WATERTOWN, S.D.

The auditorium in First Church of Christ, Scientist, was filled to capacity last night [Oct. 20] with an audience which listened with keen attention to the lecture delivered by Frank H. Leonard. The speaker was introduced by George W. Case, who spoke in part as follows:—

The Master said, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." Gospel in its strongest sense means "good news concerning Christ and his salvation." We are not told nor commanded to originate and preach new theories, but to teach and preach the old truths. The gospel has been taught and preached, in a way, for over nineteen hundred years; but many of its beauties, benefits, and unfailing qualities have been overlooked, neglected, and side-tracked, from a misunderstanding of those truths which Christ Jesus came to teach from God's Word and to exemplify.

Christian Science, as I understand it, does not claim to be, nor is it, new idea or theory; but it is the name of a Science, the Christ Science, or Christian Science. To teach this thought and to live it is the mission of Christian Scientists and of The Mother Church, and it is upon this mission that our brother comes to us tonight. No greater riches can come to man than that he may understand God and live in harmony with His divine laws. Jesus taught that to know God aright is life eternal. We are progressive in the physical sciences and in our ability to understand the hitherto hidden mysteries of God's creation, and so we may and must progress and learn of the Father's love and truth, to realize the fulfilment of the promise made to us, and as taught by Christ Jesus and lived by him.

Public Opinion.

DE KALB, ILL.

Bliss Knapp delivered an interesting lecture on Christian Science at First Church last night (Oct. 24) before an attentive audience. He was introduced by Mrs. Bertha H. Clark, who said:—

Our great Master and Wayshower, Christ Jesus, taught and practised a religion of love; that God is Love; God, who, as the psalmist saith, "forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases," and Jesus proved his words by his deeds. Christian Science comes with this same message of love and peace. It reestablishes the teachings of Jesus, bringing surcease of sin and disease. That its teaching are founded on the Bible is proven in the lives of those who have been healed of sin, sickness, and sorrow by its touch. These, our Master assured us, would be the signs that should follow "them that believe." You have been invited to listen to a lecture on Christian Science. It is hardly to be expected that upon so vast a subject as pertains to a knowledge of God and His eternal laws, much can be said in so short a time; but if you go from here with some prejudice removed, some misconception corrected, and with a larger thought of the allness of God and the consequent nothingness of all that is unlike Him, we shall feel amply repaid.—Correspondence.

PHILADELPHIA, PA

Judge Clifford P. Smith lectured on Christian Science at First Church Oct. 29, and again on the following evening. He was introduced by H. W. Nelson, president of the church, who said in part,—

The purpose of these lectures is to present to the public a fair statement of Christian Science, what it is and what it does. Our presentation of the subject, whether by lecture, by church service, or in our periodicals, is always an appeal to your reasoning powers, your clear thought, and never under any pretense through the emotions. True to its name, it is scientific explanation and not estatic experience. The great mission of Christian Science is of course the destruction of sin. It may, however, be definitely stated, supported by an enormous mass of irrefutable evidence, that Christian Science does heal the sick; but Christian Science does better than this because it prevents sickness, disease, and discordancy. If one may be permitted a paradox, it cures disease before it happens.

There are thousands upon thousands of happy people all over this land and in other countries who, since their advent into Christian Science, have been entirely free from illness for a long period of years, and yet in a like period immediately previous they were hardly ever free from some form of inharmonious condition.—Correspondence.

BROOKLINE, MASS.

Under the auspices of The Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, of Boston, Prof. Hermann S. Hering delivered a lecture Nov. 9 on christian Science at the Beacon-Universalist Church, Brookline. He was introduced by B. O. Flower, the well-known editor and publicist, who said :—

We have assembled tonight to hear an address upon Christian Science, a spiritual evangel that during the past quarter of a century has brought health, peace, happiness, spiritual illumination, and moral enthusiasm into hundreds of thousands of lives. Two thousand years ago the world was given over to externalism. Material grandeur and physical force in government; pomp, show, rite, and ritual in religion, engrossed the imagination of men. True, temples and shrines rose on every side in increasing magnificence, but faith in God and love for man were more and more meaningless terms to the heart of civilization. Then dawned a light in the east. A great spiritual leader arose who appealed to the pure in heart and the truth-seekers to turn from the worship of the letter and look within. He taught that man is the son of God, and that a realization of this realtionship to the Father, his oneness with the Father, would enable him to rise superior to sin and sickness and make him in deed and in truth a child of light and love. He cured the sick, cleansed the lepers, and brought radiance, peace, and victory to the lives of those who heeded his teachings. Futhermore, he taught that the works which he did his disciples could and should do, and even greater works, if they retained a living faith and reflected the truths he had taught them.

