Shall it be denied that a system which works according to the Scriptures has Scriptural authority? —Science and Health, p. 342.
IN specifying proof of the divine origin and authority of Christianity, many writers on the subject have found significance in the fact that the Christian Church has been able to survive the countless mistakes made in its name and in violation of its nature. The Christian Science movement presents a telling sequel to such evidence, by its proof that, though unrealized as such for centuries, the vital healing truth of Christianity is a forever present fact, and is even now risen again to human consciousness, clear and free from the accumulated debris of broken ideals and their half-hearted acceptance, of false traditions and associations; that it is re-asserting itself in practical, scientific, and comprehensive expression.
In these days of emphasis on the mere form and color of Christian presentment in ritual and creed, on the externals of service, through the dilution of true church activity with so much that is purely social, in days when the popular test of church fellowship is not unity and force but elasticity or even license,—such a resurgence of apostolic Christianity as that called forth by the teachings of Mrs. Eddy presents a notable and startling confirmation of the Christ-power inspiring her work. In the text-book of Christian Science she has altogether ignored the narrow confines of historical dogma, and has reverted with uncompromising directness to the religion and practice of Jesus and his followers. She has interpreted to the modern age the spirit and method of Jesus the Christ, and with undisturbed patience is proving to a hesitant Christendom the unbroken unity and power of the Christian redemption indicated in Jesus' question to the Pharisees, "Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk?"
