The erection of a massive temple in Boston by Christian Scientists, at a
cost of over $200,000, love offerings of the disciples of MARY BAKER
EDDY, reviver of the ancient faith and author of the text-book from
which, with the New Testament at the foundation, believers receive
light, health, and strength, is evidence of the rapid growth of the new
movement. We call it new. It is not. The name Christian Science alone is
new. At the beginning of Christianity it was taught and practiced by
Jesus and his disciples. The Master was the great healer. But the wave
of materialism and bigotry that swept over the world for fifteen
centuries, covering it with the blackness of the Dark Ages, nearly
obliterated all vital belief in his teachings. The Bible was a sealed
book. Recently a revived belief in what he taught is manifest, and
Christian Science is one result. No new doctrine is proclaimed, but
there is the fresh development of a principle that was put into practice
by the founder of Christianity nineteen hundred years ago, though
practiced in other countries at any earlier date. "The thing that hath
been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done, is that which
shall be done, and there is no new thing under the sun."
The condition which Jesus of Nazareth, on various occasions during the
three years of his ministry on earth, declared to be essential, in the
mind of both healer and patient, is contained in the one word--FAITH.
Can drugs suddenly cure leprosy? When the ten lepers were cleansed and
one returned to give thanks in Oriental phrase, Jesus said to him:
"Arise, go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole." That was Christian
Science. In his "Law of Psychic Phenomena" Hudson says: "That word, more
than any other, expresses the whole law of human felicity and power in
this world and of salvation in the world to come." It is that attribute
of mind which elevates man above the level of the brute, and gives
dominion over the physical world. It is the essential element of success
in every field of human endeavor. It constitutes the power of the human
soul. When Jesus of Nazareth proclaimed its potency from the hilltops of
Palestine he gave to mankind the key to health and heaven, and earned
the title of "Savior of the World." Whittier, grandest of mystic poets,
saw the truth:
"That healing gift He lends to them
Who use it in His name;
The power that filled his garment's hem
Is evermore the same."
Again, in a poem entitled "The Master," he wrote:
"The healing of his seamless dress
Is by our beds of pain;
We touch Him in life's throng and press,
And we are whole again."
[Footnote: About 1868, the author of SCIENCE AND HEALTH healed
Mr. Whittier with one visit, at his home in Amesbury, of incipient
pulmonary consumption.--M.B. EDDY.]
That Jesus operated in perfect harmony with natural law, not in
defiance, suppression, or violation of it, we cannot doubt. The
perfectly natural is the perfectly spiritual. Jesus enunciated and
exemplified the principle; and, obviously, the conditions requisite in
psychic healing to-day are the same as were necessary in apostolic
times. We accept the statement of Hudson: "There was no law of nature
violated or transcended. On the contrary, the whole transaction was in
perfect obedience to the laws of nature. He understood the law
perfectly, as no one before him understood it; and in the plentitude of
his power he applied it where the greatest good could be accomplished."
A careful reading of the accounts of his healings, in the light of
modern science, shows that he observed, in his practice of mental
therapeutics, the conditions of environment and harmonious influence
that are essential to success. In the case of Jairus' daughter they are
fully set forth. He kept the unbelievers away, "put them all out," and
permitting only the father and mother, with his closest friends and
followers, Peter, James, and John, in the chamber with him, and having
thus the most perfect obtainable environment, he raised the daughter to
life.
"Not in blind caprice of will,
Not in cunning sleight of skill,
Not for show of power, was wrought
Nature's marvel in Thy thought."
In a previous article we have referred to cyclic changes that came
during the last quarter of preceding centuries. Of our remarkable
nineteenth century not the least eventful circumstance is the advent of
Christian Science. That it should be the work of a woman is the natural
outcome of a period notable for her emancipation from many of the
thraldoms, prejudices, and oppressions of the past. We do not,
therefore, regard it as a mere coincidence that the first edition of
Mrs. Eddy's "SCIENCE AND HEALTH" should have been published in 1875.
Since then she has revised it many times, and the ninety-first edition
is announced. Her discovery was first called "the science of divine
metaphysical healing." Afterward she selected the name Christian
Science. It is based upon what is held to be scientific certainty,
namely,--that all causation is of Mind, every effect has its origin in
desire and thought. The theology--if we may use the word--of Christian
Science is contained in the volume entitled "SCIENCE AND HEALTH WITH KEY
TO THE SCRIPTURES."
The present Boston congregation was organized April 19, 1879, and has
now over 4,000 members. It is regarded as the parent organization, all
others being branches, though each is entirely independent in the
management of its own affairs. Truth is the sole recognized authority.
Of actual members of different congregations there are between 100,000
and 200,000. One or more organized societies have sprung up in New York,
Chicago, Buffalo, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Detroit, Toledo,
Milwaukee, Madison, Scranton, Peoria, Atlanta, Toronto, and nearly every
other centre of population, besides a large and growing number of
receivers of the faith among the members of all the churches and
non-church-going people. In some churches a majority of the members are
Christian Scientists, and, as a rule, are the most intelligent.
Space does not admit of an elaborate presentation on the occasion of the
erection of the temple, in Boston, the dedication taking place on the
6th of January, of one of the most remarkable, helpful, and powerful
movements of the last quarter of the century. Christian Science has
brought hope and comfort to many weary souls. It makes people better and
happier. Welding Christianity and Science, hitherto divorced because
dogma and truth could not unite, was a happy inspiration.
"And still we love the evil cause,
And of the just effect complain;
We tread upon life's broken laws,
And mourn our self-inflicted pain."
(_The Outlook_, New York, January 19, 1895.)