A Lecture Delivered Under the Auspices of The Mother Church, by William P. McKenzie, Member of the Christian Science Board of Lectureship; at Symphony Hall, Boston, Mass., November 2, 1905.
We know that "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." The ancient Greeks endeavored to explain the experiences of life in a story of the gifts of their jealous gods to mortals. These gifts were enclosed in Pandora's box, out of which flew the thousand ills to which flesh is heir; only one good thing was in it, and that was hope. This myth gives an interesting account of a general characteristic of humanity, for nothing seems to destroy the perennial hope of men. Christian Science comes to give substance to the good which men have hitherto hoped for, and the assembling of large audiences to listen to lectures on the subject, indicates that many have an intuitive expectation of realizing their hopes in harmony with Christianity and also in accord with science.
It will be granted that the spirit of true Christianity constitutes the best moral influence the world has known. Students of history, while able to discern reasons for the rise and waning of empires, have acknowledged the beauty and permanency of Christian ethics. Human fame and power pass from obscurity into transient glitter and then into oblivion, but like an unextinguishable light remains the truth which Christ Jesus established. The expectation of impending good which has been cherished by some already, in regard to Christian Science, will be satisfied when they know that it is the true Christianity and is founded on the spiritual teachings of the Bible.
