It may be said that Christian Science has withdrawn the curtains which for centuries have hung before the doors of heaven, and allowed mankind to look within at the wonders of a perfect universe. A glimpse into perfection has instantaneously healed many of their sicknesses, and has redeemed many others from a crushing sense of sin. Who that has once had such a revelation can ever doubt again that the riddle of the ages has been solved, that the mental outlook, the spiritual understanding which pierces the material veil, rending its fictitious sense-fabric, brings at once into demonstrable activity the omnipresent power of God! And yet the Christian Scientist knows full well that the dawning of the "heavenly vision" is but the early morning on a journey which will not cease until he has entered into the complete realization of man's spiritual selfhood.
The religious history of mankind is the history of a struggle toward this realization. The Bible recounts the story of the struggle. It holds the records of the gradual revelation of God to man, and indicates the effects which this revelation has had in inducing human emancipation from the thraldom of error. What strikes one very forcibly about this upward march, is that it has been constantly associated with the self-government and obedience of the individual. Government and obedience are not dissociable. To govern means to direct, to control, to administer laws. To be obedient means to be willing to obey commands or laws. The prophets, with the power begotten of purity and humility, were able to recognize spiritual truth so clearly as to reveal its laws, rendering these of practical value to others.
Thus, for example, we have the ten commandments as compiled by Moses. From them one sees indubitably that self-government takes precedence over every other consideration. They are commands to individuals. Whether one takes the first, the sixth, or the tenth, it is the individual who is directed. He comes under the determining power of a recognized Principle, obedience to which produces a stronger, a better, and a happier selfhood. And thus also did Jesus Christ inculcate obedience. The basis of his teaching was the first commandment, with an addendum. These are his own words to the scribe: "The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these." And he showed how such commands could be obeyed by recognizing God in Spirit and Truth.
