Editorial December 29, 1934 ISSUE

B.C. and A.D.

W. Stuart Booth

The abbreviations B.C. and A. D. are so commonly used that the vital and far-reaching significance of that for which they stand perhaps may not be realized or even considered. While B. C.—before Christ—and A.D.—anno Domini, or in the year of our Lord—denote certain periods of time or eras, to the Christian and to the student of history they indicate something far beyond that definition. It is true that there had been great material accomplishment prior to the Christian era and, as the Old Testament shows, there had also been many proofs of God's power and presence through the enlightened, steadfast faith of Hebrew leaders and prophets. But the improvement of human thought and conditions during the past nineteen hundred years is proof positive of the deep and continuing influence of the life and teachings of Christ Jesus.

Although Moses so clearly discerned the truth about God and man, about the Christ, that he healed sickness and annulled many material beliefs in limitation, the thought of the Israelities was ready to receive from him nothing more of spiritual revelation than the Ten Commandments. It remained for Christ Jesus, in the fullness of time, to present and prove God's Jesus, in the fullness of time, to present and prove God's law of love, life, and liberty so definitely as thereby to begin a new era for the world. In his preaching the Master presented the basic truths of the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. He proclaimed that "the kingdom of heaven is at hand;" and he proved this fact by despoling the so-called kingdom of evil—mastering sin, healing sickness, blindness, deafness, lameness, restoring the insane to normality, and overcoming death for others and himself.

Furthermore, Christ Jesus gave specific directions that those who believe on him, understand his teachings, should do the same works. His command to his disciples was comprehensive and unmistakable: "As ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils." Although after the third century only the first part of this instruction was observed during the succeeding sixteen centuries of the Christian era, still the influence of the Christ, Truth, has been felt and manifested in the steady progress of mankind towards freedom and dominion. In her discovery of Christian Science and in her presentation of it in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" Mary Baker Eddy restored the element of healing by means of which the Master authenticated his teaching. Science and Health reveals the light of spiritual understanding referred to by Christ Jesus when he said, "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."

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