items of interest

Roughly Five Thousand people participated in an exhibition on spirituality in St. Petersburg, Russia, last December. There were seventy exhibitors, including the local Christian Science Society, the only Christian church represented.

One scientist from Pavlov's Institute of Physiology told the Christian Scientist exhibitors that he and his colleagues are studying the physical effects of prayer. A woman who said she was from the Society of Invalids indicated that members of the society were also looking into spiritual means of healing.

Rodney Stark's Book The Rise of Christianity (Princeton University Press) offers insights into what made Jesus' teachings attractive to pagan society. He says, "Since mercy involves providing unearned help or relief, it was contrary to justice. . . . This was the moral climate in which Christianity taught that mercy is one of the primary virtues—that a merciful God requires humans to be merciful. Moreover, the corollary that because God loves humanity Christians may not please God unless they love one another was something entirely new."

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