Editorial July 26, 1919 Issue

Christian Churches

Ella W. Hoag

There is often a misapprehension of the loving attitude which Christian Scientists hold toward the churches of other denominations. Mrs. Eddy stated unequivocally her own position on this subject, when she said (Message for 1902, p. 2): "It was an inherent characteristic of my nature, a land of birthmark, to love the Church; and the Church once loved me. ... I never left the Church, either in heart or in doctrine; I but began where the Church left off. When the churches and I round the gospel of grace, in the circle of love, we shall meet again, never to part." Undoubtedly Christian Science teaches the recognition and appreciation of all good wherever it is expressed, and it has only reverence and gratitude for all the Christianity which has been lived and is still being lived by the ones faithful to their highest understanding of the teachings of Christ Jesus, whatever they may call themselves.

Had it not been for the steadfast, unselfed endeavor on the part of the Christian Church to be true to the truth as it saw it, the world would not have been prepared to receive and accept Truth's higher revelation as given through our God-prepared Leader, Mrs. Eddy, in the teaching of Christian Science. Was not this soul-satisfying revelation God's answer to all the unsatisfied longings for a clearer apprehension of Truth, to the ceaseless prayers for more light, to the intense desires of the Christian to understand how to follow more perfectly the great Master, Christ Jesus?

In the Preface to "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. x) Mrs. Eddy tells us, "The unbiased Christian thought is soonest touched by Truth, and convinced of it." This is the reason that the ranks of Christian Science are so largely made up of those who have come out from the old churches. They have tested the limits of the old faith. They have found that yet greater heights of Christian endeavor must be reached in order to obey all the commands of the Master and learn not only to "preach the gospel," but also to "heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils." They have come out, not losing any of the dear Christianity they had learned under the old regime, but going forward to practice it with a larger understanding, a freer power.

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