We are told by Matthew that John the Baptist came preaching and saying, "Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." It is interesting to note that Jesus began his public ministry by using the same words.
One meaning of the word "repent" is "to change from past evil." Therefore, the sentence may be taken as meaning, Change your evil or false thinking and you will see that the kingdom of God is at hand. Before Christian Science was given to us, heaven was believed by many to be a place reached only by death; that is, if they were saved according to some theory propounded by some system of theology.
Scholastic theology teaches that we come into the presence of God in a far-off place, or kingdom, called heaven. Of this false belief we must repent, or change our thinking. Jesus taught that the kingdom of God is at hand, right here, and now. This kingdom is mentioned twice in the Lord's Prayer: "Thy kingdom come"; "Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory." The "Daily Prayer" given to us by Mrs. Eddy in the Church Manual (Art. VIII, Sect. 4) begins, "Thy kingdom come;' let the reign of divine Truth, Life, and Love be established in me, and rule out of me all sin."
