Philanthropy, or the humanitarian effort of one person to promote the welfare of another, is a Christian duty. The Bible shows that it is only through neighborly love and unworldly living that one can truly worship God and gain His grace. It says, "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."James 1:27;
But in practice it becomes woefully evident that to carry out the letter of this admonition without bringing to the humanly good deed the unction of the uplifting divine Spirit is of very little true advantage. To visit the neighborhood's widows, orphans, and other handicapped citizens, to give them food and clothing, provide them with shelter and needed material things, is at best merely a temporary remedy for their affliction. Unless those helped gain a clearer vision of God's ever-present care for them, sooner or later they are liable to relapse into the very same condition of human need.
Many public-spirited Christian people have wondered why the problems of lack and discord suffered by the individuals they assist appear again and again. They sense that something more is needed. Now Christian Science explains that in order for philanthropy to bring lasting relief a deeper, spiritual gift must always accompany, and even sometimes replace, material aid—the gift of spiritualized thinking. Only through the divine understanding of man's sonship with God and the consequent total completeness and satisfaction of every individual in his real being, as revealed by Christ Jesus, can the divine healing power bring permanent relief to the sick and needy, and ensure that he will not soon be in want again.
