Article October 1, 1910 Issue

The distinctive feature of Mrs. Eddy's work is her venture...

Alfred Farlow—Boston.

Eastern and Western Review

The distinctive feature of Mrs. Eddy's work is her venture beyond the fundamental truths of Christianity and her formulation of a system of consistent deductions from these premises, the acceptance of which is making religion more practically significant to present needs, as in the healing of the sick. Christian Science is not, however, merely an improved system of therapeutics. It inculcates that spiritual regeneration and religious practice which enables mankind to rise superior to bodily ills. It is here seen that Christian Science is not a form of or related to mysticism or occultism. It may be as easily understood and demonstrated as a mathematical proposition, but as in the study of mathematics one cannot gain a certain understanding of the rule while skipping the "examples for practice," so one cannot be sure of his knowledge of Christian Science and neglect its proofs. One cannot attain a working knowledge of Christian Science without using it. Furthermore, the student must be content to have the first lesson first, the second lesson second, and so on; and each successive lesson must be practised, in order that sufficient advancement may be made for an understanding of the next.

Christian Science does not depend upon suggestion, as this term is used in the schools of psychology. It relies unreservedly upon divine power. Its prayer consists of an abiding realization of the divine presence, such as overwhelms and destroys our conscious and unconscious sense of disease or disorder, even as light dispels darkness. Thus it conforms to the instruction of the Scriptures, "Overcome evil with good."

A Christian Scientist's faith and trust in God supplants his former beliefs for the simple reason that he has acquired a clearer and more definite knowledge of God. In the ratio of his increased understanding he loses his finite sense of Spirit and spiritual things. Thus God becomes greater to him and his troubles become proportionately less. As he realizes the infinitude and hence the allness of God, he realizes the nothingness of the error and disease which erroneously appear to share the infinite power and substance. This liberates him mentally, and bodily improvement follows as a consequence, on the scientific basis of the Scriptural statement, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

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