It is difficult to realize the extent to which Science and Health has revolutionized human thought. Its new conceptions of God and man have flooded the world with light. It is the creation of a new world. Take e. g. the words "Atonement," "baptism," "faith," "believe," "angels," "Holy Spirit," "Christ," "Jesus," "salvation," "heaven;" recall what were the associations with those words, compare with our present thought, and see the difference in the sense of Life that they represent. What an added, hourly brightness, and radiance of joy! These are words of the old thought, still in common, daily use, but they have been filled with new meaning.
Take, now the words, or terms, "Christian Science," "Principle," "Mind," "Soul," "Life," "Substance," "Mortal Mind," "man," "animal magnetism," "belief," "understanding,"—representing the more fundamental, broader conceptions of Christian Science, and compare in the same way, the present with the old conceptions. Is it not the "New heavens and the new earth" in the most literal and real sense of the words? Can anyone standing in the brilliance of this light, that is not of the sun nor the moon, but is of God and the Lamb, fail to see that "there is a new creation; the old things passed away, behold! there have come into existence new things"?
The Author of Science and Health speaks in one place of the difficulty of conveying the new, spiritual meanings in terms of material sense. All readers of the book have the same experience, in talking with neighbors and friends, in students' classes, public meetings and Bible classes. It will be seen that there are no absolutely new words—so far as remembered—introduced in Science and Health. But there are a few new terms formed by combining words in familiar use; and some words in such use are taken entirely out of their usual sense, defined anew, and employed exclusively in the new sense. Where new terms, or words thus defined and made over, are employed, it is always for good reasons; and growth in Scientific understanding will be proportioned to the fidelity of adherence to them. Also, to impart successfully to others, it is needful to take the very greatest care that they have a clear understanding, in the first place, of the new meanings attached to words in common use. Where a distinctive word or term is employed in Science and Health, it should always be carefully explained and adhered to in all our work. There is no greater error than that of using instead of these, words that listeners are in the habit of hearing, in the attempt to impress them with the thought that, after all, there is "no great difference," or it is "a higher form of Christianity." If that is the comment, it is apt to indicate that there has been a failure in the statements of the Truth. This can very often be traced to insufficient definition, or to mistaken compliance with claims of mortal mind in not adhering to the terms employed in Science and Health for the statement of the Truth.
