Article May 14, 1938 Issue

Our Faith

JANE POLSON SPEARIN

In the opening lines in the chapter on Prayer in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, writes, "The prayer that reforms the sinner and heals the sick is an absolute faith that all things are possible to God,—a spiritual understanding of Him, an unselfed love." Christ Jesus frequently spoke of the need for faith. In one instance, when the disciples had failed to heal a sick child, he rebuked them for their unbelief. And he told others who were healed that their faith had made them whole.

Faith, to the student of Christian Science, is something more than mere belief or credulity. It is that quality which constitutes trust or confidence in God, and is necessary for progress in understanding. Without faith, the foundation of all effort would be sapped. Many people have a so-called faith, in varying degrees, in many things. Some have faith in themselves; others have faith in the curative power of drugs. However, a vast multitude, throughout the centuries, have had faith in God. To have faith in God is to trust in His infinite goodness, and to have confidence in His ability and willingness to supply all our needs. Indeed, in Christian Science, to acknowledge God as the only presence and power is the prayer of faith, based on understanding.

Blind faith in God, or mere belief, is mixed with fear, which turns human thought towards those things it would most avoid. This is not true faith in God, but is illusion endeavoring to protect itself from hopelessness. Loss of faith in God has prevented progress, and has caused nations, as well as individuals, to retrograde and fall into trouble and distress. As the Athenians of ancient times raised an altar to "THE UNKNOWN GOD," so do the ignorant and unbelieving of today set up their false beliefs and superstitions. The valiant Paul proclaimed the truth in the words: "Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands." And today God, as Love, is revealed anew through Christian Science. It is God who inspires our faith, who is able to heal all our diseases, and to forgive all our iniquities.

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