Strictly speaking, the word "character" refers to the traits and qualities which distinguish individuals or objects, whether good or bad. But to speak of someone as a person "of character" or of a nation as a nation "of character" generally implies the possession of a high degree of moral force and righteousness. On page 277 of "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany," Mary Baker Eddy makes a thought-provoking statement on the subject of character. She writes, "The characters and lives of men determine the peace, prosperity, and life of nations."
In this so-called atomic age, when universal health, prosperity, peace, and indeed mankind's very survival are threatened by evil in new and aggressive forms, the foregoing words take on fresh significance. They demand that every individual strive for the spirituality which characterized Christ Jesus, rather than seek success, prosperity, and happiness for himself or the world on a material basis.
The teachings of Christian Science clearly reveal that it was the Christliness of Jesus, and not human love or knowledge, which enabled him to heal the sick, cast out sin, and finally prove his superiority over all materiality, even death itself. For Christliness is coincident with eternal harmony, the summum bonum of life, sought by all men and nations.
