The Founder of Christian Science, in an editorial in the Christian Science Sentinel of Oct. 19, 1907, bestowed favorable notice upon a picture entitled "The Triumph of Truth over Error," this picture being the first considerable work so far painted with the aim to portray the thought of Christian Science. Praise accorded the picture by Mrs. Eddy is, therefore, the highest honor to which a work of like nature could attain. But her gracious comment carries more than a personal gratification to the painter; it offers a spiritual encouragement to reach an art expressive of divine thought.
It has long been clear to me that, among the other blessings Christian Science bestows upon mankind, the inspiration for a new and vital art is not the least; an art which shall convey to the world the healing thought embodied in Christian Science, an art of beauty expressive of her own exalted ideals; an art which, though still in a potential state and hardly yet brought into consciousness, will soon unfold fair wings in the serene atmosphere of faith. I will endeavor to explain, with what clearness I may, the grounds whereon I base this prediction. Primarily, my faith in the evolution of an art created by Christian Science arises from the perception that the essence of art, in the purest meaning of the term, and the truth of Christian Science are identical; that "beauty is truth, truth beauty," according to the famous line of Keats. Spiritual beauty is the truth of art. Is it not the truth of divine thought, too? Symmetry, the desire of all nature, the will of God manifest in all things, is the final prayer of the soul; is religion. Symmetry, in proportion as it permeates a work of art, elevates it to a religious symbol. Art and religion unite in symmetry.
A faith whose doctrine is simplicity, absolute being, pure Mind, must possess an emotional life derived from the intense consciousness of divine thought; and the rational expression of this emotion must be beauty. The contemplation of harmony inspires harmony of expression and rejects what is inharmonious as inexpressive. Christian Science being such a faith, the expression of its thought must be in terms of pure art, or unalloyed symmetry. Here we come upon a new note in Christian art, as I will show later, but at first glance this new note will recall the note of Greek art. The psychology of Christian Science differentiates it, however. Greek art was cold, intellectual. Christian Science, through consciousness of absolute being, through conquest of the illusions of sense, is enthusiastic. It has a purpose, a mission of good; and the warmth of this enthusiasm must betray itself in art.
