Articles

In nothing is the teaching of Christian Science more practical and definite than in its differentiation between the real man, made in God's image, and the counterfeit, so-called "children of men. " "Be ye therefore perfect," said Jesus to his followers, "even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect;" for he knew that perfection alone could express the nature of the man whom God had made.

A correct perception of the nature of God is essential to salvation from the beliefs of material sense and their baneful effects on mortals. Throughout the ages, mankind has endeavored to gain a true concept of the power that governs man and the universe; and Scriptural history furnishes convincing evidence that many have succeeded, in a measure at least, in emerging from the darkness of ignorance of God into the light of the eternal truth concerning Him.

Humanity is always longing for something. Men are ever reaching out for that which they consider materially necessary to their comfort and happiness, in spite of the injunction of the Master, "Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on," and the assurance, "Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

To "survey the wondrous cross" and be filled with gratitude and humble reverence is to receive light and joy; for in Christian Science the thought of the cross is linked with the thought of resurrection, the awakening to eternal life and spiritual power. In the seventeenth chapter of John we are told that Jesus, in the shadow of the dark hours before the crucifixion, lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, "And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

When a young man consulted Jesus about his spiritual progress, our Master counseled him to consider the demands of the moral law and the Golden Rule, and to live accordingly. On being assured that he had done so from early youth, Jesus pointed out to him his further opportunities of advancing and perfecting his understanding and demonstration of the life divine through self-sacrifice and consecrated Christian service: he should dispose of his encumbering possession and distribute to those in need, thereafter taking up the cross, associating himself with and engaging in our Master's healing ministry.

Christian Science teaches that any appearance of error— disease, discord, or poverty—is due to wrong thinking. Therefore, the place in which to correct the error is in thought.

However much a student of Christian Science may desire to remove himself from the world, and spend his entire time in the quiet pursuit of spiritual development through the study of Christian Science, he sooner or later finds this cannot be his course. When Peter, James, and John, on the mount of transfiguration, beheld the advanced revelation of the Christ, they longed to remain there in that exalted consciousness, but could not.

The first tenet of The Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, as found on page 15 in the Church Manual by Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of the world-wide movement of Christian Science, reads, "As adherents of Truth, we take the inspired Word of the Bible as our sufficient guide to eternal Life. " The result of the foregoing admonition of our Leader, to be found also on page 497 of our textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," is that students of Christian Science, as they gain in the understanding of this teaching, turn away more and more from material remedies or material assistance in case of need, whether it be physical, moral, financial or spiritual, and, instead, look to the contents of the Bible and its immeasurable treasures for comfort and deliverance.

Christian Science teaches that scientific healing is accomplished through a spiritually mental process. It insists that the habit of giving undue attention to the body must be reversed, and that one's endeavor must be directed instead to the correction of erroneous thoughts and beliefs.

EVERY individual who becomes interested in Christian Science has to deal with the problem of supply The rich, the poor, and those seemingly between these extremes have to gain a right understanding of this subject. The problem varies with each individual, for mortals differ from one another in many ways.