"And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ." What was it that enabled St. John to hear this clear voice of divine Mind declaring with authority the presence of salvation, of the kingdom of God and His Christ? Was it not that in that vision on the Isle of Patmos he saw the coming of Christian Science, which in its exactness was to explain, rationalize, and make possible of demonstration by all mankind the words and works of his friend and Master, Christ Jesus? Of that great Master, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, says in "Miscellaneous Writings" (p. 192), "Luminous with the light of divine Science, his words reveal the great Principle of a full salvation." In the light of understanding vision John saw this full salvation as "a new heaven and a new earth" in which was no physicality, no sin or sorrow, pain or tears, no material life and no death.

In this revelation the nonexistence of any evil is made plain and it is seen that spiritual man has no need of the process of salvation. Questioning the logic of Christian Science, some objectors have made the charge that it teaches the nothingness of sin and sickness and then teaches how to save this nothingness. This charge with Mrs. Eddy's reply thereto is to be found in the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 346). There she says: "The nothingness of nothing is plain; but we need to understand that error is nothing, and that its nothingness is not saved, but must be demonstrated in order to prove the somethingness—yea, the allness—of Truth." Salvation then comes to humanity through understanding and obeying Truth, divine Principle, based on the allness of God, whose perfect ideas constitute the reality and allness of creation.

This salvation is a full salvation, not only from sin, but from sickness; not only from pain and tears, but from the false pleasures of the senses, from every false concept of life as dwelling in and being subject to matter. It is individual and collective, and collective salvation depends on the clarity and faithfulness of the individual, his obedience to the "heavenly vision."

How quickly and completely does the individual Christian Scientist turn from the nothingness of false material beliefs to the somethingness of divine, spiritual facts? Does he contemplate with fear and impatience some claim of sickness or disease which has not seemed to yield, trying to do something to it? Or, denying it reality, does he turn completely from its nothingness to the allness of the clear, shining purity and harmony of Spirit, claiming that as his own in its completeness?

Does he harbor a sense of resentment, of hurt feelings, of inferiority or superiority, or does he strive to see their nothingness and claim as his own the somethingness of their opposite realities? Does he cling to the nothingness of poverty, trying to meet it with material gain, or does he deny its reality and vigorously and righteously claim his birthright of spiritual abundance? The same question may be asked about war and the dangers of war, its seeming devastations and fatalities. Must not the alert Christian Scientist deny them any place in the "new heaven" and "new earth," which is God's creation, ever present and ever maintained in divine order and omnipotence? This is the way of obedience to Principle, and therefore the way of salvation.

There must be willingness to walk in this way, even in its exactness. Principle is exact in its demand that the false pleasures of the senses be recognized as nothing, without attraction, and be abandoned. These deceptive pleasures sometimes come in the guise of tobacco, liquor, excessive amusements, and other gratifications of the senses, and put up an argument for themselves as harmless social amenities. But to be logical the nothingness of the pleasures of the senses must be seen, as well as of its pains. Does this seem too great a demand, calling for too much self-sacrifice? Let us remember that it always means giving up nothing for something.

Sometimes we hear it said as an excuse, "Oh, I'm no saint." We are not setting up to be saints, but Scientists. The name "saint," while deeply revered, is often identified with suffering and martyrdom. The name "scientist" is identified with intelligent research, accuracy, experience, and progress. Now a genuine Christian Scientist is engaged in all these things in the realm of Spirit and they lead to salvation. He gains salvation not through martyrdom or the sacrifice of any good thing, but through the joyous revelation that his true being has no need of salvation, but is even now the perfect expression of perfect Mind, satisfied and complete.

"Now is come salvation," not through reformation alone but through revelation. Salvation does not consist of the burdensome task of lifting humanity with all its sins, pain, fears, and ills up to heaven, but rather in bringing to bear upon those ills the penetrating light of Truth, which reveals their nothingness and the kingdom of heaven at hand. Most frequently in the Bible is the thought of salvation coupled with song and strength, beauty and joy. Does it not say, "Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation"? And with what tenderness does Mrs. Eddy extend to us this invitation on page 166 of "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany": "So, my dear ones, let us together sing the old-new song of salvation, and let our measure of time and joy be spiritual, not material."

Margaret Morrison