Article April 2, 1938 Issue

Signs of the Times

Topic: The Need for Religion

with contributions from Laurance Plank, Christian F. Reisner, G. Doreen Hopewell

[Excerpts from a sermon entitled "Christian Science and Healing Religion" given by Rev. Laurance Plank, at the Church of the Unity, St. Louis, Missouri, December 5, 1937]

In these days, it is easy to recognize the importance of Mary Baker Eddy, but it was not long ago when the majority of Christians, if they mentioned her at all, mentioned her only with criticism and condemnation. Fortunately, we are becoming more tolerant, more wise, more inclusive, and new ideas do not startle us as they startled our forebears, nor does the concept of a world so closely related to God in the here and now that it can be very beautiful and humanity be very wise and very triumphant, startle us any more. ...

Mary Baker Eddy, therefore, ... seems a more natural figure to us in America and to us in the modern world than she seemed a few generations ago. When she began to achieve her conviction that, despite the words of the orthodox churches, God did not mean evil for man, and that God did not create man helpless, but that God did create man in the image of Himself ... when she got that idea, and on the basis of it worked out her philosophy and her metaphysics, there was, of course, protest from all Christendom. Rarely was there a clergyman who understood that here was something of the very essence of the teaching and the life of Christ [Jesus], which the church had omitted to see or to preach or to practice. ...

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit

Signs of the Times

We'd love to hear from you!

Sign up for unlimited access