No one can long be a student of Christian Science without becoming impressed with the necessity of following Paul's admonition: "Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind." The old thought habits along all lines when brought before the bar of Truth begin to undergo a rigid cross-examination. The personal sense of God as a being constantly in touch with the sins, sicknesses, and woes of mankind, may be one of the first erroneous methods of thinking to be challenged by the scientific truths of Christian Science.
If the student has clung very closely to this false belief, there may come at this moment a sense of loss; but further search will reveal that what seemed to be loss was in reality only transformation, for he will come to understand the meaning of our Leader's words on page 18 of "Unity of Good,"where we read: "God says, I show My pity through divine law, not through human. It is My sympathy with and My knowledge of harmony (not inharmony) which alone enable Me to rebuke, and eventually destroy, every supposition of discord."
The student will thus see that he has simply made an exchange, and that he has vitally gained, not lost, in the process. It may be, however, that the student is one who has entertained no definite conviction regarding the Supreme Being; one who has even felt that no definite knowledge was possible; that each one has a right to his own opinions, or even to change those opinions from time to time as the varying religious teachings brought to his attention seemed to him reasonable or unreasonable, and hence worthy or unworthy of his acceptance. Such a student will not advance very far in his investigation of Christian Science before he is confronted with the fear of becoming narrow. He has so prided himself upon his breadth of view; has been so comforted with the reflection that at least he is broad-minded, even if he does not possess any entirely satisfying conviction regarding spiritual things.
