Article July 22, 1922 Issue

The Lectures

with contributions from Anna W. Nichols, W. Caven Barron, N. P. Richardson, Bessie D. Lindsey , J. C. Jones

Elmira, N. Y. (First Church).—The following is the introduction given by Mrs. Anna W. Nichols, to John J. Flinn, a Christian Science lecturer:—

The lecturer will point out for us the futility of endeavoring to establish harmony in the world through any attempted solution based on material knowledge, and the consequent necessity of reestablishing world conditions on a better basis,—on basic truth, by which any human problem, be it great or small, can be solved correctly, and therefore harmoniously. In their earnest desire to find this basic truth, many people are searching through philosophy, theosophy, spiritualism, and various other human theories; but only in that grand old "book of knowledge," the Bible, is there found the recipe that will heal the world of greed, hatred, and strife. This recipe is the simple yet profound statement of our great Master, Jesus the Christ, that God, good, is All.

In the first chapter of Mark's gospel, it is recorded that after "John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel." In other words, Change your mind, and believe the good news that the kingdom of God—the realm of infinite good—is at hand. There can be nothing outside of infinity, and no evil in infinite good. When we connect this statement of Christ Jesus with the one found in the twenty-fourth chapter of the gospel according to Matthew, it becomes perfectly clear that this is the basic truth that Jesus declared would bring harmony to earth. In this chapter we are told that as Jesus "sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" Jesus' answer portrayed scene after scene of the material events which we of the present generation have been and are passing through, and concluded with the definite statement that "this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come"—the end of materiality, and the complete establishment of God's kingdom on earth.

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