Reawakening and reinstating

Fear of the unfamiliar sometimes leads people to label anything old as trustworthy and anything new as dangerous. It's not always a safe guideline!

Christianity was once new and bursting with the vital evidence of "God with us. " It introduced the world to the omnipotence of divine Love. Christian Science insists that this is still the nature of true Christianity! But as Mrs. Eddy once observed (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 148): "Bear in mind always that Christianity is not alone a gift, but that it is a growth Christward; it is not a creed or dogma,—a philosophical phantasm,—nor the opinions of a sect struggling to gain power over contending sects and scourging the sect in advance of it."

In
Times News
Twin Falls Idaho

There is much to agree with in a letter to the Editor (Dec. 19th) that speaks of the "sense of lostness, a lack of faith in everything and everybody" which plagues this age. It was sad, though, to see Christian Science so incorrectly referred to as evidence of the spiritual decline—especially since the reassertion of spiritual healing power through the practice of Christian Science has done so much to give men a living sense of God's presence and goodness.

Christian Science claims no monopoly on divine healing and can hardly be spoken of as being a "substitute" for it. Indeed, its influence has done much to reawaken a more general interest in Christian healing among many denominations in recent years. And this, certainly, is one of the "signs of the times" that point—not to spiritual darkness—but to a new sense of spiritual presence and light.

DAVID W. BARTON
Committee on Publication

In
Town and Country
Pennsburg Pennsylvania

I'm sure your readers would agree that Christians should be learning to understand and appreciate each other better, rather than adding to the hatred and misunderstanding in the world today.

That's why it was sad to see Christian Science, which is represented by a church nearby, so falsely spoken of as a "cult" in an article announcing the showing of a film on cults at a church in East Greenville (Town and Country, Jan. 2).

Christian Science is a century old denomination with a solid record of accomplishment on behalf of mankind. Its practical Christianity is shown in the publication of the internationally respected daily newspaper, The Christian Science Monitor. And its teachings which have been widely available for nearly a century, have helped to make the Bible a living reality in the lives of the many whom it has helped free from spiritual darkness as well as disease.

R. ROSS COLLINS
Committee on Publication

In the
Lawrence Eagle-Tribune Lawrence Massachusetts

In a recent article in the "New Hampshire News" section of the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune, Christian Science was identified as one of a number of "cults" to be discussed in a forthcoming course at a Windham church.

To most people today, the word "cult" inevitably conjures up associations with Guyana—with something weird, destructive and irrational, perhaps secret and centered around a personality who dominates or is even worshipped.

To apply this term to Christian Science is misleading in the extreme. In fact, it has more the feel of McCarthyism than a serious discussion of issues within the context and spirit of Christianity. Democrats and Republicans may disagree without calling each other Communists. So, too, Christians may differ with one another on theological points without labeling each other cults.

Whatever its theological differences, Christian Science is clearly no part of the kind of thinking usually classified as "cultist." Its churches are democratically governed by elected lay members. They are not secretive but open to the public. The denomination was founded over a century ago to "reinstate primitive Christianity and its lost element of healing" [Manual of The Mother Church by Mrs. Eddy, p. 17], and it has been known for its works— including publication of The Christian Science Monitor—in the years since. It came out of simple New England Christian beginnings in the 1860's, and it still maintains the same devout simplicity. Christian Scientists fully acknowledge Jesus Christ as the Son of God, as mediator between God and men through whose saving mission we find the way to salvation.

One sees many sad effects of bigotry today throughout the world—of intolerance and the fomenting rather than the resolution of misunderstanding. We hope readers will agree that this sort of thing need not be perpetuated, even in apparently small ways, in one's own back yard.

A. W. PHINNEY, Manager
Committees on Publication