THE persistent efforts put forth in certain quarters to bring discredit upon Christian Science, naturally suggest the question, If Christian Science does not correctly interpret the Truth of Being, by which men are made free, what does? Under equal conditions and opportunity, what other teaching brings greater good into the experience of its believers? Truth should be known by the liberty it confers, not by its acquiescence with human beliefs and prejudices. If Christian Science is not true, then that which is should be found doing greater works in the healing of the sicknesses and sins, the sorrows and sufferings of mortals. What is doing this?
Christian Science has not departed from the teachings of Jesus or of the apostles, but has followed the premises of divine Truth to their logical conclusion, and made Christianity practical for mortals. Popular systems of theology, on the other hand, have surrounded the teachings and works of the Master with human opinions, and with conformities to materialistic theories; and this addition to the spiritual simplicity of Christ's gospel is what has impeded the progress and usefulness of the Church and now antagonizes Christian Science. It may be pertinent to ask, If Christian Science is not worthy of belief, why do other religions pass uncensured whose declaration of faith includes the same fundamental truths upon which Christian Science, the Science of Christianity, is based?
Although objections to Christian Science are chiefly made concerning the practical application of its teachings to the betterment of human conditions, yet the question primarily rests with the truth of these teachings; for if this be admitted, their application must be the most natural thing possible. The rejection of the belief of matter has drawn to Christian Science the opposition of those who champion this belief, but these opponents should consider the hopelessly antagonistic natures of Christianity and materialism, and also what is comprised in the problem of the salvation of mortals from evil. If it is wrong to deny that materialism has a place in Christian belief, what are we to do with the exclusive spirituality of Christianity as founded by Jesus, the understanding of which made his demonstrations of Truth's power possible and natural? The belief of matter, with its array of "laws," has not arisen since our Master's time; it antedated the Christian era, and therefore holds no different relation to Christians to-day than it did to the Founder of Christianity. It was this belief which held the claim of mortality over Jesus, and which he overcame through his knowledge of spiritual law, and not through any counter-manipulation of material belief. It is the same belief in matter that to-day holds mortals bound to disease and pain and death. Why should Christian Science be discredited because it is restoring the spiritual understanding of the Christ as mankind's physician as well as redeemer? If the Christianity that heals and saves from all wrong conditions, physical and moral, is not the true Christianity, what is?
