Editorial October 24, 1903 Issue

The Opened Book

W.

In commenting upon the effort of an educational center to awaken interest in a course of Bible reading, a leading daily paper has recently said that "if the universities can revive the study of the Bible, they will establish a new claim to our respect." This intimation by a great commercial journal of the significance of the Bible, and of the lamentable disuse into which it has fallen, is especially marked, when we remember the amount of attention the subject has received during the last quarter of a century, and the number and value of the aids which have been supplied in furtherance of this interest. The wonderful achievements of exploration in Bible lands, the preparation of the revised text, the issue of many helpful translations into the modern idiom, the development of the International Sunday School Lesson system, the organization of the Chautauqua study courses, and the publication of innumerable expository works, and teachers' and students' "helps,"—all these surely constitute the phenomena of an era of remarkable interest and activity upon the part of religious leaders who, through such varied means, have sought to stimulate Christian thought; nevertheless, the general unfamiliarity with the Bible, and the indifference of the great body of the people to its study, is constantly being referred to by Christian workers and is fairly indicated, perhaps, by the editorial comment which we have quoted.

These facts ought to enable thoughtful people to see that knowledge about the Bible does not and cannot awaken a permanent and impelling interest in the Bible, or lead to its sympathetic and habitual study. Let men be convinced, however, that Scripture truth has a vital and corrective relation to the disease and disharmony of human life, or in other words, that it is practically demonstrable, and that moment they begin to be attracted to it.

It is here that the explanation of the devotion of Christian Scientists to the book may be found. The many human aids to which we have referred are not to be undervalued, but the demonstration of the present healing power of the word of God, through Christian Science is doing far more than all else to turn men again to the sacred page, and beget a lasting enthusiasm in its study.

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The Attitude of Christian Scientists toward Physicians
October 24, 1903
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