Article December 3, 1910 Issue

The columns of our newspapers are full of the decline...

E. M. Ramsay

Dundee (Scot.) Advertiser

The columns of our newspapers are full of the decline in church-going, but though many reasons are assigned for this, not one of them, I believe, gets down to the root of the matter. All the churches accept the Bible as the foundation of their faith, but they differ widely as to the interpretation of the Bible teaching, and only one of them, as a church, is endeavoring to fulfil the command of the Master to heal the sick.

If an ancient manuscript were discovered which seemed to describe the process by which the Tyrian dye, let us say, was produced, we should certainly say that the student who produced the dye was the one who had rightly interpreted the manuscript. So when a church, through a new understanding of the gospel teaching, is able to produce results which no other modern interpretation has produced, would it not seem probable that this fruit-bearing interpretation was the nearest right?

In what respect do the experiences of the Christian Science church differ from those of the other Protestant churches? While the others complain of declining numbers, of the indifference if not hostility of the working classes, and of the difficulty of raising funds, the Christian Science congregations are growing constantly, their members are drawn from all sections of the community, religion is found to be the most interesting of all subjects, the brotherhood of man is seen to be obtainable through the fatherhood of God, and a great vigor of spiritual, moral, and physical life makes itself felt.

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