Beholding the unprecedented mental upheaval that appears to be taking place in human consciousness today, it must be apparent to all thinking people that we are in the midst of a moral chemicalization. The complicated and unhappy conditions that humanity is facing are compelling men and women to turn for help, not merely in word, but in deed, to a power greater than a human sense of self. This, necessarily, is affecting religious thought in all parts of the world. It is beginning to be seen that dogma and creed cannot be the basis upon which enlightened religious faith and understanding will stand. It is clear that mere belief in God is not solving the problems of mankind, and will not; and neither will atheism.
Today men are thinking. Reason and logic are clearing away the mysticism, supernaturalism, and dogmatic beliefs that have been characteristic of religion for many years. There is evidence that many are not only endeavoring to gain a satisfying concept of God, but they are also seeking to understand themselves—to discover the true nature of man. It is encouraging to see and know that the present search for God going on throughout the world is inevitably stimulating the flow of spiritual ideas that reveal Him.
In this search Christian Science offers to all seekers for light a reasonable and logical teaching which rests upon a practical understanding of and obedience to the First Commandment of the Decalogue (Ex. 20:3), "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." Monotheism, however, in Christian Science, is not accepted theoretically. The oneness and allness of God in Christian Science is a great spiritual fact, to be understood and exemplified in every phase of human experience. Obedience to this Commandment touches our lives at every point. It has specific bearing on our health, on our personal, business, and world affairs. The study of this Science not only awakens the student to an understanding of the oneness of being, but also awakens him to recognize the multitudinous suggestions of duality, which, if accepted, violate the First Commandment.
