The Section of the Manual of The Mother Church by Mary Baker Eddy which provides for the establishment of a Christian Science organization at universities and colleges is entitled "Privilege of Members" (Art. XXIII, Sect. 8). Why is it a privilege for Mother Church members on campus to form and belong to such an organization? Because it furnishes a common ground for the individual thinking of its members; and when their thinking is spiritually enriched, the college community of which they are a part is also enriched.
Mrs. Eddy writes in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 504), "The rays of infinite Truth, when gathered into the focus of ideas, bring light instantaneously, whereas a thousand years of human doctrines, hypotheses, and vague conjectures emit no such effulgence." The services of a Christian Science organization at a university or college can help one to orient his thinking about academic life and thereby bring to it divine light and order.
A college or university is a community of scholars and students. Its members have special aims and purposes, and these often seem to be accompanied by special problems. The membership of this educational community is generally restricted to those who are ready and willing to devote several years to the disciplining of their thinking so that they may acquire and advance knowledge and techniques. The courses of study and the instructors sometimes present ideas and ideals contradictory to those which the young student of Christian Science takes with him on going to college.
