Article July 3, 1915 Issue

Christian Science: Its Truth and Value

JUDGE CLIFFORD P. SMITH

Christian Science is a way of living and thinking that finds its chief inspiration, its perfect illustration, as well as its complete proof, in the teachings and example of Jesus. It reveals, awakens, and develops the God-given possibilities that exist latently in every one. It shows how to throw off the inabilities, the disabilities, and the liabilities that have been imposed upon men by ages of wrong thinking, and how to gain true manhood. Its aim is not to prepare people for a heavenly hereafter, but to transform their present experience into health and harmony. It inculcates godliness, makes known the power thereof, and emphasizes the present effects no less than the enduring results of right thinking and right doing.

Christian Science changes its students into better men and women by giving them true motives, pure desires, and absolute ideals, by discovering to them the deceptive nature of evil impulses and the source and power of good thoughts. In like manner this Science equips its students for the cure and prevention of disease. It teaches them to analyze the conflicting elements of human consciousness, and to maintain the true sense of being against the false sense of disorder, thus destroying the essential cause of disease and establishing the conditions of health. So also the power of infinite Mind, acting with true thoughts, or truth, is found to be available in every case of human need. As the psalmist said, "His truth shall be thy shield and buckler."

It is well known that this movement has made steady progress, despite the clamor of an opposition for the futility of which there is an evident reason. Christian Science deserves what it has gained in the estimation of men. The vast majority of those who have sought its benefits in keeping with its rules, have been convinced that it is all it purports to be; while other people, in a fair proportion to their opportunities for observation, have recognized it as a thoroughly good influence in the lives of its adherents. Of the people who have accepted this teaching, about one third never were affiliated with any other religion. Of the other two thirds, many, perhaps most, were not active religionists before becoming interested in this teaching. Among those who were formerly active members of Christian or Jewish congregations, nearly all have become more devoted and enthusiastic than they were as adherents of other faiths. In short, it has converted a great multitude of people from disbelievers or passive believers into earnest and active Christians.

Enjoy 1 free Sentinel article or audio program each month, including content from 1898 to today.

Send a comment to the editors
NEXT IN THIS ISSUE
Article
Obedience
July 3, 1915
Contents

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit