Article April 1, 2014

Christian Science: “The Resurrection and The Life”

Clarence W. Chadwick, C.S.B

Originally published in the 1915 pamphlet titled Christian Science: “The Resurrection and The Life”

THE scientific presentation of the subject of Christian Science, involving as it does the vastness of infinity, is destined to encounter a wide range of human belief, theory and opinion; and the question naturally suggests itself, Why is it that Christian people, actuated by the same lofty aims and ambitions, working side by side in their daily vocations, and having the same definite goal before them, should differ so radically in their thought of the infinite?

Centuries have passed since these assuring words of the prophet Jeremiah: "They shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord;" and the positive promise of the Master, "There shall be one fold and one shepherd," and still there is a deplorable lack of unity among professing Christians throughout the civilized world, and still we find “an altar with this inscription, To the Unknown God." Why is it? The answer is plain; forgetting that spiritual things can be only spiritually discerned, humanity has been trying to know God, to see good, through the human mind or material senses. Almost unconsciously it has drifted farther and farther away from the Mind that was with Christ Jesus, and "the commandments of men" have taken the place of sound doctrine. Christian Science has come as the resurrection of primitive Christianity and its lost art of healing, and all who will may prove by demonstration the verity of its teachings. It is not the purpose of this lecture, however, to force conclusions upon so important a subject, but to speak from that viewpoint of the Science which has enabled its adherents to find in it a satisfying explanation of the phenomenon of human existence.

There is perhaps one basic thought upon which all religionists agree at the very outset—namely, Consciousness is. We all assent to the fact that we are in a conscious state of being or existence, and that without such consciousness we would cease to exist. So far, so good. But when we attempt to call this consciousness good, we immediately plunge into an abyss of darkness from which the Christian world for centuries has been struggling to extricate itself, that of mingling good and evil, calling evil good and good evil. This dualistic concept of consciousness has been the seeming cause of untold suffering and torment to the human race, It is evident then that from it humanity must escape if it would ever reach what is called heaven. Hence its need of a Saviour.

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