THE present age is generally recognized as pre-eminently progressive in all that relates to man's material welfare. New ideas are eagerly sought and tested, and vigorously exploited without regard to the methods of our fathers, or the upsetting of ancient practices. Society is not disturbed by those changes, for where a new idea is welcomed, conditions adjust themselves naturally to it. The sturdy common sense of men preserves them, in these matters from the stagnation of prejudice and superstition. The practicability and advantage of invention or discovery ensure them acceptance, though they may involve the abandonment of conditions held in honor for centuries. Turning, however, to man's religious beliefs, we enter the atmosphere of superstitious veneration for ancestral opinions, of unreasoning prejudice and opposition to progress. Dogmas that were evolved from a dark and forbidding concept of God are adhered to with strange pertinacity by those who in other things are open-minded and progressive. The Christianity engendered amid such conditions is often little more than doctrine worship instead of a knowledge of the Christ-love which is to redeem the world.

Because of these things it is not surprising that business men and others do not as a rule consider religion in any way as a guide to success, or a source of daily interest and profit. The sublime teachings of Jesus are not commonly accepted as practicable in the stress and struggle of human life, and so Christianity is not sought or relied upon in solving its problems. Men do not intentionally neglect God. They desire to think right about Him for they instinctively believe in a Supreme Being; and they hope when their earthly course is run to come out at the right place, but in the present the things of material sense are paramount. In their thought of God He has not appealed to them as a factor in their daily affairs any more than as a healer of their pains; and so men have continued to stand in the places of their fathers, thinking that religion had reached the limit of its usefulness and that God had no further revelation of Himself for man. From this outlook they have viewed with disbelief, if not with opposition, the presentment by Mrs. Eddy of her discovery of the scientific nature of Chris- tianity, which she has designated for this and future ages as Christian Science, ‹ the loving, compassionate, and healing Christ-knowledge made practical to men.

The discovery and founding of Christian Science by Mrs. Eddy has marked the world's greatest progress in religious thought and practice. The unfurling folds of its banner of religious liberty startled from their dark hiding-places the croaking enemies of reform who would hold humanity forever in ignorance of man's spiritual freedom. In achieving its phenomenal growth as a religious denomination, Christian Science has had to face not only sectarian prejudice and the opposition of scholastic training, but the inherent enmity of mortals to spirituality. It has overcome these conditions for those who are now its adherents, through satisfying proofs of its practical worth and utility. It has given them visible demonstrations of the supreme common sense of righteousness and purity triumphant over sin, and of spiritual power over mortals' law of disease and suffering. They have thus seen the possibility and the wisdom of reaching a higher knowledge of God than was afforded them in their former beliefs. If it is sensible in men to have a religion it should be the most sensible thing of their life; it should be a logical and practical understanding of God and spiritual things which is capable of entering into every detail of existence, and which makes possible to men on earth a life of righteousness and peace.

The statement that Christian Science is the religion of Jesus Christ would, if sustained by credible testimony, confirm its claim to common sense, for in all the record of the world's multiplicity of religions no other has equalled or ever approached it in practical helpfulness, in healing virtue, or in regenerative power. To substantiate this statement in his life is the work of every Christian Scientist.

Those who may deprecate the union of common sense with Christian Science, do so from a misunderstanding of both science and Christianity. A religion that is not susceptible of human demonstration is too problematic for rational use; and a science that is not allied to divinity cannot teach man of God. Every man in his heart respects a life of goodness, and this designates a good life as the only sensible one. To class goodness, however, as a scientific quality may not accord with the materialistic training of religionists or scientists, but the living of a good life is the only way by which a man can understand God or His laws. To understand the works and ways of God is the object of both science and Christianity, though the physical scientist looks to matter and the Christian to Spirit in their search for knowledge. Ultimately they must find a common road, since there is but one God, ‹ Spirit.

If men are to be convinced of the wisdom of Christian living it must be through the same unanswerable argument of demonstration which has convinced them as to the advantages of mechanical discovery. The majority of them are not irreligious because of an innate love of evil, but rather because of the fact that the religious life does not seem to possess any advantages which may not be obtained without it. What has been responsible for this impression? Why are not Christians as a rule happier, healthier, and more prosperous than men of the world? Will men perceive the reasonableness of Christian teaching if the signs are wanting which, in the first century, sealed the authority of Jesus' mission? If such a good and pure man as our Master could not convince the world of his day of the truth and beauty of his religion, without actual proof, are Christians wise who think without it to convince the world of our day? The play upon human emotions through fear of hell, or a spasmodic sense of joy, neither appeals to reason nor satisfies the heart.

