Every student of the Christian Science text-book, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mrs. Eddy, learns as one of his first lessons that Truth is eternal. The human attitude with respect to Truth presents various aspects, such as ignorance, belief, demand for proof, and knowledge or understanding. Ignorance of Truth may be due to mere absence of information or it may be the result of wrong teaching. In the former case it can continue only when the means of knowing are not present or are slothfully or foolishly neglected: in the latter, when they are purposely ignored. Belief, according to the Standard Dictionary, is (1) "a conviction or assurance of the actuality of anything on other grounds than personal observation or experience; (2) mental assent to or acceptance of anything as fact or truth on the ground of testimony or authority: (3) assurance of the truths of religion on the grounds of divine testimony."
Belief thus exhibits every phase of development from feeble acquiescence to the strongest conviction, or, as Cruden points out, from bare assent to hope, reliance, and even positive knowledge. On its accepted definitions, then, it may be misplaced confidence because the authority or testimony may not be reliable, though it may seem to be, thus giving rise to false beliefs. On this account belief is a nugatory state, because proof annihilates it either by establishing its verity and thus promoting it to knowledge; or by revealing its falsity. Demand for proof thus makes possible a transit from belief as to truth to' knowledge of the truth. This last, knowledge, is the only impregnable attitude of the four mentioned, because its items can stand the test of repeated proof without suffering change.
Every fact now known to mankind has been embraced by each of the first three attitudes before reaching the fourth; and every fact which is still unknown, but which remains to be discovered, will sustain these varied relations to human sense. Still further, a countless array of what have been accepted as facts still remain to be challenged and either proved true or false. This is true of every department of thought. Physics, chemistry, geography, zoology, mathematics, music, art,—every branch of learning that has interested man,—can present its quota of evidence, and can show that until the citadel of understanding or knowledge is won, belief serves only as a step in the right direction.
