[On this program a panel discussed the subject of salvation from the standpoint of Christian Science and answered some of the frequently asked questions on this topic. The participants were Mrs. Maria Soubier, of Chicago, Illinois, William Correll of Cleveland, Ohio, and Roy Linnig, of Chicago. The moderator was Harvey Wood, of Chicago.]

MR. WOOD: To begin our discussion, we might start with this question: Just what is salvation? Is it a doctrine of theology having to do with a future life? Or do you feel it's a teaching that has some application right here in the twentieth century?

MR. LINNIG: I think most Christians would agree that salvation does have a practical bearing on our world, on the way we live our lives right here. It's recognized that in a sense, at least, heaven or hell can be experienced right here because heaven and hell are not localities: they're states of thought.

MR. CORRELL: After all, Jesus taught the way of salvation, and he demonstrated the Christ as the power that heals and saves, that brings salvation right here and now.

MRS. SOUBIER: It seems to me that this is where Christian Science makes a unique contribution because it presents the actual science of right thinking. In other words, it takes the great fundamentals that Jesus gave us and shows the spiritual rules and laws by which day by day or even thought by thought we can go forward spiritually.

MR. WOOD: You've emphasized that Jesus revealed the way of salvation—the saving power of the Christ—and the part that Christian Science plays in all this by making plain the rules for following Jesus' commands. But now I'm thinking of people living today in a highly industrialized society. How can we relate these ideas to them?

MR. CORRELL: Isn't it true that a characteristic of modern living is that it has a lack of meaning? Material success gets confused with spiritual salvation.

MRS. SOUBIER: This certainly reminds us of the parable that Jesus told about the man with the barns. You remember, his barns were already filled to overflowing, and yet he tore them down to build bigger barns so that he might really take it easy—eat, drink, and be merry. Then you remember that he was rebuked in these words: "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?" And the passage goes on, "So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."

MR. WOOD: You've pointed out the emptiness of modern living, but what is the answer that Christianity offers? What is the answer as you see it in Christian Science?

MRS. SOUBIER: I think this is where Mary Baker Eddy makes a vital contribution to religious thought along this line. She took the teachings of Christ Jesus and said in effect. Yes, this is true; this is real; and it can be demonstrated today because the Truth, the Christ, that Jesus revealed is always available.

MR. LINNIG: Yes, but Christian Science doesn't say that we won't have tough problems to face as individuals and in the world. It shows us how to solve these problems.

MR. CORRELL: We know that the same power that Jesus demonstrated in his healing is present today to heal and to save and to meet our present problems.

MR. LINNIG: And isn't the Bible full of examples of people being saved from all kinds of evil: disaster, fear, sickness, sin, even death? Mrs. Eddy took the position that it is just as true today: all men can be saved through understanding and practicing the teachings of the Saviour and through God's gracious love.

MR. CORRELL: But this calls for individual spiritual progress and regeneration of thought.

MRS. SOUBIER: It occurs to me that a personal example might be helpful here. I know any one of us could give many, but possibly my first healing in Christian Science would illustrate. I was not a student of Christian Science at that time, but my husband was. He was going through a difficult business experience and asked me to read aloud to him from the textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures"' by Mrs. Eddy, so I began to read. I was a semi-invalid, and physicians had said that I could never hope for complete recovery. I began to read from this book, and a wonderful thing happened. I got a glimpse of the Christ we've been speaking of—the real man—the spiritual image and likeness of God, perfect, whole, flawless, and free, and it changed my whole thinking: a sense of hopelessness gave way to a sense of joy, confidence, dominion, and with this change in thinking came a wonderful change in the body. Within three weeks I found myself perfectly healed, and I threw away the medicines and diets. And this was more than twenty years ago.

MR. CORRELL: Mrs. Soubier, you said something about your husband's business problem. How did that turn out?

MRS. SOUBIER: Well, that was solved through Christian Science too. It took longer, and it gave both of us much opportunity for this purification of thought we've been speaking of.

MR. LINNIG: I think that the full scope of salvation is indicated in the definition of salvation that appears in Science and Health, where Mrs. Eddy writes this (p. 593): "Salvation. Life, Truth, and Love understood and demonstrated as supreme over all; sin, sickness, and death destroyed."

MRS. SOUBIER: We could say that in its deepest sense, salvation means victory over all materialism, all evil and mortality, and the recognition of man's true status as the son of God.

MR. LINNIG: When we endeavor to work out our salvation in the way Jesus outlined and as Christian Science shows us how to do, when we make this our goal instead of just seeking material things, we find the answer to this emptiness. We find that it opens up a whole new world of fulfillment, a feeling of worthiness and usefulness and a closeness to God that satisfies the inner cravings.

MR. WOOD: I know there is so much more you'd like to say on this vital subject of salvation, but we just don't have the time today. Now let me summarize briefly. Our friends have made it clear that salvation is individual, and you and I can begin to experience it right here and now, just to the degree that we take the teachings of Jesus, gain their spiritual import, and then really live them; and they've shown us that our goal needs to be not the mere material attainment, but the gaining of a true understanding of God and of man as God's image and likeness, spiritual and perfect, not material and mortal. This understanding, then, equips us to resist the mass pressures that would tend to stifle our expression of individuality, and all this helps to make clear what Paul meant when he said, "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation."