September 16 2026

The Continuity of the Christ

The Bible

1. John 8:58

Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

2. Dan. 3:1, 8–20, 23–25

Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. ...

... ¶ Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and accused the Jews. They spake and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live for ever. Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image: And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth, that he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. ¶ Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego. Then they brought these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. ¶ Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated. And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. ...

And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.

3. Matt. 18:20

For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

4. Dan. 3:26–28

¶ Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, came forth of the midst of the fire. And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king’s counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them. Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.

5. Luke 2:4 Joseph (to ;), 5, 6, 9–11

... Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judæa, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; ...

To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. ...

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

6. Matt. 4:23, 24

¶ And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.

7. John 12:23 Jesus (to 2nd ,), 32 if, 34 (to :)

... Jesus answered them, saying, ...

... if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. ...

The people answered him, We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth for ever: ...

8. John 14:16–18

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

9. I Pet. 1:3, 4

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,

10. Gal. 2:20 2nd Christ

... Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

11. Heb. 13:8

Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.

12. Rom. 8:16, 17

The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

13. Rom. 8:38, 39

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

14. Heb. 13:20 the (to 1st ,), 21 (to 1st .)

... the God of peace, ...

Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. ...

15. Rev. 11:15 there

... there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

16. Matt. 28:20 lo

... lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures

1. SH 361:4–5

Christ, as the true spiritual idea, is the ideal of God now and forever, here and everywhere.

2. SH 583:10

CHRIST. The divine manifestation of God, which comes to the flesh to destroy incarnate error.

3. SH 271:1–5

Christ’s Christianity is the chain of scientific being reappearing in all ages, maintaining its obvious correspondence with the Scriptures and uniting all periods in the design of God.

4. SH 172:7–8, 10

Materialism grades the human species as rising from matter upward. ... Spirit can form no real link in this supposed chain of material being. But divine Science reveals the eternal chain of existence as uninterrupted and wholly spiritual; yet this can be realized only as the false sense of being disappears.

5. SH 333:23–30

Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and the prophets caught glorious glimpses of the Messiah, or Christ, which baptized these seers in the divine nature, the essence of Love. The divine image, idea, or Christ was, is, and ever will be inseparable from the divine Principle, God. Jesus referred to this unity of his spiritual identity thus: “Before Abraham was, I am;” “I and my Father are one;” “My Father is greater than I.”

6. SH 473:8

God is everywhere, and nothing apart from Him is present or has power. Christ is the ideal Truth, that comes to heal sickness and sin through Christian Science, and attributes all power to God. Jesus is the name of the man who, more than all other men, has presented Christ, the true idea of God, healing the sick and the sinning and destroying the power of death. Jesus is the human man, and Christ is the divine idea; hence the duality of Jesus the Christ.

7. SH 333:3–13 The

... The word Christ is not properly a synonym for Jesus, though it is commonly so used. Jesus was a human name, which belonged to him in common with other Hebrew boys and men, for it is identical with the name Joshua, the renowned Hebrew leader. On the other hand, Christ is not a name so much as the divine title of Jesus. Christ expresses God’s spiritual, eternal nature. The name is synonymous with Messiah, and alludes to the spirituality which is taught, illustrated, and demonstrated in the life of which Christ Jesus was the embodiment.

8. SH 333:16–23, 32

XIII. The advent of Jesus of Nazareth marked the first century of the Christian era, but the Christ is without beginning of years or end of days. Throughout all generations both before and after the Christian era, the Christ, as the spiritual idea, — the reflection of God, — has come with some measure of power and grace to all prepared to receive Christ, Truth. ...

XIV. By these sayings Jesus meant, not that the human Jesus was or is eternal, but that the divine idea or Christ was and is so and therefore antedated Abraham; not that the corporeal Jesus was one with the Father, but that the spiritual idea, Christ, dwells forever in the bosom of the Father, God, from which it illumines heaven and earth; not that the Father is greater than Spirit, which is God, but greater, infinitely greater, than the fleshly Jesus, whose earthly career was brief.

9. SH 334:12

This dual personality of the unseen and the seen, the spiritual and material, the eternal Christ and the corporeal Jesus manifest in flesh, continued until the Master’s ascension, when the human, material concept, or Jesus, disappeared, while the spiritual self, or Christ, continues to exist in the eternal order of divine Science, taking away the sins of the world, as the Christ has always done, even before the human Jesus was incarnate to mortal eyes.

10. SH 30:19

As the individual ideal of Truth, Christ Jesus came to rebuke rabbinical error and all sin, sickness, and death, — to point out the way of Truth and Life. This ideal was demonstrated throughout the whole earthly career of Jesus, showing the difference between the offspring of Soul and of material sense, of Truth and of error.

