When the subject of Christian Science was first presented to the world a direct challenge was issued against the human theories and hypotheses then prevailing. There was no possible common ground whereon the critics of Christian Science could meet it and adjust their differences, except the ground of demonstration, and it was there that Mrs. Eddy, like our Master, met and refuted her opponents, and it was through demonstration that sincere seekers for Truth began to abandon their former viewpoints and come over to the side of Christian Science. This is precisely what is going on today, for Christian Science makes no compromise with human opinions, and people as a rule cling to their opinions in the face of the most logical of arguments. Without its verification in practice Christian Science would be as theoretical as are other religious teachings.
We occasionally hear from those who are beginning their investigation of Christian Science the statement that much as they desire to accept its teachings they find it impossible to get Mrs. Eddy's viewpoint. They are therefore not only very much at sea, as they sometimes term it, but very much in the fog. Their real difficulty of course, though they may not be aware of it, is that they are not willing to give up their own opinions.
While every one approaches Christian Science from the particular angle of his own thought of things, those who do not believe its teachings may all be grouped into one class, having the common viewpoint, of a belief in matter as constituting the essential substance and reality of their being. Christian Science, however, takes the opposite position, that inasmuch as God is Spirit His creation is spiritual both in nature and in substance, and is governed solely by spiritual law. The impossibility of bringing these opposite standpoints into agreement is obvious; hence the despair of many sincere persons in trying to understand Christian Science while holding fast to their material views.
