Articles

The word religion, as used in its usually accepted sense, embraces "any system of faith and worship. " whether pagan, Hindu, Mohammedan, or Christian; and as the last, through theological difficulties anent the numerous creeds and dogmas, has developed many distinct systems within itself, it has become the custom for Christians to designate their religion by the name of the particular sect or denomination with which they are affiliated or which by its appearance appeals to their sense of comfort and activity.

We read in the gospels of a morning by the Sea of Galilee when some of the fishermen who have become so well known to us as to seem like friends, were mending their nets preparatory to another day's fishing. They were carefully repairing any breaks and arranging weights and ropes so that all would run smoothly when again they plied their trade.

Although the work of Jesus was world-wide and universal in the ultimate scope of its purpose, it was none the less immediate in its application to the conditions by which he was surrounded. His ministry, from beginning to end, was a supreme rebuke to the perverted ideals of that time, which he endeavored to dispel.

That remarkable incident in the life of the Master where he sent out the seventy disciples on their healing mission, as related in the tenth chapter of Luke, is of especial significance to this age. Jesus understood perfectly the nature, not only of good, but also of its suppositional opposite, evil.

Usually when men speak of something as a habit, reference is made to some manifestation of oft-repeated, involuntary physical action; but to Christian Scientists, who know that matter has no governing power of its own, it seems very evident that habits play an exceedingly important role in the experience of mankind. They are aware of the fact that habits can be mental as well as physical.

During the early years of her study, an earnest student of Christian Science was chagrined to find that her distaste for the Lesson-Sermon now entitled "Ancient and Modern Necromancy, alias Mesmerism and Hypnotism, Denounced," was not to be readily overcome. All other Lesson-Sermons were pondered with increasing pleasure, but her earnest effort to enjoy the one mentioned seemed unavailing.

The instantaneous demonstration of divine Principle was the great characteristic of the Master's ministry. Whenever and wherever the human need legitimately presented itself, there and then did Jesus prove the availability of spiritual law.

It has been truly said that there is no evil situation or condition in which a mortal may find himself, where the law of God is not available to help him,—no disease that cannot be healed; no sin that cannot be overcome; no danger, no threatened disaster or calamity, from which one cannot be saved by the understanding and application of the divine law. This is necessarily so in the very nature of things, for God is omnipotent and God is good, and what we speak of as the law of God could be nothing more or less than the expression of God's will or purpose.

The Bible, which holds an important place in all Christian Science services, is often referred to as "the Book of books," and it is indeed true that one's outlook upon life is determined by his attitude toward the Bible. In it are to be found the great truths which enabled Moses and others to find and to understand God.

One of the perplexing problems to an eager young student in Christian Science is the refusal of mortal mind to see anything except matter and its modes, and its refusal to reason from any other premise. When Jesus said, "They seeing see not; and hearing they hear not," he was confronted with the same phase of human blindness that to-day his followers encounter.