The really independent thinker has ceased to sneer at Christian Science. He may retain all his skepticism and his allegiance to sense appearances; he may continue to order his life and conduct after the most approved philosophy of the materialist; and he may at times even feel a sense of supreme pity for those worthy people who are taking their idealism into actual practice; but a tolerant respect has taken place to scorn. The undisputed evidence before him of the world-wide and permanent growth of the Christian Science movement has taken the contempt out of him, though it may have left him unconvinced. As a student of human affairs he might well ask, How has it been accomplished, and what does it signify for the future of the race?
Springing up in the soil of one lone, brave woman's faith in God, and nourished by her unfaltering fidelity and love, in an age of material absorption and with no visible succor or support, what but the blessing of God could have produced such wondrous growth? The tiny seed has become a great tree giving rest and shelter to thousands of weary pilgrims on their way home. Critics on all sides have shot their sharpest shafts against it; it has been plied with ridicule, with sarcasm, with invective; the orthodox pulpit has denounced it in the name of God; it has been subject to persecution and attempted proscription. What but divine sanction is responsible for its great growth and increasing acceptance among men? What system or reform unprotected by God and bereft of His approval, could have stood against the tides of bitter opposition, and the storms of human hatred that again and again have beaten against it? What man or woman whose heart was not pure and good and true, who was not spiritually near to God and supported by His grace, could have stood alone in the face of an unfriendly world and have battled for years with the unloosed powers of evil, and conquered, as the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science has done?
Less than thirty years ago there was not one Christian Science Church in the world; there are now about eight hundred organizations, including many which own large and beautiful buildings. These church buildings are dedicated free from debt, and the services are well attended; the members of the Christian Science churches are at least up to the average in intelligence and culture, and much above the average in health. It is certainly true that very many of these people have been redeemed from a hopeless invalidism, or from the depths of sin, through the healing power of Christian Science. These are every-day facts that cannot be laughed or argued away, and the world has been forced to recognize them and make a place for Christian Science as an important factor in human affairs.
