Article December 1, 1923 Issue

The remarkable growth of Christian Science is often a...

Charles W. J. Tennant, District Manager of Committees on Publication for Great Britain and Ireland,—London, England

Empire Review

The remarkable growth of Christian Science is often a matter of surprise to those who know little or nothing of the facts. That a mighty movement, founded by a gentle New England woman, without money, influence, or friends, should, in the short space of about fifty years, have encircled the globe, numbering in its ranks men and women of every calling and from every station of life, points to some deeper cause than a mere passing phase of religious emotion. For more than fifty years, Christian Science has withstood the scorn, ridicule, indignation, and misunderstanding of a bewildered world, patiently demanding to be known and tested by its fruits; and to-day it stands firmly established, its churches overflowing with happy, contented people, each one striving to prove in his daily life that the truth is indeed Immanuel, "God with us."

On page 1 of "Rudimental Divine Science" Mrs. Eddy defines Christian Science as "the law of God, the law of good, interpreting and demonstrating the divine Principle and rule of universal harmony." Since God is eternal, the laws of true being must be eternal and perpetually operative. From this it will be seen that Christian Science is not the invention of Mrs. Eddy, but is the discovery by her of this spiritual law and its application to human conditions. The majority of those who turn to Christian Science are those who have failed to find relief and healing in the ordinary human material systems. The Christian Scientist, discerning the mental cause of the disease or sin, is able, in proportion to his understanding of the allness God and the true facts of being, to eradicate the false belief and replace it with the truth about God and man. The immediate result of this is the healing of physical disease and the moral and spiritual regeneration of the individual.

Nothing, perhaps, arouses more discussion regarding Christian Science than the statement that sin, disease, and death are unreal. This does not imply that these conditions do not seem real to the physical senses. What is meant is that they do not proceed from God, and therefore are not eternal, spiritual, immortal, or immutable. They have no place in the eternal actuality of being; therefore they are temporal falsities. Christian Scientists recognize that as long as these falsities claim reality in human consciousness, they must be overcome and destroyed. They are daily endeavoring, therefore, to overcome evil with good; and in the term "evil" they include everything that is unlike God, Spirit, whether it be sickness, sin, poverty, or any other form of human discord. Christian Science treatment is prayer in its truest sense. It does not seek to change the infinite truth of being, but endeavors to realize it. This constant desire to know the truth about God and His creation is unceasing prayer.

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