Articles

Belief , in ordinary usage, means mental assent on grounds other than direct personal knowledge, insight, or complete demonstration. It admits of every degree of conviction from the feeblest to the very strongest (Century Dictionary).

The Psalmist sang, "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. " Our Saviour, the "Prince of peace," knowing what must be accomplished before this realization was possible, said, "I came not to send peace, but a sword.

The Apostle Paul, in his epistle to the Romans, states, "For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. " Throughout the centuries of Christian history, as through the greater part of the history of the early Jews, the Scriptures have ever been of wonderful import and of vital significance to every devout truth seeker.

Every mortal is troubled with many and various anxieties, and yet all desire, through various paths, to arrive at one goal; that is, they strive by different means to attain one happiness: in a word, God. He is the beginning and the end of every good, and He is the highest happiness.

At the time of the Saviour's birth, the shepherds, watching their flocks on the Judæan hillsides, heard the angelic message, "Fear not for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people"—and the heavenly host, uniting in the strain, sang, "On earth peace, good will toward men. " Thus is the advent of the spiritual idea ever heralded, as it comes afresh to human thought.

REV. MARY BAKER G.

The long accepted theory that the kingdom of heaven is a place, and that no one can ever enter this sacred domain until after death, is rapidly yielding to more enlightened views upon this most important subject. In the light of Christian Science it seems passing strange that we should have read our Bibles for years and yet have felt satisfied with such an untenable theory, a theory not supported by even the letter of Scripture.

Christian Science has given me such a sweet and altogether wholesome sense of communion, that I now delight in an ordinance which formerly I neither understood nor enjoyed. Because I did not know the purport of the holy sacrament, I had no affection for it, and the recurring intervals when this solemn event was celebrated, brought only mental confusion and self-condemnation.

Between materialism and all the higher hopes and ideals of our race there is not merely a separation, there is an abyss. By the mud upon its garments materialism always betrays that it belongs to the province of clay; while our higher hopes and ideals carry upon their foreheads a radiance not born of earth, and revealing their immortal origin and destiny.

The  following letter, written by our Leader concerning the attitude of Christian Scientists in Ohio in view of the recent decision of the Supreme Court of that State, will be read with great interest. Pleasant View, Concord, N.