Christianity as established by Christ Jesus is something vastly more than a set of doctrines or a category of dogmas; it is the way of Life, the means whereby mankind may emerge from its self-imposed bondage of matter into that understanding which constitutes salvation and eternal life. Christianity as established by Jesus is practical religion, possible of proof through demonstration. All Christians agree that the brief years of his ministry were signalized by works which proved the truth of his teachings,—teachings not theoretical and general, but practical and explicit, setting forth to the least detail the means whereby to overcome evil with good, that is to say, to manifest the Christ.
While many have claimed to accept the precepts of the Nazarene, few have really been willing to undergo the sacrifice of materiality to a degree necessary to gain that spiritual consciousness which Paul termed "the mind of Christ." Herein lies the explanation of the failure to make manifest the kingdom of God on earth, whereby the stress and strife of human experience are overcome and true brotherhood is established.
Christian Science, as the restoration of primitive Christianity, is teaching and demonstrating the truth set forth by Christ Jesus with the same results he accomplished in the regeneration of mankind. Christian Scientists recognize that in order to spread the gospel of Spirit, the lives of its disciples must bear witness to the quality of the message. The final appeal of any religious teaching is what it does, not what it claims to do. This age makes strong claims to be first of all practical. Nothing is accepted on a mere ipse dixit: the demand is for proof. The philosophical discussions of the centuries have not healed the broken-hearted, comforted the sorrowing, redeemed the sinful, or healed the sick. Mere speculative theory has no more efficacy in meeting the needs of humanity than have "moonbeams to melt a river of ice," to use Mrs. Eddy's apt expression on page 241 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures."
