The Glenwood post., 1908-12-12
PROGRESS OF CHRISTIAN SCIENCE"

tant point. Things spiritual were agail
considered The minds and hearts o.
men broke the irksome bonds of thei
servitude to mammon and did the con
sidering without restraint The ideal.
God implanted in the breasts of mer
were once set up as the true goals OF
mems activities, and those activities
took on new aspect. movement
tremendous in its scope and bearing
still going on We see manifestations
of it in the graft prosecutions in San
Francisco and the government litiga'
tion against the Standard Oil Campany
But the most striking evidence of the
idealistic tendency of the times is not
in the simple fact that these prose
eutions are being carried on, but in the
overwhelming public sentiment that ap'
proves them. The minds and hearts of
the people are the active factors in
this era of idealism.
"Now it was inevitable in the per
iod of materialism, that the American
people, in their eagerness for the ac-
f. teachings of religion. Indeed, I be-
lieve this forgetfulness of religion was
largely the cause of the low moral
standard of the times. AS 1 endeavor-
ed to show you last Sunday morning,
religion is the source of all moral prin
ciples and ideals, and when the source
is broken up, the stream must cease
to flow and all the country that bord
ers it's banks must become barren and
full of the stencil of decayed growth.
"But equally inevitable was =
that when people began to think and
feel again their minds and hearts
should turn once more toward religion.
Revived idealism turned their thoughts,
to things of the spirit and religion i
the spirit S most vital concern. Thu'
there was no surprise that this r
ginning of new mind-reign should sec,
the beginning of a new religion-reign
and we have now reached that pon'
in our argument where we may logi
cally enter on a discussion of the pre-
gress of Christian Science. But, be
fore doing so, wish to answer another
, question that might well be asked,
That question is, Why has not this re-
awakening of religious interest brought
about revival in the Christian church
that would lead to a progress equally
as great as that made by the Christian
Science church? If the minds and
hearts of the people have been fxe'
again on God, Christ, the soul and the
principles of righteousness and love,
why do we see no evidence of it in the
church itself? The answer to this ques
tion is important because it makes a
distinction between the idealism of the
present and the idealism of former
times. That distinction is this: The
idealism of the past considered things
of the mind entirely distinct from
things of the body. The religion of th"
past which is the religion that is
taught in the creeds of the churches to-
day, made the welfare of the immortal
man and the eternal salvation of T.
soul of such supreme importance tina
the needs and demands of the body
We're largely lost to sight. But the
| - -, Ia; pu
of the mind and heart, does not empha
size matters of the mind, the heart and
the soul as entirely apart from the con
Germs of the body. 1t is sort of ma
terio-idealism. it compels the life to
strive toward the ideal, but it requires
that the material be taken along. 1t
makes an ideaf man, but it commands
the ideal man to minister to and CON
troll the material man. 1t makes the
mind and heart help the body.
"To put all this in concrete form, the
age has not turned its back on the ac
cumulation of riches. This is still g
money making age, butts money max
ing must be done under restraint. TT
policy of the United States government
is not to destroy trusts, but to regu
late them. The insurance companies
were not required to go out of business
because of their exposed inquities, but
they were compelled to reorganize and
begin operations on new lines. Legi
innate investment in our great natura
resources was not forbidden because
of the land grabs and timber frauds
but notice was served that operations
in that line must be honest Ma
terial interests are still regarded as ol
tremendous Importance though spiri
tual interests are emphasized as o
greater Importance. The spirit mus
Lad l,,,t tho lNndv yn,,af ha all0wad n