Articles

Christ Jesus realized his disciples' need of understanding his spiritual identity as the Son of God. In the sixteenth chapter of his Gospel, Matthew records that Jesus asked, "Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?" They replied, "Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.

Weary of its seemingly unending battle with adverse circumstances, the human heart at times cries out, "What is the reason for it all?" Mary Baker Eddy in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" ( p. 536 ) asks a similar question: "Through toil, struggle, and sorrow, what do mortals attain?" Her answer is full of significance and hope: "They give up their belief in perishable life and happiness; the mortal and material return to dust, and the immortal is reached.

A Very important and fundamental provision in the by-laws of many Churches of Christ, Scientist, is contained in a quotation from "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany" by Mary Baker Eddy. The passage reads ( pp.

When Jesus was twelve years of age, he accompanied his parents to Jerusalem to attend the feast of the Passover. On their homeward journey his parents discovered his absence and returned to Jerusalem, where they found him in the temple conversing with the doctors and asking them questions.

Mankind generally looks upon justice as a human virtue. Consequently it believes justice to be inconstant—here today, gone tomorrow—and sometimes protests that there is no justice at all.

In the last book of the Bible, the Revelation of St. John, we find eight verses rich in promise of abundant good "to him that overcometh.

When James wrote, "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you" ( James 4:8 ), he must have been speaking from his own experience. Had he discovered that as his understanding of Christ Jesus' teachings regarding God deepened he felt the tender Shepherd of Israel nearer and nearer to him? The human heart has always hungered to find God.

In Proverbs is found the significant statement ( 29:18 ), "Where there is no vision, the people perish. " And Christian Science teaches the correlative fact that where spiritual vision exists, the people are saved.

Every progressive Christian Scientist knows how imperative it is that he constantly express more of the spirit of the Christ if he is to be a successful demonstrator of Truth. He knows that it is important for the same reason that he grow in understanding of the letter, or correct statement, of Christian Science.

What joy and peace come to our hearts when we hear the words of Phillips Brooks sung as a Christmas carol, the first verse of which is: O little town of Bethlehem, How still we see thee lie; Above thy deep and dreamless sleep The silent stars go by; Yet in thy dark streets shineth The everlasting Light; The hopes and fears of all the years Are met in thee tonight. This brings to us a mental picture of Bethlehem, quiet under the stars, awaiting the gentle coming of the Messiah, long foretold by the prophets.