Mary Baker Eddy saw the worldwide effect which the divine Science she discovered has upon mankind. One such effect is that of an increased span of human life. She says in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (pp. 223, 224), "Longevity is increasing and the power of sin diminishing, for the world feels the alterative effect of truth through every pore."
When longevity is considered in association with the diminishing power of sin, increase of years cannot be deemed a problem to the world. Rather, it should be seen as evidence of general spiritual progress. There is no doubt that peoples are showing increasing moral responsibility for the welfare of others. Mercy for the underfed, the underprivileged, the diseased, the politically downtrodden, is a live and burning issue in the world. Social conscience is unquestionably improving. God's kingdom is coming on earth. The truth is appearing.
Sin, or the carnal mind, is slowly diminishing in the revealed presence of the divine Mind. Mortality is yielding to Life, God. The material sense of man is yielding to the spiritual sense of him as Spirit's likeness. The finite is yielding to the infinite. And this "alterative effect" is from the truth, not from matter or materialistic processes. Moral and spiritual activity is bringing mankind nearer the scientific fact of sinless, deathless life.
