Richard P. Verrall, C.S., of New York, New York
Member of the Board of Lectureship of The Mother
Church,
The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts
By far the greatest contribution to human welfare that has been made since the first century of our era was the discovery of Christian Science by Mary Baker Eddy in the year 1866. Nevertheless, while the teachings of this divine Science are reviving the practice of Christian healing and are attracting an attentive audience in practically every civilized community on earth, their beneficial influence is still only partially realized.
According to Christian Science, all wrong thinking is based upon the belief that there is life and intelligence in matter, and that both good and evil are equally real.
Christian Science shows us that because there is but one God, there can be but one infinite Mind governing all real existence, and this is the fundamental truth from which all its conclusions are drawn. It is also the immortal foundation upon which Christ Jesus based his teachings.
Looking back over the centuries since apostolic times, it now seems evident, in the light of Christian Science, that Christendom never quite grasped the most important point in the theology of Christ Jesus, namely that the allness of God precludes the possibility of the existence of any other power. The mighty works which Christ Jesus and his disciples performed, have since been called "miracles," but Christian Science shows these healings to be perfectly natural manifestations of the divine law, which is just as demonstrable now as then. Furthermore, Christianity has often been made so mysterious that it could not be understood, and we now see that much that has been taught in the name of religion, no matter how sincerely believed, was little more than superstition. It is significant that the word "superstition" implies something superficial, or that which is overlaid. Religious superstitions have thus tended to obscure the underlying truth contained in the Bible by interpreting it too literally.
Christian Science is actually fulfilling the Master's promise that he would come again as the Comforter bringing back to our remembrance all the things that he ever said and did, and leading us into all Truth. The originality of Christian Science is thus shown not in its newness, but in its antiquity and in its utter fidelity to the teachings and example of Christ Jesus. Christian Science needs neither creed, rituals, nor dogmas to support it, because its daily study and practice is a perpetual reminder of the inseparable unity of God and man.
Christian Science is especially adapted to the age in which we live because it appeals to us as thinking people. Christian Scientists appreciate useful mechanical inventions, which mitigate hard labor and provide opportunity for the contemplation of spiritual things. These inventions may seem to originate in the so-called human mind, but now that we understand that God is the only intelligence, it becomes apparent that all that is good in human thinking, even though it may at present be imperfectly conceived and expressed, must have had its primal origin in this one and only Mind.
Less than a century ago, it was generally believed that religion and science were wholly distinct and incompatible subjects, and that this world was entirely separate from the kingdom of God. Thanks to Mrs. Eddy's interpretation of the Scriptures, a scientific knowledge of God is now brought down to earth, and the gaze of a considerable portion of mankind has already been turned heavenward.
[1951.]