In "the Revelation of Jesus Christ," John records that the angel "like unto the Son of man" bade him write to the church at Thyatira: "And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations. ... and I will give him the morning star." And in the last chapter of Revelation it is recorded, "I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star." As the emblem of spiritual truth piercing the darkness of mortal belief, the star is the sign that the understanding of the Christ is come within reach of humanity. Wise men followed it to Bethlehem, "where the young child was," but when they found him, they bowed before the infant Jesus and attempted to worship with costly material offerings the concept of Truth that he heralded. Down the ages the human so-called mind has confounded matter and Spirit. Religious reformers who have glimpsed in part the divine inspiration have missed scaling spiritual heights by turning aside to popularity, that winning of the people, that succumbing to the belief in minds many and their power, which denies the allness of God and the dominion of man in His likeness, and materializes worship.

In this connection, it is of at least passing interest to the student of Christian Science that in the early history of the Christian church the feast of Epiphany, celebrating the baptism of Jesus, was observed some two centuries before the feast of Christmas, the "mass of Christ" or the celebration of the nativity of Jesus. The word Epiphany comes from the Greek eirl (upon) and oavos (light) and was the regular Greek word for the appearing of a divine being. In Christian terminology it refers to the manifest descent of the Holy Ghost upon Jesus at his baptism by John, as recorded: "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: and lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Early students of Jesus' teaching clung fast to the spiritual significance of his mission and to the spiritual essence of worship. Later students set time limitations upon his mission, marking it into epochs and celebrating these by feasts, notably the feasts of the baptism and the resurrection. But even in these the spiritual significance was uppermost. At this time, the physical birth, or natalis in carne, as it was termed in sermons and homilies, was held to be of little importance. But between 350-440 A.D., and first in the west, where Roman influence was strong, materialization of thought culminated in the celebration of feast days,—an attempt to bound the Christ-thought not only by time but by bodily structure. Significantly, at about this period, so-called Christians ceased to heal the sick as Jesus had commanded, and Christendom lost the spirit of the teaching of Christ Jesus, immersed as they were in controversy over the letter.

Of the feasts of the early church, Christmas most thoroughly seized the hearts of mankind. It became popular, for it gave the human mind a reed to cling to,—the subtle supposition that Spirit is or can be in matter. The doctrine about it brought a spiritual heaven to a material earth, brought material angels with spiritual messages, made so-called science (the astrology of the wise men) the interpreter of the sign divine, and clothed man in mystery. What better vindication could there seem to be for the human mind of its claim to divine sanction? But while the human mind plays the lie to reality, the ever present divine Mind is; therefore down the ages gleams now and again more brightly for a brief space the "morning star," linking together the seemingly broken connection between man and God. Alone of all religious reformers since Jesus, Mary Baker Eddy, Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, saw in its full light the spiritual significance of his mission, and she gave to mankind her discovery, so firmly grounded upon the rock, Christ,—the complete manifestation of divine Principle,—that neither popularity nor persecution can overthrow it. Writing of the meaning of Christmas, on page 260 of Miscellany, Mrs. Eddy says: "The basis of Christmas is the rock, Christ Jesus; its fruits are inspiration and spiritual understanding of joy and rejoicing,—not because of tradition, usage, or corporeal pleasures, but because of fundamental and demonstrable truth, because of the heaven within us. The basis of Christmas is love loving its enemies, returning good for evil, love that 'suffereth long, and is kind.'"

To stand upon the "rock, Christ Jesus," as quoted above, and to pierce the darkness of human belief with his comprehension of the "morning star" is the precious privilege of the student of Christian Science. By separating the true from the false in human festivals, he rejoices in celebrating only the reality of being, God and His idea. To this end the records of human history are useful, not to corroborate the facts of Christian Science,—divine Science needs not the witness of that so-called mind which it proves mere illusion,—but they are useful to show how the traditions and customs of the human race have been fabricated of the subtle serpent's lie that there is more than one creation. Recognizing the erroneous concept of Christmas for what it is, the Christian Scientist can at once replace it with the spiritual fact that the Christ is never born, is not temporal, but is the eternal manifestation of God's fatherhood expressed. The only nativity there is, then, is the dawning of the Christ-idea to human consciousness; the only baptism there is, is the purification that comes with acceptance of the Christ, Truth; the only resurrection is the ultimate ascendancy of spiritual over material so-called consciousness. And the only celebration there can be of these states of consciousness is the demonstration of them. The Christian Scientist does not cease to observe Christmas; he celebrates the coming of the Christ-consciousness whenever he replaces false material illusion with spiritual reality, and when the infinite tenderness of the Christ-love reigns for him and guides him to express "on earth peace, good will toward men."

Of such spiritualized thought Mrs. Eddy writes on page 257 of Miscellany: "To the awakened consciousness, the Bethlehem babe has left his swaddling-clothes (material environments) for the form and comeliness of the divine ideal, which has passed from a corporeal to the spiritual sense of Christ and is winning the heart of humanity with ineffable tenderness." Whoever thus celebrates in its spiritual significance the appearance to human comprehension of the Christ follows the admonition of Jesus, "The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him." So doing, he acknowledges the supremacy of good, God, overcomes evil, and by demonstration wins the promise, "I will give him the morning star."