A Great many people are accustomed to think of church and temple as meaning the same thing, yet in studying the Scriptures we find that these words have a different signification. Thoughtful people in general have come to see that the deeper meaning of both must be sought if we are to reach anything of real value to our spiritual unfoldment. At one time it was the ambition of every nation to possess at least one structure which would represent grandly its idea of worship, and temples of this sort were usually adorned as was the temple at Jerusalem, "with goodly stones and gifts," so that in time the building itself almost came to be the object of adoration rather than the Deity in whose honor it was erected. The prophet Hosea declared, "Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples." Here we may recall Jacob's wonderful experience at Bethel, when in a vision of the night he saw a ladder let down from heaven, on which the angels of God were descending and ascending. He was far from home, and no earthly abode was near; yet he was impelled to cry out, "This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."
On a certain occasion we find Christ Jesus saying, "In this place is one greater than the temple;" and in directing thought away from a mortal and limited sense of things Paul said, "Ye are the temple of the living God." On page 365 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" we find a remarkable statement where Mrs. Eddy speaks of the temple of the Holy Ghost in relation to a sick one's "spiritual power to resuscitate himself." Through her teachings students of Christian Science are daily gaining higher and clearer views of the meaning of all things; and while they eagerly seize upon the lessons of the olden time and are grateful for "all the good the past hath had," they find that the problems of the present hour are what concern them most, and that these must be approached with an earnest desire to prove to themselves the infinite availability of divine Truth and Love in their efforts to aid in the establishment of God's kingdom on earth.
It cannot be denied that religion is essential to the very life of humanity. It also follows that for the present, at least, humanity must express in part its concepts of divine service through what it calls temples and churches; nor is there anything wrong in this. Sometimes we may hear the unthinking remark that Christ Jesus did not attempt to establish a church, that he was indeed the great iconoclast, and condemned severely the ritual of the church in which those around him believed. Such a belief, however, quite fails to recognize the fact that as soon as one of his disciples was ready to see and acknowledge in his work a manifestation of the divine ever presence, the Master said, "Upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Nor was this all, for in the eighteenth chapter of Matthew we find a simple yet far-reaching provision for the discipline of this church, a rule which is embodied in the Manual of The Mother Church of Christian Science, and is also to be found in the by-laws of most of the branch churches.
