IN the general Epistle of James we read (1:27), "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world."
Christian Science is in accord with this definition of ideal religion and its demand for compassion and purity. The Manual of The Mother Church by Mrs. Eddy sets forth in similar language the moral obligations of the Readers of The Mother Church and of all its branches: "They must keep themselves unspotted from the world,—uncontaminated with evil,—that the mental atmosphere they exhale shall promote health and holiness, even that spiritual animus so universally needed" (Art. Ill, Sect. 1).
Earnest students of Christian Science recognize that this By-Law applies to them as well as to the Readers. They have learned that their religion demands much more of its adherents than mere reliance on another's goodness, self-immolation, and purity to obtain for them healing and salvation. They know that this Science is "pure religion" and that only in the measure that they make vigorous, persistent efforts to live in obedience to its rules can they develop its higher healing potentialities, demonstrate its purity, and thus "keep themselves unspotted from the world."
