What about the Glossary in teaching?

Someone might ask that question. Why has Mary Baker Eddy not mentioned the Glossary in any of her requirements for teaching? The obvious answer is that the complexities at this level are so great that the subject cannot be taught in a formalized manner. Indeed, who would teach them? Mary Baker Eddy hints at what is involved at this level in the painting in Christ and Christmas the bears the title, "I thank thee, o Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou has hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes."

The painting shows a little child sitting in the light of a star. Mary Baker Eddy could have been this child. She certainly did put into the shadow the wisdom of the age and defined it as poverty. But the same painting contains another metaphor (not shown here). The metaphor is pointed to by the hands of the clock which are set at 05:05.

Revelation 5:5 tells us about the scene above, as evidently Mary Baker Eddy saw it. There we read: "And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. "Who would be the teacher in this scene?

Mary Baker Eddy, herself, had taught for many years in her own college, the Massachusetts Metaphysical College, that she had chartered in 1881 as a school for Christian Science healing. She closed this college in 1889, at the height of its success, then devoted all her time and effort to a major revision of the textbook which was published in 1891. The college remained closed for eight more years, until it was finally reopened as an auxiliary to her church. The early students who were taught in this college by Mary Baker Eddy her self in her capacity as President of the Massachusetts Metaphysical College, became eligible to receive the degree C.S.D., which she said should be regarded as similar to a doctor degree in medical Science.

Since the degree C.S.D. is linked to her own teaching one would expect that after her death in 1910 the C.S.D. degree would slowly become a thing of history. Except this is not how Mary Baker Eddy worked. She never created anything that is designed to be temporal. In other words, we have to look deeper for its meaning. Indeed, if one does this, the C.S.D. degree doesn't appear to be temporal at all, because she has never formally relinquished her position as President of the Massachusetts Metaphysical College. She continues to be its president just as she continues to be the Pastor Emeritus of the Christian Science church who speaks to humanity through her textbook on Christian Science and her other writings. In a spiritual and scientific sense it is still possible, therefore, for any individual to be taught by Mary Baker Eddy, the President of the Massachusetts Metaphysical College, taking a degree in said college, which should be publicly recognized as the degree of C.S.D..

Mary Baker Eddy elaborated in one of her writings that the distinction between the degree C.S.D. and C.S.B. is essentially the same as that between a doctor and a bachelor degree. 

The degrees that society generally gives out to its students, certify supreme achievements, as in the case of a doctor degree. The problem with this type of a degree is that it instills the notion that one has arrived at a coveted goal. The notion of having arrived, however, closes the door to further development. This type of situation, of course, can never arise when one works with the Glossary of the textbook. One never gets the sense that one has arrived at the ultimate end, that one understands all. There is always a new question that unfolds and a new discovery that one makes. A bachelor degree indicates precisely this notion that one has barely begun. The current certification from the Board of Education of the Church of Christ Scientist is the C.S.B. degree. 

This is also how Mary Baker Eddy did regard her own work and achievements. She wrote about herself in the Preface of the 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."(ix:16) Whoever operates at this realm, as she did, and is taught by her, is operating at a higher level. Hence the C.S.D. degree. But no one can bestow this degree. It can only be acknowledged (be taken).

The science that she has established is an infinite science, with an infinite scope for development. One question arises from this immediately: Is this verified in metaphor? Indeed, it is. It is verified in the metaphors of Christ and Christmas.

Christ and Christmas is a book that contains a single poem by Mary Baker Eddy, that she has illustrated with a series of paintings. The poem is made up of 15 verses written by Mary Baker Eddy, each of which is associated with an illustrative painting. In some cases two verses are associated with a painting, which refer to two distinct scenes of the painting they share. This reflects the nature of those dual definitions that cannot be separated from each other without their meaning becoming lost in isolation. But ultimately one can find only 15 verses and 15 scenes in Christ and Christmas while the foursquare structure contains 16 elements. This means, we have another paradox to resolve. Actually, if one looks closely at Christ and Christmas the paradox disappears. If one looks at the very end of the book, behind everything that Mary Baker Eddy has authored, one finds the 16th verse, except its text is taken from the Bible and is attributed to Christ Jesus. The verse is structured in the same manner as all the other verses and talks about something called, "the Morning Star." Except, there is no painting associated with this verse. The page where the painting should be was left blank.

Evidently, what this unwritten page contains remains yet to be discovered in the course of humanity's ever ongoing scientific and spiritual development. Here, she stands herself, at the heavenly gate waiting for the further unfolding of infinite Mind. Here, we stand with her and take the degree that no man outlines.

Although there is no painting provided with the last verse, one can determine what this painting should contain. One finds a hint for this in the next lower painting, in the beam of light that is focused through the crown. But the light for the beam is not originating in the painting. Its source, evidently lies beyond the frame of this painting, in the frame of the painting that has been left blank. We must search for the source of light in our own self-development. All that Mary Baker Eddy was able to give us towards this end is her structure for scientific and spiritual development which she had utilized herself. This is what the degree, C.S.D. represents in my estimation as we take that degree and advance on the foundation she has established.

As for myself, I can fully understand what Mary Baker Eddy may have meant with conferring a bachelor degree to her students. After twenty years of advanced studies in her 'Metaphysical College' - over which she still presides - I can see no end for the unfolding of good that the work brings about in terms of discoveries. What has been discovered so far, as tremendous as it is, must necessarily pale in the sphere of infinity.  Perhaps this is what the doctor degree of C.S.D. signifies. Ultimately, the primal acknowledgment must come from oneself, and this she literally demands.

In the margin of the application forms for membership with the Mother Church of Christ Scientists, Mary Baker Eddy asks whether or not the applicant has been "taught by a loyal student" who has either "passed an examination by the Board of Education" or "has taken a degree at the Massachusetts Metaphysical College." 

Those words were no doubt carefully chosen, and not to convey a double meaning. One of the qualifications which she lists is passive, while the other is active. In the field of spiritual and scientific development, however, nothing is ever passive. In the most serious sense possible, this is indeed what is required of humanity. Humanity must engage in scientific and spiritual development to the n'th degree in order to be able to eradicate evil before it becomes itself, eradicated by it. And in doing so, humanity must acknowledge to itself with corresponding deeds whatever progress has been made along this path. Nothing less will do.

I, for one, acknowledge and rejoice in what has been achieved over the last twenty years. This Web site is a reflection of that. Nevertheless, honesty requires one to acknowledge that everything which has been achieved is rooted in the work that Mary Baker Eddy had done, respective to the platform for scientific and spiritual development that she has established.

The degree C.S.D., and the demand to take that degree at the Massachusetts Metaphysical College over which she presides as its President in perpetuity, will never go away. Out of this unfolds a weighty question. Is humanity prepared to devote its attention to the boundless scientific and spiritual development that Mary Baker Eddy has pioneered, and is humanity prepared to honor her for her pioneering work as the forever President of the Massachusetts Metaphysical College and thereby acknowledge the degree C.S.D.? If this can be achieved, humanity's horizon will look bright, indeed.