A not uncommon charge against Christian Science by those who are judging of it superficially, is that it is a reaffirmance of Pantheism. To one who has caught but a small glimpse of its teachings, such a charge evokes a smile of amusement. In its essential nature, Christian Science is the farthest possible removed from Pantheism. So radically apart is it from every conception of Pantheism, that there is not the faintest analogy between the two.
This word Pantheism is perhaps as loosely and thoughtlessly used as any in use. It is often used as a term of reproach; as a term tending to convey some dreadful thing. Many good people hold up their hands in horror at its mere mention. It is compounded from the Greek words, Pan (all), and Theos (God), and is most generally used to convey the idea that all is God."
Pan was one of the most ancient heathen or mythological divinities. According to the Egyptians, as well as the Grecian sages, he had neither father nor mother, but sprang from Demogorgan (the genius of the earth) at the same time with the fatal Parcæ, or Fates. Pan was adopted as a symbol for expressing the unknown origin of things, and his figure was supposed to represent the universe.
