Mankind, considered in relation to the total estimated age of the physical universe, is seen to be still in its infancy. In this context, the advent of Christianity almost two thousand years ago is made to appear comparatively recent. How much closer, then, seem the historic events of a mere century ago, when Mrs. Eddy was taking her first pioneering steps following her momentous discovery of Christian Science!
One who takes up the study of this Science naturally desires to express gratitude for his Leader, Mrs. Eddy, and for the good he has received by joining the Church of Christ, Scientist, which she founded. In this way he helps further the church's pioneering mission to reinstate primitive Christianity and its Christly method of divine healing. The student soon realizes that he is charged with high responsibility and a holy trust, for he is privileged to be living in an age that can still be rightfully regarded as a relatively early period in the history of the Church of Christ, Scientist. Indeed in this respect he is a second-century pioneer of truth.
What are the responsibilities of a pioneer? Mrs. Eddy writes: "It is the task of the sturdy pioneer to hew the tall oak and to cut the rough granite. Future ages must declare what the pioneer has accomplished."Science and Health, Pref., p. vii;