Inherited beliefs which are not the results of individual conviction and experience have no weight against facts, however they may be at variance. A theory that has never been proven may be untrue, though it were hoary with age and honor; but if scientifically demonstrated it becomes truth and cannot successfully be assailed. The conflict of new ideas with traditional usages should not imply that these ideas are to be condemned, for even though they disturb the settled conditions of centuries they may if adopted enlarge the human capacity for usefulness and blessing. It was thus with the steam engine and telegraph. These were not welcomed at first as within the bounds of common sense and reason, but to-day the man who would advocate a return to the conditions in vogue prior to their adoption would be deemed devoid of sense. And so along these material lines, human thought has become educated into the willingness to accept whatever promises improvement and progress, without respect to former opinions. Why should there not be equal progress in theology and therapeutics?

Why should not Spirit be as knowable as matter, and a knowledge of God be as useful and practical as a knowledge of electricity? Should not man's relation to his heavenly Father be as evident to him as his relation to his earthly parent? Our spiritual conditions and environment should not be less real and important than the temporary and fickle things of the world. It is not common sense in man to relegate the occupation of his rightful place in God's spiritual universe to some post-mortem period, or to treat his sonship with God as an impalpable, unlivable ideal. This would make matter the substance of man's being and evil paramount over good, a result which "is neither Christian nor scientific."

Many good people who have not read the Christian Science text-book nor investigated its actual practice have a vague impression that it is something which Christians should avoid, a sort of mystic or occult belief, instead of a simple and reverent interpretation of Christianity as containing within its practice man's entire deliverance from evil. The mysticism of Christian Science is contained in the apostolic injunction to keep ourselves "unspotted from the world." The material or "carnal mind" is ignorant of the spiritual power inherent in this "pure and undefiled religion," and is apt to see in its operation only the subtle workings of an evil sense of mind, but this mind does not loose men from the bondage of either disease or sin. Those who have had experience with Christian Science find that it not only heals their diseases and lessens their desire to sin, but it gives them a more constant realization of God's presence. To have the power of godliness as well as the form is the lesson of Christian Science.

Should it seem strange to Christians who are looking to Christ as their Saviour from sin that the divine manifestation should be with men to-day, in the same helpful and healing way that it was with Jesus of Nazareth, and with the apostles and early Christians? Religion with them was more than a mere belief; it was the demonstration of God's power in the overcoming of all evil. It was the daily practice of holy faith and pure desire, of right thinking and doing, and they were thus brought into that harmony with the Divine will which enabled them to do those "mighty works" which were miraculous to unspiritual minds. Whatever aims or helps to restore the high and effective standard which Christianity demanded in the first century, should not be regarded as impracticable or unwise since this restoration must some time come if Christ's promises are to be fulfilled. The truth about God and man which healed the sick and troubled then, will heal the sick and troubled now just as effectually as it will heal the sinner now. Christian Science in accord with the changeless goodness of God has opened for mortals the way of escape from the deepest depths of pain and sin. Jesus' declaration that his words would never pass away till all be fulfilled, carries to every age the sweet promise of the Christ presence to still the storm of evil and to heal the sick and dying. Christianity was established in response to human need, and its ability to meet it is its only claim on man.

We read in Luke that Jesus went into the synagogue at Nazareth and read from Isaiah, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised. . . . And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled." Herein is tersely set forth the urgent need of mankind ‹ a need which is still its burden ‹ and the ability of Truth to meet that need. Is God's supply exhausted that such sermons are not now preached from Christian pulpits? When Christian teachers can say with the authority of their Master, "This day is this scripture fulfilled," they will convince men of the power of Christianity to still the want and woe of the world, and of the wisdom of faith in God.

