For some time I have been specially interested in the meaning of the words discovery and revelation, especially in their application to religious thought. At first glance these words appear to be closely united in some respects and distinctly separate in others. As defined by the Standard Dictionary the word "discover" means "specifically, to find and bring to the knowledge of the world; as to discover ... a principle." The word "reveal" means "to disclose, make known, or communicate by or as by supernatural or divine agency or instruction." It is to be noted that as used in these ways the two words indicate the actual existence of something previously unknown, though this existence may have been surmised, for "discover" comes from the Latin dis, a negative, and cooperio, to hide; that is, it means an unhiding of something. "Reveal" is from re, back, and velum, a veil; that is, something is seen when the veil is withdrawn. In each case, therefore, something previously hidden has been found. But here comes a marked distinction; discovery implies a conscious effort on the part of the actor who himself removes or overcomes an obstacle, as in the discovery of America or of a lost article; whereas revelation implies that the obstacle is removed by other means than by the action of the searcher, as the lifting of a fog reveals a scene hitherto hidden, or in the case of the revelation of spiritual truth, that it has come in the measure of that spiritual responsiveness of the individual channel of revelation, which has been attained to through spiritual aspiration and endeavor. In support of these statements, so far as religious thought is concerned, it may be remarked that no passage in the Bible implies that mankind has "discovered" God; but numerous passages say that God has "revealed" himself or His ways to mankind. These revelations have, however, invariably been make to those in active search for God or already occupied in God's service.

A casual glance through the Bible will show that as a general rule these revelations when presented to the world at large have been received with opposition more or less violent. Moses, Elijah, in fact, the prophets generally had to pass through ordeals because of their "Thus saith the Lord." The populace did not then, any more than now, want to be dictated to by any being whom they could not see, hear, or handle; and any one who asserted God's law and the penalty for its infraction was treated as if he were the lawgiver and consequently to blame for their sins of omission or commission. They often attacked the mouthpiece in the hope of silencing the voice and thus escaping the penalty which they were warned would follow as the result of wrong thinking and doing. But in no single instance did persecution, or even martyrdom of the prophet avert the penalty for wrong doing; and in no single instance has obedience to the voice of God failed to reap its reward.

Most conspicuous of all the men who in Biblical history opposed the teachings of his day with a revelation, stands Jesus of Nazareth. At a time when the priests had reached a climax of perfunctory religion, he came,—a more active heretic than any of his predecessors with whom the Jewish nation had had to deal. Prophets had declared God's law, the law of Love, had in isolated instances healed the sick and wrought other miracles in proof of their mission, but Christ Jesus stated God's law more succinctly than had any of his forerunners, and gave a new meaning to the words, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these." On the basis of these two commandments he built his ministry, healed the multitude, restored sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf, publicly raised the dead, and taught humanity how to do as he did. His teachings, thus exemplified by his works, carried conviction to the populace, to whom he revealed his mission and who followed him like sheep that had found their shepherd. Such an efflux from the stereotyped rites of priesthood aroused the envy and jealousy of the priests and Pharisees, who, as John writes, began to fear that if they let him alone all men would believe on him. This would mean the downfall of their ritualistic worship and the destruction of their traditional concept of God. So, following the climax of his works, the raising of Lazarus from the tomb, they gathered a council at which, while compelled to acknowledge his miracles, they asked one another the fruitless question, "What do we?" They had no healings no raisings from the dead, no good deeds to enumerate; nothing to prove the truth and value of their dead-letter ceremonies. So, assuming that these forms were right and that Jesus' teachings were wrong, they ignored the necessity of harmonizing their practice with their precepts, rectifying their imperfect—nay, sinful—thoughts and acts, and followed in the footsteps of their progenitors: "From that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death."

Never has the world witnessed a more dismal, barren, profitless victory. At best, for them it was only a threedays triumph; but it gave Jesus an opportunity to show the powerlessness of death and the grave, and thus add the last link to the chain of proof that man lives—not dies—in the Lord. The victory was really that of the one who seemed to have been vanquished. It placed the faith of Jesus' followers on a basis rendered impregnable because it had proved man's life to be continous; single not double: eternal not temporal; thus revealing the truth of Jesus' own words: "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly;" "this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God;" "if any man keep my saying, he shall never see death."

It will be recalled that when Jesus stood up in the synagogue to read he chose this passage from Isaiah: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised." And then he declared, "This day is this scripture fulfilled." But neither the reading of the prophecy nor the declaration of its fulfilment would have been of the slightest significance had Jesus not given proof that the prophecy related to him by actually doing the works predicted. These were his irrefutable and convincing evidences. To such works he pointed inquirers who wanted assurance, as when John the Baptist sent two of his disciples to question Jesus as to his ministry. In all these works Jesus was revealing, not only to his disciples and contemporaries but to and for all men of all time, that the works are the essential, the vital proof of the presence and power of Spirit, God,—not only for him, but for every one who understands his teachings. This he equivocally declared when he said, "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do." There was no exception. His followers, at first falteringly (as when they tried but failed to heal the epileptic boy), but later confidently (as when Peter healed the impotent man at the gate of the temple), gave the proofs of their understanding of God's power. As each one apprehended the Master's words, the "Spirit of the Lord" was upon him as upon his Master, and was revealed in similar works. The only reason why the follower did not at once do as great works, was because of his faltering faith—faith not equal to a mustard seed.

