Today, as throughout all time, one of the greatest quests of good men and women everywhere is for better and surer ways to alleviate suffering. Millions are being spent on research. Many individuals are dedicating their lives to laboratory work, seeking the means of saving humanity from the inroads of disease. Progress has been claimed, but does it not seem that a significant point is being missed since when one disease is conquered, another rises up to defy mankind?
In Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy, there are these thought-provoking words: "He to whom 'the arm of the Lord' is revealed will believe our report, and rise into newness of life with regeneration. This is having part in the atonement" (p. 24). To "rise into newness of life"! We find the answer, not in confining ourselves to battling symptoms or physical causes, but in recognizing the saving strength and help which come from God. And if this regeneration is to reach us through atonement, do we not need a clearer, fresher understanding of what atonement really is?
Atonement always has to do with overcoming. It should be a daily, hourly process in the life of the Christian. It is basic in the practice of Christian Science. On page 23 of Science and Health we read, "The atonement is a hard problem in theology, but its scientific explanation is, that suffering is an error of sinful sense which Truth destroys, and that eventually both sin and suffering will fall at the feet of everlasting Love." Then is not atonement the solution for suffering? Therefore the open door of atonement must be the way out of suffering. For centuries, theological views have implied that suffering comprises atonement; whereas in reality atonement is the awakening from the need to suffer.
