Editorials

Thoughtful students of Christian Science are never more grateful for the illumination which has come to them, than when they note the uncertainty and mental confusion in which the many are yet immersed, for they realize how hopeless is the endeavor which others are so earnestly putting forth to reconcile reason and revelation while yet maintaining a tenacious hold upon incongruous, traditional beliefs. A great body of sincere Christian people have ever found themselves face to face with an insuperable difficulty in their effort to adjust the dualism involved in the generally accepted declaration of the reality of both Spirit and matter, good and evil, to a fundamental postulate of every variety of Christian faith; viz.

There are few religious thinkers who would not readily admit that the sense of materiality militates against spirituality, but they are by no means clear to what extent this material sense should be resisted. Here Christian Science declares, in no uncertain terms, that all reality is spiritual, and that any reliance upon materiality is sure to result in disappointment, if not disaster.

Article XXVI. Private Communications.

" There are many who forget— ministers of the gospel as well as laymen—that by prayer many cures have been accomplished—cures of bodily as well as spiritual ills. If the gospel had been properly preached, if it had been preached in its entirety, there would have been no occasion for the Christian Science Church.

In response to an invitation received by her from the New York American, Mrs. Eddy has contributed a brief but comprehensive article upon a subject which has engaged the attention of humanity for centuries.

The following editorial, which recently appeared in the Salem, Oregon, Daily Capital Journal, bespeaks a general recognition of the Christian spirit in which the work of the Publication Committee and the Board of Lectureship has been carried forward. This tribute to the good temper and uncontroversial tone of the public utterances of Christian Scientists, is proof that the editor is an observant critic and believes in fair play and justice,— [Ed.

IT is true of every genuine religious reform that its visible, organic expression, at any given period, represents the lesser part of its effective influence and achievement for good. While the early Christian church wasyet so small and inconspicuous as to be regarded with indifference, if not contempt, by the ecclesiasticism of Judah, the culture of Greece, and the power of Rome, its truth was revolutionizing the world's thought and life, and thus removing the very foundations of lordly empire.

A Religious contemporary, The Examiner, in a recent issue, says, "The measure of any propounded system of theology is its capacity to arouse the highest emotions and prompt to the noblest action. The impatience of the common man with theology arises from the fact that so much of it seems useless for the purposes of life.

THE subject of religious ordinances is frequently referred to by those who are interested in Christian Science, adversely or otherwise, and the neophyte is often called upon to give a reason for his changed views concerning Baptism and the Communion. With respect to the former, we find it first mentioned in the Bible as the distinguishing feature of John the Baptist's ministry.

The following correspondence between our Leader and First Church of Christ, Scientist, London, upon the occasion of the laying of the corner-stone of the new edifice in that city, will be read with interest. London, S.