That knowledge is power is a statement whose truth is so obvious that it has passed into a proverb. Every detail that marks the difference between savagery and civilization is an illustration and demonstration of the proposition. On the plane of sense experience it is undoubted. Perhaps the first question, however, that the presentation of Christian Science will raise, is whether this statement stands true in things spiritual; whether our ability to avail ourselves of spiritual resources is measured by our knowledge of this Science. If such be the case, and if the Scriptures stand as the revelation of the divine Word, then the Scriptures must teach what is essentially a science; and knowledge will be the condition of attaining the Scriptural ideal. Do the Scriptures convey and carry such a conclusion? If they do, they will make knowledge the condition of gaining the blessings they reveal.
In Christian history and Christian teaching faith has been emphasized as a prerequisite condition for attaining the divine favor and blessing. That we should have faith is emphatically enjoined by Jesus and by the writers of the Epistles. Unlimited spiritual possibilities seem to be assured to Christian followers if they but have faith. "All things are possible to him that believeth;" "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do;" these and many others seem to swing open the door of a boundless hope and assurance. And if this be true the whole problem of life resolves itself into the simple question, How shall we have faith? For side by side with the statement that "with God all things are possible," stands the statement that "all things are possible to him that believeth."
What, then, is the real nature of faith, and how is it to be attained? What place has faith in a system that involves scientific demonstration?
