Baker Eddy's continuity as the President of the Massachusetts Metaphysical College, and the huge challenge that this presents for teaching Christian Science, stands as a model for the kind of challenge that society as a whole must recognize and master in order to assure the continuity of civilization which is increasingly threatened by society's failure to recognize and master this challenge.

Mary Baker Eddy's pedagogical structure (a research presentation)