Article April 4, 1908 Issue

A critic is recently reported to have stated that the principal...

Alfred Farlow

Boston Times

A critic is recently reported to have stated that the principal faults that he had to find in the Christian Science doctrine were the denial of Christ's atonement, that heaven is not a place and has no location, and the disbelief in the resurrection. Since Christian Science includes an endorsement and a very satisfactory explanation of the atonement, heaven, and the resurrection, we are forced to the conclusion that the gentleman is in reality finding fault with Christian Science only because it differs from his peculiar views concerning atonement, heaven, and resurrection.

Jesus said, "Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." If heaven is a locality, where is it? Is it up or down? At which hours in the day is it up or down? The Scriptures teach that God is everywhere present and that He dwells in heaven. This would confirm the Christian Science teaching that heaven is a state or condition, that he who dwells in harmony dwells in heaven, he who by spiritual growth attains a state of perfection wherein all is peace attains heaven. Heaven is not reached by a journey from one place to another, but from bad to good, from a state of imperfection to a condition of perfection. Heaven is the ultimate of salvation and man is taught to work out his own salvation, that is, to work out his own harmony or heaven. This working out or rising from a state of sin "unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ," is the resurrection which the Scripture describes and which Jesus illustrated when he said, "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." Except the human element in mortals die, the spiritual individuality cannot be made manifest. As the grain of wheat dies simultaneously with the development of the new germ, so "the old man with his deeds" perishes as "the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image to him that created him," is "put on." Paul said, "I die daily." He might have added—and thereby I rise daily. The resurrection may begin in this life if we gain some understanding of the spiritual fact of being and commence to put it into practice. If it is not finished in this life it will be continued in the next, for the final resurrection when the last trump shall sound" is the culmination of one's spiritual growth. The last trump is the last call to duty—action along the line of progress—the crowning idea of Truth which completes one's understanding and makes him ripe for the divine harvest, when he awakes in the likeness and image of God.

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