Jesus' revelation of the actuality of eternal Life, though opposed, gained adherents and proved its truth by the signs which, as in his own case, characterized the ministry of his apostles and immediate followers. But later, when his teachings had become so contaminated with worldly thought and polity that the integral signs of his pure religion mentioned in the last chapter of Mark's Gospel disappeared, from that time on, for sixteen centuries, mankind found itself in the predicament of asserting the verity of the teachings without producing their imperative proofs. Christians have admitted that works were the dominant feature of Jesus' ministry, but failing themselves to do such works, they have attempted to justify a dead faith by maintaining that these works were only for a limited period. This contradicts the declarations of Jesus, who at no time authorized passive assent, or belief, as the earnest of eternal Life. Activity, works, obedience, love were his demands and commands. Mere belief cannot take the place of that knowledge of the truth which makes free. Indeed, since no one can assert that there is extant an original document written by any one of the men who are credited as the authors of either Gospels or Epistles; and since it is declared to be impossible to prove that Jesus ever lived, mere believers are in a dilemma; for if they say that obedience to Jesus' commands will secure Jesus' promises, then they are asked to show their proof in works as he presented his proof; on the other hand, if they assert that the time has passed when such results can be expected, they are asked why they cling to a dead doctrine. In all these centuries scholastic theology has not been able to give satisfactory answers to such questions. Nevertheless, religiously-minded people have clung to the Bible, with the conviction that it contains the chart to eternal Life. During all this time there have been people who have learned and have pointed out where some of the shoals and rocks are, but were unable to locate the safe channel because of the fogs which had accumulated through these centuries of dogma, human opinion, and speculation. Thus Jesus' revelation, though perpetuated for a time, has been both covered and veiled, to await its modern discovery and revelation.

All these centuries the truth of the Bible has continued to exist, like live coals beneath a heap of ashes. As a little puff of wind shows the live embers, so men now and then have seen the glow of the Bible truth, have caught some gleam of its vitality; but through scholasticism the light was quickly obscured, and again nothing seemed left but ashes. Yet the fact that these impressions have occasionally reached mankind is proof positive that the vital part of Jesus' religion is in the book and has been the means of keeping it, during centuries of obscuration, for the present generation; for "my words shall not pass away." Yet their meaning, their vitality, has been buried like the embers beneath the ash-heap. Men have been content to pick up fragments around the edges of the great body of Biblical truth, and dilate on what once was; but early in the last century this seemingly extinct fire became of all-absorbing interest to a young girl, who as years advanced delved beneath the surface and little by little found things undiscovered by superficial searchers. Her investigations led her, through a series of awakenings, to the final discovery that God is as able now as ever to heal the sick; for being in extremity herself, she was given the irrefragable proof through God's revelation of this fact by her restoration to health after all material means had proved unavailing. Thus she became the recipient of a revelation which at once silences all controversy as to whether the New Testament records are authentic or not; whether the works of Jesus and his followers were ever done or not; whether Jesus ever lived or not. The very fact that she had been healed was to Mrs. Eddy the culminating proof of the truth of both the New and the Old Testaments and the present-hour applicability of Biblical teachings. Her duty seemed clearly to be to give her discovery to the world, so that all might avail themselves of the glad tidings. Though opposed as were prophets and apostles, her work has been accompanied by the characteristic signs of healing which Jesus declared shall designate his true followers. More than this, her students, whether taught by her direct, or self-taught through our text-book, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," also exhibit these signs; so that now, as in Jesus' time, the passage from Isaiah already quoted can be applied to her. Nay, further, this passage applies to each and every individual who gains an apprehension of the truth of Christian Science as taught by Jesus and explained in this age by Mrs. Eddy. For it is impossible to apprehend the truth without essaying to test it. With an unbiased test comes proof; with proof, comprehension; with comprehension, the conviction that Jesus' command "to heal the sick" is as binding now upon every individual as any other precept. As a consequence, he who makes this discovery through Mrs. Eddy's teaching will have its truth revealed to him through his own better health, improved morals, and increased spirituality, and he will see the fallacy of trusting to another's vicarious efforts to win his salvation. He will learn that in proportion as he follows and strives to obey Christ's commands he can declare as Jesus did, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me" to do the works that Jesus did; and in proportion as I love Christ and keep his commandments, I shall receive the "Spirit of truth," the Comforter, which will guide me into all truth and abide with me forever.