One
dominant phase of Christian Science which greatly impresses the inquirer who comes to its study with an open mind, is its insistent demand upon its followers for righteous living; or, to put the same idea into different words, its demand for applied righteousness in the lives of its followers.
One
not infrequently meets with those who say that they would really like to understand Christian Science, but have found it quite beyond them, and who thus explain their indifference to it, though they acknowledge their need of help.
In
both the Old and the New Testament we find many calls to awake to the truth of being, a beautiful passage in Isaiah bidding those "that dwell in dust" to "awake and sing.
There
are doubtless many of our readers who will recall that previous to 1895 the services in Christian Science churches included sermons composed and preached by the pastors of these churches.
Toward
the close of Matthew's gospel we find many trenchant utterances by Christ Jesus which point to the passing of materiality with all its miseries, and the establishment in human consciousness of God's eternal kingdom.
The
nature and potentialities of Soul are a matter of vital interest to students of Christian Science, as well may be the case when we recall the words of Christ Jesus, "What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
The
frequent references of the Old Testament Scriptures to peace as a supreme possession and ordained of God, are imperfectly understood so long as we think of it as meaning simply rest and ease, however good and desirable these may seem.
If
any warrant for the healing of sickness as a natural and inevitable part of Christianity were needed, it is easily found in the words and works of Christ Jesus,—in his reiterated instructions to his disciples to heal the sick, in his own demonstrations of the power of God to heal all manner of diseases which constituted his answer to John's inquiry if he was indeed the promised Messiah, and in his parting instructions to the disciples at Bethany.
