Article April 5, 1941 Issue

In a recent issue of the Chronicle, a correspondent referred...

R. Ashley Vines,—Melbourne

Williamstown Chronicle

In a recent issue of the Chronicle, a correspondent referred appreciatively to the "big hold" which Christian Science has on the people of America, and commented upon the number and size of the Christian Science churches in that country. One of your correspondent's statements, however, may lead the readers of the Chronicle to the erroneous conclusion that Christian Science is a religion for the wealthier classes only. I should therefore be grateful if you would allow space for the removal of any such inference.

Commenting on Jesus' ministry, the Bible states, "The common people heard him gladly." Christian Science is the Comforter promised by Christ Jesus and brings with it the same healing of physical disease, moral depravity, and sin of every sort which accompanied his ministry. The inevitable result is that Christian Science churches in all parts of the world are attended by numbers of happy, healthy, normal people. Is it any wonder that the impression created upon the thought of the visitor is that the congregations at Christian Science churches are composed mainly of people in affluent circumstances?

It has been stated that the members of Christian Science churches are recruited from the grave. This statement is explained in the following words of Mary Baker Eddy (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, pp. 12, 13): "In divine Science, where prayers are mental, all may avail themselves of God as 'a very present help in trouble.' Love is impartial and universal in its adaptation and bestowals. It is the open fount which cries, 'Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters.'"