Article December 23, 1939 Issue

"The Significance of Christmas"

GEORGE WELLS HOLLAND

WITH spiritually inspired thought, Isaiah prophetically pictures the mission of the Christ when he says: "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; . . . he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; . . . to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified."

In an article entitled "The Significance of Christmas" Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science says (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 260), "In Christian Science, Christmas stands for the real, the absolute and eternal,—for the things of Spirit, not of matter." When we gain this realization of Christmas, we clearly discern the distinction between the personal Jesus and the impersonal Saviour—Christ, Truth; and we learn, therefore, to celebrate Christmas, the coming of the Christ, each and every day of the year.

Mrs. Eddy defines "Christ" as "the divine manifestation of God, which comes to the flesh to destroy incarnate error" (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 583). Christ, Truth, comes to deliver mankind from the prison house of grief and discord, of deferred hopes and frustrated achievements; to replace dishonesty, impurity, and greed with the spiritual attributes of Love.

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