The Bible student to whom the Scriptures have been opened by its Key, Science and Health, finds sacred history to be not a collection of biographical abstractions, not a compilation of mere personal experience.
There is much being said, pro and con, respecting the alleged decline of institutional religion, and it is certainly true that there are many features of present-day thought which must inevitably beget solicitude upon the part of those who, in any sence, identify Christianity with institutionalism.
One
of the most subtle temptations, to which we are subjected, is that of trying to make Christian Science easy for our friends, so that it will not grate harshly upon their preconceived notions of God and the universe, nor upon their views regarding socia, economic, and religious problems that have taxed the world for ages.
We
are prone to plume ourselves upon what we are accomplishing or have accomplished without duly considering the more vital question of how are we doing our work.
In
the unfoldment of Truth the ideal is ever seeking for its true expression, and if its fair proportions do not appeal to us it evidences the fixity and irresponsiveness of our human sense.
There
seems to come a time in the history of every organization or society, when its members desire to act at once concerning some matter, and in order to expedite action it is proposed to "suspend the rules.
The
rule by which, in Christian Science, the words Principle, Mind, Spirit, Soul, Life, Truth, Love, are used, as names of God, and as synonymous with the name God, is clearly defined in our text-book, Science and Health.
In
our testimonial meetings and "Testimonies from the Field" we frequently hear and read of the power of a text from the Bible, an expression from Science and Health; of a verse or stanza of a hymn, an inscription, or even a picture, by which the liberated consciousness was flooded with light.
