Should there be in our midst today any one who doubts the appeal that Christian Science makes to business or professional men and women, or to mankind in general, he has but to visit a Sunday service or a Wednesday evening testimony meeting, held by any Christian Science church or society, to be convinced of this latter-day wonder in churchgoing, as many choose to term it; for there he will find a generous proportion of the large audiences to be those who are not merely attendants, but earnest participants in the worship. And since these services are brief and simple in character, devoid of any attempt to hold the attention other than by providing exercises of a devotional nature, the question arises, Wherein does the real attraction lie that draws and holds the interest of thoughtful men and women of all classes? Various reasons could be given for this, and also for the phenomenal growth of the Christian Science movement, as attested by the ever increasing number of its followers, chief among which must be the feature of healing, applicable not only to physical disabilities, but to all that comes within the category of human ills. Investigation will, indeed, prove that Christian Science not only affords surcease to the troubled thought, but is, as well, a restorative and redemptive agency.
Dealing with the aforesaid questions more specifically, it is but fair to concede that a more comprehensive idea of Deity is set forth by the teachings of Christian Science than sectarianism has yet attempted; and in this great undertaking Mary Baker Eddy, its Discoverer and Founder, has, among other things, given to the world a deific term which is at once unique and comprehensible, namely, divine Principle. Considering the term "Principle" metaphysically, we have here a vitally significant definition of God, an immensely wide sense of the spiritual universe, and moreover including all the ideas of divine Mind. True, the term at first may seem abstruse; but in its spiritually metaphysical interpretation a world of possibilities is unfolded to thought, which may be welcomed as the dawning of a great spiritual light, illuminating the Scriptures and revealing a scientific and universal remedy for all forms of ignorance, fear, disease, and sin.
The writer was healed of a serious and exceedingly painful physical disability many years ago, after all other methods had failed to bring relief or hope, by coming upon the term "divine Principle" during the casual perusal of an article on Christian Science. This new terminology seemed at first puzzling, and then curiously interesting, to the end that an analysis was made of the word "Principle." Obviously, divine Principle was the foundation upon which Science must rest, the source from which all things proceeded; also, that which is inseparable from its idea, determining its nature, its essential character and essence. All this was entirely comprehensible. But what of its adaptation to Christian metaphysics? logical questioning demanded. If the useful and indispensable truth about numbers, embracing all mathematical calculation, is contingent upon an undeviating law, upon what, in turn, does Christian metaphysics depend? Startling revelations of the possibility of demonstrating God's omnipresence and power began to unfold; and consciousness, for the moment, was swept free from doubt, fear, and pain. In their place a great peace dawned, a newborn confidence, as it were; and behold, there stepped forth a new individual, healed of what had seemed a hopeless physical infirmity, and strong in the determination to evermore work out the problem of salvation along this exalted line of reasoning.
