The term "protestantism" is today taking on a far more vital and practical significance. In fact, a new and purer concept of protestantism was born in the latter half of the nineteenth century when, through the discovery of Christian Science by Mary Baker Eddy, a clearer spiritual light was shed upon the Scriptures. The transforming influence of this modern revival of primitive evangelical Christianity with its gospel of healing is now at work, removing from human thought, like a cleansing solvent, the remnants of those outworn theological beliefs which uninspired teachers had implanted.
It is generally recognized that the Old Testament authors were pioneers in an uncharted wilderness of crude religious rites wherein the worship of idols was prevalent on every hand. When on certain occasions the seers of Israel succeeded in rising to new heights of spiritual vision, they were always hampered by the inability of their own people to understand and follow them. Nevertheless, all the Hebrew patriarchs, lawgivers, judges, and prophets were stanch protestants in so far as they protested against idolatry whenever it appeared among them.
These courageous iconoclasts were also rugged monotheists, for not only did they eschew the worship of idols, but they insisted on obedience to the laws of the only true God. It was largely through the efforts of these loyal adherents to the monotheism of Moses that a spiritual consciousness was gradually awakened in the people of Israel, who, in spite of their murmurings and backslidings, never for long lost sight of the oneness of God.
