Article July 5, 1930 Issue

Life Eternal

WILLIAM HORATIO MARTIN

Whatever channels of evidence we pursue in order to obtain an insight into the consciousness of nations, tribes, or peoples, we find unmistakable signs of a belief or an inherent faith in the continuity of life. It is present with the cultured, with the peasant, and with the primitive peoples of all climes. And yet throughout the centuries, in spite of prophet, priest, and theologian, men's concepts of a future existence would ever seem to be varying, contradictory, and uncertain.

To the Norseman, heaven was a state of valor; while the North American Indian looked for a future happy hunting ground. To the recluse, it presents an atmosphere of severe purity; to the affectionate, a world of kindness; to many others, it gives but a vague anticipation of release from suffering and sorrow. Even in Christendom, outside the teachings of Christian Science, a clear, satisfying understanding of everlasting life has been, and still seems to be, lacking.

In the seventeenth chapter of the Gospel according to John, we see Christ Jesus in the presence of his disciples pouring forth that great appeal which, framed in words of prayer to God, includes a loving desire for the spiritual growth of his disciples; nay, more—it is an evidence of his intense yearning that they might behold the truth. In the third verse we find a message which still rings out as a clear and unmistakable pronouncement: "This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." But clear as this message is, it remained for Mary Baker Eddy to give to the world an interpretation of it which is satisfying and demonstrable. The understanding of the truth came to her as a revelation which she named Christian Science, and which she has set forth for all mankind in the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures."

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Logic of Truth
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