11. SH 38:21–26

Jesus experienced few of the pleasures of the physical senses, but his sufferings were the fruits of other people’s sins, not of his own. The eternal Christ, his spiritual selfhood, never suffered. Jesus mapped out the path for others. He unveiled the Christ, the spiritual idea of divine Love.

12. SH 332:9 Christ

Christ is the true idea voicing good, the divine message from God to men speaking to the human consciousness. The Christ is incorporeal, spiritual, — yea, the divine image and likeness, dispelling the illusions of the senses; the Way, the Truth, and the Life, healing the sick and casting out evils, destroying sin, disease, and death. As Paul says: “There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” The corporeal man Jesus was human.

13. SH 482:19–22

Jesus was the highest human concept of the perfect man. He was inseparable from Christ, the Messiah, — the divine idea of God outside the flesh.

14. SH 288:29

The Christ-element in the Messiah made him the Way-shower, Truth and Life.

15. SH 131:26

The mission of Jesus confirmed prophecy, and explained the so-called miracles of olden time as natural demonstrations of the divine power, demonstrations which were not understood. Jesus’ works established his claim to the Messiahship. In reply to John’s inquiry, “Art thou he that should come,” Jesus returned an affirmative reply, recounting his works instead of referring to his doctrine, confident that this exhibition of the divine power to heal would fully answer the question. Hence his reply: “Go and show John again those things which ye do hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.” In other words, he gave his benediction to any one who should not deny that such effects, coming from divine Mind, prove the unity of God, — the divine Principle which brings out all harmony.

16. SH 535:15

When will man pass through the open gate of Christian Science into the heaven of Soul, into the heritage of the first born among men? Truth is indeed “the way.”

17. SH 95:30–32

Material sense does not unfold the facts of existence; but spiritual sense lifts human consciousness into eternal Truth.

18. SH 123:16–29

The term CHRISTIAN SCIENCE was introduced by the author to designate the scientific system of divine healing.

The revelation consists of two parts:

1.  The discovery of this divine Science of Mind-healing, through a spiritual sense of the Scriptures and through the teachings of the Comforter, as promised by the Master.

2.  The proof, by present demonstration, that the so-called miracles of Jesus did not specially belong to a dispensation now ended, but that they illustrated an ever-operative divine Principle. The operation of this Principle indicates the eternality of the scientific order and continuity of being.

19. SH 95:19

We welcome the increase of knowledge and the end of error, because even human invention must have its day, and we want that day to be succeeded by Christian Science, by divine reality. Midnight foretells the dawn. Led by a solitary star amid the darkness, the Magi of old foretold the Messiahship of Truth. Is the wise man of to-day believed, when he beholds the light which heralds Christ’s eternal dawn and describes its effulgence?

20. SH 325:13–15

When spiritual being is understood in all its perfection, continuity, and might, then shall man be found in God’s image.

21. SH 446:20

To understand God strengthens hope, enthrones faith in Truth, and verifies Jesus’ word: “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.”

Hymns

1. Hymn. 170

Let every creature hail the morn / On which the holy child was born, / And know, through God’s exceeding grace, / Release from things of time and place. / I listen, from no mortal tongue, / To hear the song the angels sung, / And wait within myself to know / The Christmas lilies bud and blow. /

The outward symbols disappear / From him whose inward sight is clear, / And small must be the choice of days / To him who fills them all with praise. / Keep while ye need it, brothers mine, / With honest zeal your Christmas sign, / But judge not him who every morn / Feels in his heart the Lord Christ born.

Words: JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER, ADAPTED

Music: Franz Joseph Haydn

2. Hymn. 28

Blest Christmas morn, though murky clouds / Pursue thy way, / Thy light was born where storm enshrouds / Nor dawn nor day! /

Dear Christ, forever here and near, / No cradle song, / No natal hour and mother’s tear, / To thee belong. /

Thou God-idea, Life-encrowned, / The Bethlehem babe— / Beloved, replete, by flesh embound— / Was but thy shade! /

Thou gentle beam of living Love, / And deathless Life! / Truth infinite,—so far above / All mortal strife, /

Or cruel creed, or earth-born taint: / Fill us today / With all thou art—be thou our saint, / Our stay, alway.

Words: MARY BAKER EDDY

Music: E. Norman Greenwood

3. Hymn. 11

Angels at the Saviour’s birth / Woke with music all the earth, / Shepherds in the eastern sky / Saw a pale star passing by, / Guiding them at break of day / Where the babe in meekness lay, / Born the gracious news to tell, / God with us, Immanuel. /

Star of being, still thy light / Shines before us in the night, / By those radiant beams we find / Christ, the Truth, for all mankind, / Still the tidings angels bring / With their joyful caroling, / Telling that the dawn has come, / God and man fore’er at one.

Words: MARION SUSAN CAMPBELL

Music: Jakob Hintze Harmonized by J. S. Bach

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