Christian Science defines man as the image, likeness or reflection of God. Of course this is not an uncommon description of man; but Christian Science, defining God as heretofore stated, reasons consistently from cause to ef fect as Jesus did when he said, "That which is born of the Spirit is spirit" Christian Science does this in spite of all material evidence to the contrary, and declares with Saint John that "As he (God) is, so are we in this world." Such a conclusion must mean either that God is like a human being, or that the human con cept of man is erroneous. Christian Science declares that the human concept of man is erroneous; that the human need is spiritual con sciousness; and that human life becomes more divine as the true conception of God and man is realized.
Christian Science, therefore, distinguishes completely between the real, ideal man and the human or mortal sense of man. For this purpose and for every purpose, it distin guishes between ultimate or absolute real ity, and mere appearance, semblance or il lusion. Acknowledging God as the origin of all that really is, Christian Science does not find an origin for aught else, but con sistently denies that anything which is not of God can have an origin or real existence. Says Mrs. Eddy, "The mirage, which makes trees and cities seem to be where they are not, illus trates the illusion of material man, who cannot be the image of God" (Science and Health,' p. 300). In this connection, Christian Science declares that Christianity was originally based on the truth or reality of being. Its basic re quirement was the knowledge of the truth con-. ceming God and man, "the truth" denoting ab solute reality as opposed to which is merely apparent, seeming or false. Attention is drawn to sayings of the Master, such as the following: For this cause came I into the world, that should bear witness unto the truth.° "I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly." "This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom thou has sent." "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Such sayings imply that the human or mortal sense of life is false, and they imply that abun dant and eternal life is to be gained by finding and realizing the truth of being. The human situation was stated by Saint John in these words: "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it dpth not yet appear what we shall be." He did not mean that we shall ever be different from what we really are. He meant that we are the sons of God, though the reality of being doth not yet appear. He did not foresee a loss of identity; he discerned the realization of true identity. Mrs. Eddy has consistently said: "The real, ideal man appears in propor tion as the false and material disappears." "Mortals will disappear, and immortals, or the children of God, will appear as the only and eternal verities of Man° ((Science and Health,' pp. 69, 476).
According to Christian Science, then, no form of evil possesses the nature of substance, but every phase of evil is only an aspect of error; truth or the understanding of reality being the universal remedy. For instance, take its teaching in regard to sin. Sin is primarily wrong thinking; it is always punished by the loss of harmony or the suffering which it en tails; it is forgiven as it ceases, for goodness always receives its reward. The impulse to sin is always ignorant or deceitful; at worst it is a false sense of pleasure in sin. So Christian Science is spiritually educational; it makes much use of the truths that sin cannot confer genuine pleasure; that the consequences of con scious indulgence are cumulative; and that hap piness must be sought and can be found in active goodness. This religion also emphasized the power of goodness the ability, which goodness carries to detect sinful motives, to unmask sinful inducements and to dispel sinful persuasions. In this manner the reformative work of Christian Science has been conspicu ously successful.
The prevention and cure of disease is within the mission of Christian Science for the same reasons that it was within the mission of original Christianity. What are disease and health? In the last analysis not only disease and health but mortality and immortality are opposite mental states, resulting from contrary modes of thought. On one hand is material sense, which has no principle — no cause or substance — and is simply an illusion, a dream of pain and pleasure in matter that includes sin, disease and death. On the other hand is
spiritual sense, which is created and sustained hy God, the divine Principle of all true being. What Saint Paul wrote to the Romans on this subject was both Christian and scientific: (To be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and In these words he declared that life is a condition of mind or thought; he analyzed causation as wholly meta physical. The mentality which sickens and dies is carnal; that is to say, material; while the thought which lives and enjoys the perfect at tributes of hie is spiritual; that is to say, ema nating from Spirit or God. In other words, it is Spirit, God, the divine Mind, that gives life and health to man, and gives it through men tality or thought. Health, therefore, is pri manly a mental and spiritual quality, and it is to be gained and preserved as such; that is, through the understanding of and obedience to the spiritual law which emanates from the divine Mind. Disease, on the other hand, even the most physical disorder is a palpable evidence of false belief. It is a condition incident to the supposition that man is a material selfhood and governed by a law of suffering, disability and death — governed by laws which divine Life, Truth and Love could never make. Every lack of health, from beginning to end, is only a subjective condition of mortal thought; it is a particular result of the general supposition that life inhabits matter and is mortal. Chris tian and scientific treatment of disease, then, depends on the distinction between absolute or real being and the human or mortal concept of Man. Freedom from disease follows the abso lute knowing of the truth concerning God and man. To cope successfully with disease it must be resolved into false belief and dealt with on a mental plane, in accordance with the divine law by which Truth destroys error. Healing comes to pass when the supposed law of disease and death is broken by the actual law of Life, and the unity of being is such that one indi vidual can help another to obtain this victory. In so far as hygiene and sanitation denote cleanliness and purity, Christian Science in full accord; and it commends not only a clean body and clean surroundings, but a clean men tality; not only pure food, but pure thoughts. Jesus intimated to the Pharisees that for Out ward cleanness to be more than superficial it must be the result of inward cleanliness.
Christian 'Scientists usually conduct their own charities, and they contribute funds with ah ease that is remarkable to observers. During the Great War, for instance, Christian Scientists have contributed and expended relatively large sums for the relief of sufferers from the war, both before and since the United States entered it; and they have carried on a varied and systematic work for the welfare and comfort of soldiers and sailors in this and other countries.
The Church of Christ, Scientist, or Christian Science Church, was organized at Boston in 1879. It consists of The Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, and branches thereof throughout the world. The number of regularly organized congrega tiotrs in April 1918 is 1,766, of which 1,582 are in the Unned States. The governing body of the denomination is the Christian Science hoard of Directors; but each congregation has its own self-government.
The Christian Science Publishing Society publishes Mrs. Eddy's writings (see bibliog raphy at end of article under Enter, MART BAKER) and issues the following periodicals: The Christian Science Quarterly Lessons, a quarterly containing the which are read in the Sunday services of this denomination; The Christian Science Journal, a monthly accompanied by directories of churches and practitioners; Der Herold der Christian Science, a monthly published with alternate pages in English and German ; Le Heraut de Christian Science, a monthly pub lished in English and French; The Christian Science Sentinel, a weekly; and The Christian Science Monitor, an international dailynews paper. 4 t ° injure aper, . , founded rein 1 M but t o bless all Mrs. kind,' has now become man, 'well known wherever the English language is spoken.