Articles

The Bible tells us that every true gift and every perfect gift is from God. The answer to the question: What is considered a true and perfect gift? will vary in accordance with the seeming human need.

The utility of oil is either to prevent or overcome difficulties. Oil is a decidedly needful element in human endeavor, in manufacture, in motive power, in lighting and heating, in nearly every activity that human invention has devised.

The great interest about the Bible is that it is the inspired utterance of Spirit, as well as the book of truth about human nature and human experience. The people in the Bible lived hundreds and thousands of years ago; perhaps they never lived under the familiar names by which we know them to-day, but their physical identity is immaterial, for what really is of value is their characteristics and the sort of lives they led and the kind of thoughts they had, and above all the experiences they passed through.

The standard for the higher criticism is healing—healing in its broadest signification, by which the entire sequence of the beliefs of material sense are subjected to the criticism that uncovers and destroys them. In the accepted theological use of the term, the higher criticism is applied to that literary and historical study of the Bible which analyzes the origin, composition, and authority of the texts with a view to establishing such facts of authorship and historicity as may be deduced from the internal evidence.

In his essay, "Of the Education of Children," Montaigne, having alluded to the plagiarisms of Chrysippus writes: "To reprove mine own faults in others seems to me no more insufferable than to reprehend (as I often do) those of others in myself. They ought to be accused everywhere and have all places of sanctuary taken from them.

The sun is many times the size of the earth, which resembles, comparatively speaking, but a small splotch upon its surface, so that the shadow cast by the opaque matter of the earth intercepting the sun's rays, necessarily diminishes in width until it disappears in a point of space, making a cone-shaped shadow, resembling a "dunce cap," with its base resting upon the earth. This shadow, more or less relieved in intensity, from time to time, by the sun's rays reflected back upon the earth from the moon outside the shadow, is called "night.

Each day the student of Christian Science endeavors to realize that his steps are ordered by the Lord so that he has the work that is best for his progress, and is placed where he will be of the most service to Principle. All are learning that God will use at all times whatever is available for His service.

The human mind is supremely euphemistic. It speaks most of its health when it fears most its ills; it says "Farewell," that is, "Be well," or "May good be with you, "while it makes the mental reservation of sorrow or apprehension at separation; it names also welfare , or the state of faring or being well, when it is most obsessed with some untoward condition, either possible or apparent, which consideration of welfare is designed to avert.

The last seven verses of the fifth chapter of II Kings recount an incident in the life of a servant of the prophet Elisha which cannot be too deeply impressed upon the thought of those who have caught a glimpse of what it means to have the vision of good, the recognition of the ever presence and all-power of God, the God who is good. The great prophet.

Among the many interesting characters of the Old Testament, Joshua, the son of Nun, stands forth distinctly as one faithful in service to God and completely fearless in voicing the truth, regardless of the seeming multitude of enemies or strength of opposition. When called by Moses to lead the army of Israel against Amalek, he went out, confident in the power of God to give him the victory.