To know God is the primary and ultimate object of all true religion, and that this knowledge is obtainable is as self-evident as that God is; but the mere intellectual admission of Christian truth will not reveal Him. A belief about God which does not live in the heart and bear daily fruit, and good fruit, must have its root in error and could not be a reliable or wise anchorage for mortals' hope. The healing works which accompanied Jesus' teaching were the evidence of its authenticity; they were presented in proof of the blessings borne to men in his "good news" of God, not only for the immediate beneficiaries of his ministry, but even "unto the end of the world." The limited interpretation placed upon these "miracles" by later generations have deprived mortals of this remedy for their ills, and educated them into the belief of the necessity and divine continuance of pain and evil. This has been a sad mistake for the race, for it has held Christian as well as unbeliever in the grasp of suffering from which their religion held no hope of earthly deliverance. Christian Science corrects this mistake and replaces a false or imperfect concept of Christianity with that knowledge of Truth which Jesus said would liberate men from error; it leads men to that recognition of God and the divine man which bears the perennial fruits of health and holy living. No lover of humanity can quarrel with or deny the need of such a work; the pity of it all is that after nearly twenty centuries of Christian teaching it still waits to be done.

Christian Science appeals to all Christian religionists for a more comprehensive application of their faith in the overcoming of evil, even to the healing of their physical diseases and disabilities, their poverty and sorrow. This appeal is not based on sentiment or religious enthusiasm but on actual proof that Christianity contains all that mortals need for the working out of their salvation. The work of Jesus in healing the sick and the sinner was the most important part of his ministry, and was the logical outcome of his knowledge of the infinitude of good, God, and of man's unity with the Father. To gain and use the same knowledge and in the same way is the legitimate right of every Christian, for who without it can follow in his Master's steps, and fulfil his command, "The works that I do shall he do also"?

Christian Science calls for a more consistent acceptance of Christian truths as Jesus taught them, and their application as he applied them. What could be more sensible for a Christian than the Christianity of Jesus Christ, and what wiser practice of it could be followed than his? The sweet and helpful religion of Jesus, without any human addition or subtraction, contains the only hope for mortals either in this world or in any other. The beauty and worth of Christian Science is its scientific presentment of this religion as the only form of Christianity which is acceptable to God, regenerative for man, and within the reach of every honest and hungry heart. Its only claim to common sense is the degree in which it "reiterates the Word, repeats the works, and manifests the spirit of Christ" (Mrs. Eddy in Miscellaneous Writings, p. 25). That it fulfils these conditions Christian Scientists bear loving and true testimony.

To the Christian Scientist there is nothing incongruous in the unity of Science and Christianity as the twain that are one in Christian Science, and in all good faith they esteem it a wise, judicious, and helpful religion; from the vantage-ground of actual experience they speak whereof they know, and testify of that which they have seen. To them Christian Science is the acme of common sense for it enables them to live more harmoniously than heretofore. In many instances it has led them out of the valley of the death shadow once more to take up their life with vigor and success. These results are to them most substantial evidence of the good sense of Christian Science.

The "ills that flesh is heir to" rob human existence of its joy, cripple its usefulness, and hide, as in a cloud, the face of God from man. That is surely a wise way which opens for mortals access to those higher conditions of being wherein God is found available to heal the troubled heart and the burdened body, and man is given the power to become the son of God, not in theory only but in practice. Without the ability to bestow this power religion is dead, though human belief may surround it with solemn ceremony and ritual.

The decadence of spiritual power in the religious life of the last sixteen centuries was not from lack of vitality in Christianity, but because the simple faith and holy living of the early Christians were not continued. To restore Christianity to man in its original completeness and power, as a perfect system of health as well as holiness, as the cure for sickness and sorrow as well as sin, as available for every man in every hour of need, in the stress of the world's countless temptations, the grasp of passion, and the agony of fear, is the mission of Christian Science. In this Christly work it should appeal to the common sense of every man who desires to escape from the pain and misery of sin, and its consequent of bodily disease.

The question is, are we as Christians getting all we can out of our religion? May it not contain sources of helpfulness and strength of which we have been ignorant or neglectful?

A merchant considers that the wisest method which enables him to realize the largest returns. If he discovers additional resources he develops them that he may derive all the gain possible from his business. Common sense in business should be common sense in religion, which is, after all, the chief business of the wise man. To have a profitable understanding of Christianity we must take it at the par value of its Founder, who best understood its real worth.

Superficial religionists may be ignorant of the priceless pearl awaiting their discovery in Christian Science, but the simple and understanding heart obedient to its behests finds it to be the richest treasure within the range of human possession, for it unfolds to human perception the ideal man of God, the divine reflection, and lifts human thought above the plane of sordid needs and sinful desires into the calm and holy consciousness of life in God, good. Whatever leads man farthest towards the realization of God's rule on earth and in the hearts of men, best fulfils the mission of Christ, and should be the wisest and most expedient course for a Christian.

