Ours is often called a scientific age. This expression implies that much of mankind has outgrown that period of placid innocence in which unproven theories, man-made dogmas, and mere authoritarian pronouncements could command their faith and mental submission. The designation "scientific age" is well justified by the fact that it is marked, on the one hand, by an increasing and understandable admiration for the remarkable accomplishments of the physical sciences and, on the other hand, by a corresponding erosion of humanity's customary adherence to the dogmas of traditional religious teachings.
It is no mere coincidence that this is so. The physical sciences accompany their statements with logical explanations of their bases. Under the increasing influence this procedure has had on human thinking and attitudes, people have come to reach out more and more for some scientific reason for religious teachings they have heretofore accepted on faith. Since these teachings lack such scientific basis, there has gradually developed a cooling-off attitude toward certain old loyalties, for what gives vitality to a teaching is the understanding of its truth.
Anticipating by decades the present response of humanity to the challenge of truth, Mrs. Eddy writes in Science and Health:"The time for thinkers has come. Truth, independent of doctrines and time-honored systems, knocks at the portal of humanity. Contentment with the past and the cold conventionality of materialism are crumbling away. Ignorance of God is no longer the stepping-stone to faith. The only guarantee of obedience is a right apprehension of Him whom to know aright is Life eternal."Science and Health, Pref., p. vii;
