THE loved Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, has provided opportunity at the Wednesday evening meetings for the grateful of heart to present joyful testimony of the regenerative power of Christian Science to the stranger that is within the gates. The testimonies are given for a divine purpose. They are as life lines thrown to eager hands stretched forth by shipwrecked ones; and, to fulfill their saving purpose, they must be given in accord with divine law. Nowhere can it be found that it is important or even permissible to dwell upon the evil which has been eradicated. Indeed, the Manual specifically states that in the giving of testimony descriptions shall not be given of either symptoms or suffering (Art. VIII, Sect. 24). To make known the healing, not the error, is the object of the testimony. Let us not forget this restriction; for it is very clear that to break the command of the Manual is to deal with the experiences of the misconception of man, and in no way to assist one to find his way out of seeming difficulty. To fail in this particular is to lose sight of the real purpose of the testimony, so clearly set forth in the above-mentioned section, which likewise determines its nature, thus: "More than a mere rehearsal of blessings, it scales the pinnacle of praise and illustrates the demonstration of Christ, 'who healeth all thy diseases.' "
Not merely is a testimony the overflow of a grateful heart. Note this: "It scales the pinnacle of praise and illustrates the demonstration of Christ"! In other words, it is the proof that the realization of Truth has so taken possession of the human consciousness as to displace the lie that had seemed to reign there. It is the evidence that by right thinking the sinning, suffering false concept called a mortal can be replaced by the true consciousness of man in the image and likeness of his Maker,— that one can lay claim to man's birthright of dominion.
The testimonies of the Wednesday evening meetings have other authority, also, than that of the beloved Leader of the Christian Science movement. These testimonies antedate Mrs. Eddy's discovery by centuries; and they have the authority of him whom the Christian world calls Christ Jesus. In the gospel according to Matthew we read: "Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, and said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them."
