After one has begun the study of Christian Science, one often finds, scattered here and there in the profusion of modern literature, sentences and phrases which seem to be in accord with the Principle of divine metaphysics. Yet in general reading of the work of those who have known nothing of Christian Science, such a one is usually bringing his own understanding of Principle to bear on what he reads, and thus finding a richer meaning than the various writers probably intended. In other words, one is prone to read into general literature the infinite significance of Principle, of which many modern writers have been largely ignorant. Not for that reason, however, should one necessarily desist from the consideration of what are regarded as the better books of the world. On this point Mrs. Eddy once wrote (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 64), "Literature and languages, to a limited extent, are aids to a student of the Bible and of Christian Science."

In her own works, Mrs. Eddy alludes to and quotes from many well-known authors. With her keen discernment of what is essential, she selected her quotations and arranged them in the course of her explanations in such a way as to show the unfolding application of whatever has been rightly said. Her high estimate of true scholarship and literary ability was unmixed, however, with any approval of mere scholasticism or emotionalism. Simply because she refers to various writers, both ancient and modern, is no reason for any intensive study of these celebrities and their work. Just how much each one is to study of either languages or literature is for each one to decide for himself, in accord with individual discernment of Principle. The study of the ordinary mortal literature can serve only to give one a survey of mortal thoughts and feelings, unless one consistently replaces in it all every false sense of things with the true idea. Such a process of replacement requires, of course, unbounded alertness, whether one is perusing so-called masterpieces of literature or encountering the incidents of daily experience.

The one collection of literature which always deserves unremitting study is that group of books, in a variety of forms of prose and verse, which we call the Bible. Each one who feels the need of broadening study, and believes himself or herself at a loss as to just what course to pursue, will invariably be encouraged and invigorated by more diligent searching of the Scriptures themselves. For such a searching one does not require any elaborate critical apparatus. The average student should go to work as simply as possible, with a good, complete concordance, and Mrs. Eddy's works. The comparison of similar or even dissimilar passages gives one endless occupation, which is not merely intellectual but actually healing in its unfoldment. The arrangement of passages in the Lesson-Sermons published in The Christian Science Quarterly provides for such a comparison in a way for which no other method is a substitute. In addition to the thorough and orderly study of the Lesson-Sermons, each one will find immense profit in extensive consideration of all the literature included in the Bible.

In order to be benefited by the reading of general literature, essays, biographies, poetry, and so on, one needs always to contemplate it in the light of divine Principle. The limitation of even what may be thought of as the best human literature is that the glimpses it affords of Principle are fragmentary. Every glimmer is, nevertheless, an opportunity for one to know the fullness of Truth for himself, and thus to prove the unfoldment of good straight from the divine source. Though various human philosophers, including some writers of imaginative literature, have used on occasion some of the same phraseology which Mrs. Eddy employed, the fact is that none of them have clearly shown and demonstrated that infinite divine Mind with its spiritual expression alone is real, and the sole healing force. As Mrs. Eddy says on page 116 of Science and Health: "Works on metaphysics leave the grand point untouched. They never crown the power of Mind as the Messiah, nor do they carry the day against physical enemies,—even to the extinction of all belief in matter, evil, disease, and death,—nor insist upon the fact that God is all, therefore that matter is nothing beyond an image in mortal mind."

The difference between the value of general literature and that of correct literature on the subject of Christian Science is due to this fact which Mrs. Eddy has explained. A casual glimpse of the truth is quite different from a deliberate declaration of the healing truth, understood because of scientific reliance on absolute Principle. Nevertheless, language which can be used to state Principle is not limited to any human sense of things. True expression constantly unfolds. The test of the correctness of literary expression, as understood in Christian Science, lies in each one's demonstration of every statement which he understands, in accord with infinite divine intelligence. In all reading, one really has to know that divine intelligence is all that can truly express itself. As one knows this, one finds Principle expressed in just the right way. There always has to be intelligent reading as well as intelligent writing. Even if a statement does not seem quite clear to a reader, it is always one's privilege to know that the divine Mind gives one perfect comprehension of Truth, in place of any belief in confusion. In proportion as reader and writer both turn together to the true source of wisdom, the infinite divine meaning is manifest to all. The student of Christian Science is entitled to bring to bear his understanding of divine Love on all that he does, whether it be the reading of classic literature or the study of divine metaphysics. In every circumstance, each one should take the broadest possible point of view, knowing that the one true consciousness is conscious of perfect expression.

Gustavus S. Paine.