Distinguishing Features of the Christian Science Church

EVELYN SYLVESTER KNOWLES.

It is sometimes asked, "What are the distinguishing features of Christian Science churches"?

Many answers to this question might present themselves, but we may consider briefly three important points: First, this church stands for belief in (or "reliance upon," as this phrase has been finely interpreted) and acknowledgment of one power only,—God, good. Scholastic theology has claimed to teach this for centuries, since to have done otherwise it must have discarded the Scriptures, but really it has not done so. It has encouraged the belief in a power called evil as opposed to good. It has led us to think either that there were two creators, or that God created evil. This reliance upon one power, as taught in Christian Science, results in a unity between God and man, and between man and his fellow-men not otherwise attainable. Through this unity the elements of discord which inevitably tend toward separation are annihilated, and the home,—that stronghold and sanctuary of the affections,—and the church, which is but a wider home, is firmly fixed upon a stable basis. The first essential point, then, is the belief in one perfect God, and man, made in His image, who is necessarily perfect also.

Secondly, the corner-stone of this church is Christ. Truth, manifested to human apprehension by the works,—the promised signs which follow faith. The healing of disease is a primal fruit but not necessarily the most important. It comes with startling distinctness to this age, because for so long it has seemed a lost element of Christianity. Other fruits are, "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." These are equally important and often harder of attainment than the destruction of mere bodily ailments, but Christian Science unfolds the possibility of obtaining all these fruits as present realities. It teaches that "love is the fulfilling of the law:" it teaches that joy is not a concomitant of the physical senses, for it proves that we are happiest when these senses are most in abeyance: it shows us that peace is not to be sought among material surroundings, nor looked for in some distant place called heaven, but is found in the consciousness of right doing; it points the way of "longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance," with no uncertain finger and bids us daily, yea, hourly, walk therein. Unless these fruits are brought forth in some degree, one is unworthy to be called a follower of the Christ-truth; i.e., a Christian Scientist.

A third characteristic of churches of Christ, Scientist, lies in the division of responsibility among their members. In other churches the work as well as the success devolves largely upon a single individual,—a pastor or rector,—with some aid in a material way from church committees and the like. In Christian Science churches the work properly belongs to each and every individual of whom they are composed, and the meekness and conscientiousness characterizing the performance of this work determine the true success of the church. There is no possible shifting of this responsibility. In the eternal structure of which this is a type, every stone is requisite to perfect the form, every delicate filigree essential to express the beauty and complete coalescence of each with all to produce the consistency of the whole. There is "No last nor first, no best nor worst," as Browning says. Each may become the "greatest" by adhering strictly to the rule found in the twentysixth verse of the twenty-second chapter of Luke's Gospel: "But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve."

The Readers in the Christian Science churches stand upon their merits and are respected and loved only as they reflect Truth and manifest brotherly-kindness and humility. If called to a high position a true member of this church accepts it meekly; if removed from it he steps down willingly, well knowing that the only height a Christian Scientist may hope to attain is the height of goodness. He strives to overcome self daily and to become a reflector, not an obstructor, of the radiant Truth. He finds it essential to sow the seed of peace and good-will, and can hardly conceive of greater distress than that borne to him by the knowledge that he has failed to work conscientiously for his church. Realizing that not only his visible acts, but the thoughts governing his inmost life are what really color the life of the church, he does not squander the precious moments but earnestly strives for that Mind to be in him which was also in Christ Jesus. In short, he knows that the church of Christ, being "the structure of Truth and Love" (Science and Health, p. 583), has no false basis upon which to stand, and that unless, as individual members, we support our churches by the fruits of righteous living and the constant pursuit of infinite perfection, they must collapse.

Indeed, it may be said of the Church of Christ, Scientist, that it owes its existence to a practical application of the Scriptures, based upon the understanding of divine Principle. If it ceased to do this, it would cease to be.

May divine Love so "stablish, strengthen, settle" all the branches of this Church, that with unerring eye, buoyant faith, and intrepid endeavor they shall climb the heights of holiness until, at the summit, they awake in His likeness, never to dream again.

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