The materialistic world attempted to destroy this Son of God, but he triumphed over the grave and gave his disciples their marching orders, commanding them to go into all the world and preach this gospel of health, of life for the here and the hereafter, to all the people. For three hundred years this message was borne abroad, instinct with living faith and spiritual enthusiasm, and during this period the sick were healed and Jew and Greek, Roman and Barbarian, were won over to the gospel of truth. After this, we find the world-spirit more and more dominating the church; and the living faith and beautiful simplicity of primitive Christianity giving way to an elaborate formalism and impressive ritualism, borrowed largely from the pagan world. Next comes the long night of superstition, intolerance, and growing corruption known to history as the dark ages. Out of this night there arose a great prophet of righteousness—Savonarola, the Florentine monk, who was in a real sense the John the Baptist of the Protestant Reformation. He was followed by Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, Melancthon, and other master spirits of the Reformation. These men demanded that the people should have free access to the Word of God; that man should be allowed the free use of his God-given reason, and that he should have the right to worship God according to the dictates of his conscience. Under the inspiration of this great movement, the western world awoke; spiritual enthusiasm, a nobler morality, and intellectual emancipation ushered in a new day. But at length the ancient error again crept into the religious consciousness of the world. The letter was exalted over the spirit, and the living faith of civilization again began everywhere to wane.

About a half a century ago a daughter of New England puritanism, a woman overmastered by a passion for the truth, after years of pondering over the Word of God and searching for the spirit that giveth life, received into her consciousness a message instinct with the faith that makes faithful and the love that redeems and glorifies life. It was not a new religion, but an attempt to reflect the deeper import, or I may say the heart of the teachings of the great Nazarene. It came to a society that was rapidly yielding to cynical materialism and vicious opportunism, and the signs which the Founder of Christianity said should follow the teaching of his gospel have followed the proclaiming of this message, in the liberation of tens of thousands from the bondage of disease and the thraldom of sin. It is to hear an authoritative presentation of this message that we have assembled.—Correspondence.

OAK PARK, ILL.

Under the auspices of Second Church, William R. Rathvon gave a lecture Nov. 9 on Christian Science in Masonic Temple to a full house. He was introduced by E. S. Conway, one of Oak Park's old residents, who said in part,—

We have met here tonight to consider a recent and modern revelation of the old truth, which has been made known to the world through the medium of one of the most remarkable women of modern times. Perhaps it would be more in keeping to say that her work has consisted, mainly, in vitalizing the great and divine truths which the Master made known nineteen centuries ago, as the new revelation, but which by long neglect and disuse have been forgotten and become moribund. But whosoever presents a new view of truth is always subject to criticism, and as a rule the less one knows of a subject the more bitter and unjust is likely to be his denuciations; but, as its value and utility are demonstrated, the more widely it will be accepted and the more fairly it will be judged. Christian Science has passed its critical period, and is now being impartially examined and by very many accepted. It has stood the test, hence it is that it is being adopted as the rule and guide of Christian living in every quarter of the globe where education, refinement, and morality are regarded as essential to purity of life and as an index of character. It comes with the olive branch rather than with the sword in its hands, and to all Christians it utters no defiance, but rather speaks the conciliatory word of the great apostle to the Gentiles, when he said to the men of Corinth, "I show unto you a more excellent way."

Christian Science does not stand at the parting of the ways, but rather at the point where all differences converge. It brings no new creed, and on its lips there is nothing other than the promises of the infinite creator and the words of Jesus based upon them. In a word, it is reviving the practices held sacred by the Christian church through the three hundred years of its early history. It is simply emphasizing the commands of Christ when he directed his disciples to heal the sick as well as to preach the glad tidings of a better, purer, and happier life.—Correspondence.

GREAT FALLS, MONT.

One of the largest audiences that has greeted a Christian Science lecturer for some time assembled [Nov. 2] to listen to a very able discourse on the subject by Virgil O. Strickler. The audience gave marked attention to the speaker, which was indicative of the growing interest in this much-discussed theme. Mr. Strickler was introduced by William C. Kaufman, state committee on publication, who spoke as follows:—

We are not here to proselyte. The purpose of this lecture is to give you an accurate statement of the teachings of Christian Science. No subject is demanding greater attention today than that of Christian Science, and the reason for this is that Christian Science has healed disease where medicine has failed; it has reformed the sinner where scholastic theology has failed; it has brought peace and comfort where wealth and learning have failed. These proofs have been witnessed, and have resulted in the investigation of the subject.

We are all aiming to reach the harmony of being, and Christian Science offers to you the definite Principle and rule required to attain this state of being. Christian Science is of no human invention. It is God with us. It is Christ with us. It is fulfilment of the Scriptural promise: "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come." —Great Falls Leader.