The Teachings of Paul W. Ambuul

A Biography of Paul Ambuul

by

Mrs. Patricia Ambuul

Paul loved to hear about God and Christian Science from the moment his mother began to talk and read to him as a young child and attending the Christian Science Church throughout all his formative years until he received his Christian Science Manual at the end of Sunday School. Even as a young boy, he always believed that his life work would have something to do with Christian Science. He would let God define and direct each step of the way. When he joined the U.S. Army and went to Korea, he became a Christian Science Camp Welfare worker and loved his many talks with Christian Scientists and others who sought his guidance and help.

Shortly after leaving the Army, he entered college and then applied for class instruction from a Christian Science practitioner. Soon it became very clear that he loved Christian Science so much that he must do more in sharing this wonderful Science with others. His teacher agreed that he should. Since Paul was a digger for Truth, he read as much as possible gleaning all the understanding he could of Christian Science from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy and the Bible.

As early as 1958, people began to call Paul for help in Christian Science and soon he was getting calls on a regular basis including referrals. He did not list his name in the Christian Science Journal because the Christian Science Board of Directors wrote him a letter informing him that an authorized practitioner could not read unauthorized literature. Being a true researcher all his life, he could not give this up and as Mary Baker Eddy had stated when asked, about reading other books on Christian Science that she deemed her students fully capable of discerning whether a statement was true and correct or not. And Paul was extremely good at discerning the veracity of a statement.

It was during this time that two people made an important impact on his life. He met Edythe Tollington who was an avid scholar of the Bible as it correlated to Science and Health by Mary Baker Eddy. For 5 years he drove 100 miles a week to visit her and study the weekly lesson sermon as given in the Christian Science Quarterly, particularly the Bible story with its spiritual significance. Mrs. Tollington shared this spiritual interpretation of these passages using Strongs Bible concordance and the Concordance to Science and Health, correlating the Bible references and their spiritual interpretation with the accompanying selections from the C.S. textbook as listed in the quarterly lesson published by the Christian Science Publishing Society. Paul began to share with others these wonderful truths that he had absorbed and had become a part of him.

The second person to make an impact on his life outside of his own teacher, was Joseph E. Johnston because it was through him that he met Herbert W. Eustace through his works and words. Joe, as he wanted to be called had been a close friend of Mr. Eustace for over thirty or more years. He knew all of Mr. Eustace’s writings having discussed them through the years while he was writing them. Joe loved to write letters of his unfoldments to Mr. Eustace, to Paul and to many others. Mr. Eustace always chided Joe about the length of his letters and his verbosity. Sometimes they were 20 pages or more. But his understanding of Christian Science more than made up for this. Paul delved into his letters with gusto gleaning to understand the import of the lengthy statements. Joe and he talked for hours, frequently at 3:00 A.M. Paul’s time since Joe lived in New Jersey. Paul never minded and looked forward to these talks.

As Paul began to study the One Volume, he realized he had found a precious pearl which over the years gave direction to his study. He was so thirsty for the truth, he never wanted to stop reading, pondering, studying, and sharing these insights with others. He became a member of the Herbert W. Eustace Board of Directors to further the sharing of this book with others.

In 1975 some of Paul’s patients and friends wanted Paul to give a class on Christian Science based on Mr. Eustace’s Clear Correct Teaching. Paul did so and a friend taped the classes for Paul’s personal use afterwards. Unfortunately, the person taping was not a professional and mistakes were made with some omissions. However, if one really wants to understand the tape, he only need to sit with the One Volume and go to the page Paul asks the classmate to read. In that way, even if the volume is soft, it can be followed on the printed page allowing the full understanding of what is being read, thereby being interpreted correctly. Whether these tapes become available for the public to hear is not definite at this time since there is still editing that must be done and a decision made as to whether people would understand that what they are listening to was not taped for marketing but for personal enjoyment, study and spiritual growth.

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With much, much gratitude to

Mrs. Patricia Ambuul,

Paul’s wife,

for preserving these valuable writings, books, records and tapes,
thereby making these teachings available to the public.