As the time draws nigh when the doors of the completed edifice of our Church are to be opened to its members, and also to the many who are drawn to its services by their need of that which they have failed to find elsewhere, it may well be asked, What does this stately and beautiful temple represent? One may hear the question answered by passers-by who know little of Christian Science, but who readily admit that this church was built because so many otherwise hopeless sufferers have been healed by the truth which it represents. To the student of Christian Science, however, this is but a small part of what the church stands for; to all such it represents the truth of being, an understanding of which reveals the ever-presence of the kingdom of God, —the reign of divine Truth, Life, and Love. There are many noble edifices the world over which represent the varied religious concepts of mankind, and many of these are named after the one with whose views they are supposed to be identified. Thus we find throughout Christendom churches named after nearly all the saints in the calendar; and among Protestants many are named after some phase of religious belief which is held by the sect or denomination.
In Christian Science the absoluteness of divine Principle, God, constitutes the basic teaching on which the whole superstructure rests. This being accepted, the absoluteness, beneficence, and impartiality of divine law are unfolded to human consciousness, and the healing of sin and disease and the revelation of the true man as God's image and likeness naturally follow. We thus have "a sure foundation" on which to build,—one that cannot be shaken by the winds and tides of human opinion,—even eternal Truth. Christian Science is not a product of the so-called human mind; it is a revelation of divine Mind and divine law. The very fact that it is above and beyond the range of human personality renders its discovery the greater marvel, and at once dignifies and endears its Discoverer and Founder, Mrs. Eddy, who could only have perceived and communicated this truth to others because of the transparency, the spirituality of her thoughts, through which the light of divine revelation shone upon the darkness of the world's sin and sorrow. The stupendous task of establishing the stately goings of this great movement could not have been carried forward by any other than its Discoverer.
Our church edifice stands as a fitting monument of "Christ's Christianity;" of the blessed Master's work as reinstated in Christian Science; of Truth as revealed in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," and of the work of its author, our beloved Leader. It also stands for the healing of thousands, in this and other lands,—multitudes who, through the teachings of our text-book, have been rescued from sin and sickness—many from despair—and who have both learned and proved that God indeed dwells with men, they His people, He their God.
