Article October 25, 1941 Issue

The Pastor Emeritus

HAROLD FARMER HALL

In times of distress and uncertainty such as confront the world in these days, humanity searches everywhere for guidance whereby it may safely navigate these stormy waters or find some reliable instruction as to the steps to be taken for its future well-being.

Do we as Christian Scientists sufficiently appreciate the advantages we enjoy and the value of our Leader's provision in the Church Manual? Perhaps, with the exception of our textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy, there is no one of her publications to which she so continually refers and so earnestly directs our attention as to the Manual. In an extract from a letter on page 148 of "Miscellaneous Writings" she says of the Rules and By-Laws in the Manual, "They were impelled by a power not one's own, were written at different dates, and as the occasion required." And she continues, "They sprang from necessity, the logic of events,—from the immediate demand for them as a help that must be supplied to maintain the dignity and defense of our Cause; hence their simple, scientific basis, and detail so requisite to demonstrate genuine Christian Science, and which will do for the race what absolute doctrines destined for future generations might not accomplish." The Manual, therefore, was the outcome of divine inspiration, each word of which was carefully selected as the one that would best convey her meaning.

From a cursory reading of the By-Laws one might conclude that there were no hidden treasures to be discovered in their simple injunctions, that no scrupulous care had been exercised in the choice of their wording, yet, to those who give it closer study, the Manual unfolds in an ever-increasing degree. The unsuspected terminological exactness directing the student in the way of a clearer understanding of the spiritual message the Manual contains, becomes evident.

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