Article June 1, 1907 Issue

THE LECTURES

with contributions from Bertram Hawker, Clarence A. Buskirk, Oliver E. Branch

Mr. Bicknell Young lectured on Christian Science in the Midland Hall, Manchester, England, April 9. He was introduced by Rev. Bertram Hawker, a clergyman of the Church of England, who said in part,—

Ladies and gentlemen, I have this evening the honor of presenting to you one who has come to speak upon a subject which is daily attracting more attention and commanding a wider field of interest. I have the more pleasure in doing so as Mr. Bicknell Young is an accredited exponent sent to England by the Christian Science Board of Lectureship of The Mother Church, Boston, Mass., to give to the increasing number of inquirers an authorized account of the tenets and character of Christian Science. It seems inevitable that when an unfamiliar idea is uncovered to the world two things invariably happen—it provokes opposition, and it is misrepresented. It is opposed by those who habitually regard the glimmerings of truth received through other channels as "the truth," and it suffers misrepresentation at the hands of those who have not understood it, and unwillingly sometimes by those who would be its advocates.

Whatever we may have heard of this religious movement, to-night we shall have an opportunity of forming an opinion directly upon first-hand information, and not from mere hearsay. But it is not always easy to form a fair opinion upon new themes even under favorable circumstances, and especially if they be religious. We have only to look to history to see how the exponents of new themes have been received, themes which to-day are the very substance of our lives. Socrates was rewarded with hemlock; the greeting of the Christ was, "Crucify him;" both were sentenced as criminals by the State. It is in the memory of living man that opinions for which Bishop Colenso was arraigned are to-day accepted as a matter of course by every one, and it is within a very few years that one of the authors of "Essays and Reviews," whose consecration as Bishop of Exeter was so vehemently opposed, died as Archbishop of Canterbury. So it is that what is regarded as heterodoxy in our generation may be the orthodoxy of the next. It does not of course follow that every new idea or interpretation becomes orthodox, even in time; but this is certain, that if orthodoxy is not invigorated by fresh ideas it becomes arid and lifeless, and, like all other things of terrestrial growth, when it ceases to expand it begins to decay. The records of the Jewish race as well as of the Christian Church abound in illustrations of the fact. The question is, Have we need of fresh ideals? In this age of triumphant materialism, when the conquest over the elements has been so astounding, when the ingenuity of man in harnessing the forces of nature for his service seems to know no bounds, when the means of production, transit, and communication have been so increased and the earth is unbosoming its treasures as it never has done before, are, we satisfied? Has our progress raised us? If so, how is it that in this country, which claims the life of Christ as its example, our social problems are so stupendous; that the sweating system, like a noisome disease, is allowed to eat its way into the constitution of our race; that under the name of competition the weaker go to the wall and the slums receive them; that Herod in his fury no longer massacres the innocents by tens, but Christian England slays them by the thousand, coolly, systematically, yearly; that brotherhood and fellowship are sacrificed to baser things. Is it not time that we should look into our beliefs and see what are the ideals which animate our actions? "As is the God whom we worship so is the ideal we pursue."

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