Article November 30, 1899 Issue

A Double Conversion

By Charles S. Cook

Thirty-two years ago I was converted to Christianity in the regular orthodox fashion. A series of special meetings were held at Shawmut Church, Boston, in the care of E. B. Webb, D. D., and among the leaders was Dr. Kirk of the Mt. Vernon Church. I was convicted of sin, had the usual distress and fear of eternal loss, then came acceptance of Christ and a great joy. I united with the church, and for the intervening thirty-two years I have tried to do my duty in active work connected with the Congregational church. I went into this experience guided by Dr. Webb. After a few years I came to think more independently, and I confess that the Calvinistic doctrines of our church were hard to believe and seemed to me absolutely unreasonable. I have, during the last ten years, been a careful student of the religious thought of the age and of the history of the religious idea in the past, and I had become more and more uneasy in my association with a church of which I was an inconsistent member.

Two years ago I was led almost by accident to read Science and Health. I was disgusted with the book at first, and I may say, for a year. I read in a desultory manner and did not give the work the careful study which must be given to achieve anything like good from its pages. It was only when I could appropriate to myself the foundation stone of Truth, God as principle and not a person. that I came to an understanding of Christian Science. After I had accepted that all was easy. Christian Science applied to the Scriptures illumines them with supernal brightness and satisfies the reason and the soul. I feel that my first conversion was blind faith, my second intelligent faith. I am simply on the shore of this great continent of spiritual wealth, and I look forward with the greatest happiness to studying the Bible with the light of Christian Science. This spiritual idea will surely dominate the world in time.

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