Editorials

The claim that we know something, within a purely human reference frame, often leads to dogmatism. Much trouble in the world comes from the confrontation of those who believe—in connection with some particular theory or ideology—that they "know.

The early Christian community grew rapidly. The twelve apostles and other adherents of the faith were so filled with inspiration that they attracted great numbers of men and women to join them in worshiping God according to the teaching of Christ Jesus.

The healing practice of Christian Science includes as an important element a recognition that man unfailingly expresses intelligence. This recognition is a potent factor in restoring physical normality and in resolving many types of individual problems, as well as other problems, with a wider impact.

We gain an utterly different sense of being and an entirely fresh basis for living as we begin to understand through metaphysical Science that there is only one originator—divine Principle. One of the fundamental falsities that would make our lives labored is the belief that we ourselves are the source of intelligence and substance.

Through the revelation of Christian Science, the possibility of our gaining a higher sense of man is always open to us. Science's depiction of man is quite different from the mundane—he is seen as spiritual, incorporeal, the infinite idea of timeless Life.

When we read in the history books of the people whose lives illumine the past, we may well be filled not only with gratitude for their contribution to human progress but with awe as we recognize the courage and steadfastness many of them expressed. Through the years, reformers, inventors, educators, philanthropists, leaders in government and religion, have not only caught the vision of some advanced concept of truth and life that others did not have before, but they have cherished and promoted it with single-minded fidelity, so that society could know of it and thereby benefit.

Each of us has a potential for limitless expression of infinite Life. This potential seems hidden from us by the false belief that being is matter.

Independence and self-reliance are qualities we acclaim and foster in ourselves and others. When we see our friends expressing steadfast adherence to divine Principle and the determination to depend only on God for help in times of trouble, we admire them.

Truth is God, Christian Science shows, and Truth is All. Is it difficult to demonstrate this? Do we encounter some kind of discouraging resistance to our treatment of sickness, insufficiency, or unemployment that delays its effectiveness? It may seem to be so until we grow in the understanding and living of the equation that Truth's allness equals Truth's irresistibility.

Sometimes it is suggested in a Church of Christ, Scientist, that membership should be open to anyone who chooses to affiliate himself with Science, and that if such a one is engulfed in sin of some kind, he can overcome it after he becomes a member. The question members need to ask is: What is the purpose of this church? What do we expect it to accomplish? If the purpose is only to please its members, and if the members expect only to encourage one another in their efforts to heal their own ills, the requirements for membership are largely a matter of compatibility.