The present is the most sensible time in which to live and to prove the reality of man's divine sonship with God. What we shall know hereafter is not in human wisdom to decide, but mortals do need God now to deliver them from evil. The-faith that brings immediate help is of greater benefit to man than a belief in future pardon when he shall have passed the boundary of his power to sin. To find the healing help of God at hand, and to be delivered from the awful power and anguish of disease while yet in the flesh, is a better experience than the hopeless submission to suffering and the weary waiting for that time ''when there shall be no more pain." When Paul declared that "now is the day of salvation" is it not reasonable to assume that he included in that term and time every condition of human experience from which salvation is needed? Our loving Saviour could not have healed the sick of his own time to mock the anguish of future ages which must be condemned to the same burden of pain but be denied the same Physician. It was our Master's theology which healed the sick (Science and Health, p. 138), and not any virtue in his personality, and while his religion remains with men shall it not be equal to the same demands? If not, the foundation of our Christian hope is losing its stability. Neither time nor the forgetfulness of men can take away what God gives. When Jesus told his followers to rejoice because he was going to the Father, he could not have implied that healing through God would cease at his departure, else why should they be glad? Is it not more reasonable to conclude that the Comforter which was promised them in his stead would lead them into that understanding of Truth which he possessed, and so enable them to continue his work of healing the sick and reforming the sinner? Is it unwise in Christian Scientists to believe themselves the recipients of that promised Comforter simply because they live in the twentieth century in place of the first?

It has not been commonly considered a reasonable or prudent course to seek for health in one's religion, though the word in its original meaning was synonymous with holy living. Holiness and health have been divinely wedded and cannot be put asunder by mortals' depravity. Christian Scientists recognize this sacred union, and this recognition, endorsed by their practice, distinctly defines the wisdom of their faith and gives them their unique place among the world's religionists.

All that men have will they give for a sense of physical ease. Christians and unbelievers alike have cringed in terror before disease, and have resorted to everything materially conceivable for its prevention and cure. Has the Christian been wise to forget or neglect God in this matter? Is it a commendable thing in the followers of him whom they have called the "Great Physician," to seek or use any other system of healing than his, since his success in healing disease has never been equalled by any other? To heal the sick without the use of drugs must be a sensible way or the most eminent physicians would not discountenance their use as harmful, and since Jesus did not employ them in his practice his followers should not find them necessary or desirable.

Whatever is not revealing the kingdom of heaven in man is not the religion of Jesus Christ, no matter what its doctrine or church history may be. The claim of Christian Science to common sense is first and last in the good fruit it bears and the measure in which it is fulfilling the great purpose of the Founder of Christianity. It might well be called visionary if its promises were not redeemed, if it left the sick and sorrowing, the sinful and distressed, where it found them; but its mission is being fulfilled, for it is the word of God to men.

God does not give a stone when His children ask Him for bread. Christian Science does heal disease and sinful habits; it does bind up the brokenhearted, preach the Gospel to the poor, give sight to the blind and liberty to the oppressed, and in it is the Scripture fulfilled. These are not flowers of speech, not mere verbal assertions, but facts that are transpiring every day. The divine compassionate religion of our Master, the religion that was and is both

Christian and scientific, and which is the model of every Christian Scientist, demonstrated for all time its capability of meeting every righteous demand and of yielding blessings that reach to every daily need of man.

Those who are looking for God's kingdom to come on earth should have an open eye for the signs of its coming. Obedience to our Lord's commands to heal the sick and sinful should commend itself to the wisdom of all who name the name of Christ as the redeemer of the world. To lead men to God through the demonstration of health and purity has received the divine sanction and should merit the approbation of all true-hearted men. To do good is the only good sense of any religion; and it must be judged by the peace and love, the health and holiness it brings to earth. Christian Science is no exception and merits no fairer or kindlier rule that the good it is doing, the witnesses whereof are found in every land. If it is conceded a wise and sensible thing to have no other gods but One, to acknowledge no other law, no other life, no other power, but infinite divine Love, to know no other source of truth, of intelligence, of good, but God, then is Christian Science the supreme wisdom of the ages, for the absolute allness and oneness of God is the basis of its entire teaching and practice. "And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent." ‹‹‹‹‹

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