Editorial April 1, 1922 Issue

True Literature and False

Albert F. Gilmore

The history of the Christian church shows unmistakably that the spiritual understanding which enabled Christ Jesus and his disciples and followers for nearly three centuries to perform their wondrous works gradually disappeared and was finally lost from human experience. When dogma, ritualism, and observance of form superseded that deep sense of unity with God which enabled the Nazarene to declare and demonstrate his oneness with the Father, early Christianity no longer exercised its ministry of healing. When the letter that killeth supplanted the spirit of his message, no longer was spiritual insight the substance of religious worship. To the student of Christian Science it is apparent that this loss resulted from the failure to maintain recognition of the ever-presence of God, expressed through His perfect ideal, the redeeming Christ. This departure from the true course brought the only result possible,—the loss of power to produce the signs which Christ Jesus declared should follow the acceptance of his teaching

Mary Baker Eddy, having discovered Christian Science and its divine law, to make her revelation available founded the Church of Christ, Scientist. In view of the tragic experiences of early Christianity, she threw around it many safeguards against the repetition of that dark chapter in human history. she published the textbook of Christian Science, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," and her other writings under the protection of copyright laws and, early recognizing the need of authoritative literature, established a publishing society to provide her students and the world with periodicals containing expositions of the application of her teachings, together with ample proofs of the practicality of Christian Science in human affairs. These publications were of a kind to encourage the students of this religion in their efforts to make divine Love the healing and redemptive agency in their lives. To preserve the revelation of Truth in its original purity and power, she established definite rules to insure her teachings against adulteration and misuse.

There is not lacking in the New Testament ample reference to those who, unwilling to pay the price for attaining spirituality or, perhaps, unaware of the necessity for gaining it in order to work the "work" of the Spirit, strove to accomplish the same result through indirection and false methods. Christ Jesus was not hesitant in characterizing all who, to avoid paying the entrance fee, would enter the sheepfold—the abode of the Christ—by other than the front gate—that is, without the preparation necessary to entitle one to such admission. His words are definite: "He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber; " nor did he hesitate to expose the false pretenses of those who would enter the wedding feast lacking the proper garments. Mrs. Eddy states the case in an illuminating passage in Science and Health (p. 326): "If we wish to follow Christ, Truth, it must be in the way of God's appointing. Jesus said, 'He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also.' He, who would reach the source and find the divine remedy for every ill, must not try to climb the hill of Science by some other road." Mrs. Eddy, drawing her lesson from the experiences of early Christianity, spared no pains to protect her writings from misuse and perversion, pointing out repeatedly their proper and improper use. In the Church Manual, that perfect guide of conduct to the individual seeking to approximate the Christ-ideal, are found definite rules for the protection of the student. Observance of the prohibitions of Article VIII, Section 11, is no less incumbent upon the loyal Christian Scientist than is due heed to Sections 25 and 26 of the same Article. Manifestly, a duty incumbent upon every Christian Scientist is, to his utmost capability, to protect its teachings from perversion and adulteration by assisting to maintain them, in both the letter and the spirit, as our Leader gave them to the world.

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