The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-11-11
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE
Interesting Lecture on the Essentials of the Cult by
 Clifford F. Smith

! Before a large and appreciative au 1 dience last evening at the Universalis
 church, Clifford B. Smith, c. S. B., member of the board of Lectureshil | of the Mother Church, the Firs
 church of Christ, Scientist, Boston, ,sait | in part:
 | It is my purpose to speak to you thi evening on 'HThe Real Man and Hi. Relation to God" At the outset wish to remind you that there wa.
 a time in every stage of human pro. l gress wEen wisdom was with the mi
 nority. A true idea is always perceiv | ed by one person, then received by 2 | few, and afterward adopted by a sub. | stantial minority before it finds favor | with the majority.
 It may be assumed, I suppose, thai no one in this audience disbelieves ir | a power or cause higher than himself One who denies the existence of a su- preme intelligent Being is said to be an atheist. But such persons are l rare; in most cases the supposed athe- ist has simply not been satisfied with any particular concept of God and
 man that has been brought to his at tention. A better concept, or the true one, may find him entirely willing to accept it.
 A man does not need to be very sci entific or very religious to feel that he is intermediate in the scale of exist subordinate to the primordial substance or cause, higher than some creatures but lower than the creator. This is a fact made evident by reason as well as revelation. Mere observation dis covers the existence of laws which manifestly proceed from a power, an intelligent source, higher than man. is, the coming of good thought into consciousness, these diverse facts both illustrate the operation of law; they instance the action of a Mind which is superior to man. The most fun damental fact in human experience is consciousness; and this necessarily must have a Principle. Since man possesses consciousness, he must be re- lated to the Principle of consciousness; and Christian Science declares this Principle to be God, the divine Mind of which man is the mental and spiri- tual expression
 Not only do men intuitively believe in Being or Mind higher than them selves, they also expect to live upon a higher plane of existence than is visible to the physical senses. We have no reason to be satisfied with the life which seems to begin from mortal birth, which appears to include all evil-fear, failure, sin, sickness, defor- mity, disability, suffering. sorrow-and to end in death. In fact, we no long CT accept all the testimony about man that we get through the five senses. For example, life seems to end in death, but who believes that it does? We see change; we lose sight of a friend or loved one; we consign a body to a grave or it's ashes to an urn; but we have faith, we know, that the life of, the individual continues.
 So also, the assurance of things hop ed for, the evidence of things not seen. tells us, of an existence for man which in every respect far transcends the life of mortals. It is unthinkable that man should always and forever con- tinue to be bundle of contradictions, mixture of opposite qualities,a meet ing of conflicting forces, as he appears for salvation or for evolution, expects something better than this.
 Christian Science declares that mans brightest hope for better life in the hereafter cannot exceed what is in fact the present reality of life; that mortal existence is state of ignor- ance and false belief based on ma terial sense of things; that the actual ity is condition of purity, complete ness, joy, harmony, and goodness-a perfect state of mental and spiritual activity, consciousness free from err TOT or evil; an eternal identity deter mined by Mind or Spirit, not by mat ter. And Christian Science declares that this true selfhood must be att tained, by gaining demonstrable un- Gerstanding Or reality; by getting a scientific knowledge of the truth of be- ing; by comprehending in their true import the words and works of him who came that we might have life, and have it abundantly.
 Taking human life from birth, Jesus the Christ ascended progressively to the Life which is divine. With the understanding of Truth he grappled with and Overcame, one after another the errors which. fetter and bet!ftle the life seen in this world, until ne rose above it and passed beyond rhe range of mortal vision. Nor did he do this as though it were possible for him alone. On the contrary, his de- clared purpose was to be the way or way-shower for all men. He is ''the light of the world'' because he taught and demonstrated the truth of being, thus making it evident and availa' le to us.
 Although immediate and lasting hen ef1ts resulted from the gospel or good news brought to the world by Christ Jesus, it can still be said even of >A G. miles, that they are "alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them.'' After nearly twea- ty cent uries Christendom still suffers every evil thing and puts its faith in a life to be gained after death. In the last quarter of the nineteenth century, when Mrs. Eddy published her text book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" the knowledge called science was entirely separate from the knowledge called Christian ity, and their only tendency to unite was upon material basiS-that of ev- olution in matter. The worship of the Father in Spirit and in Truth was more and more neglected, while Chris tians no less than physical scientists accepted material theories as truth. It was generally agreed that man was born of matter and that some material law would cause his death, unless this might be postponed for time by re- course to some other law of matter. Tn short, matter-the opposite of Spir- t--was universally regarded as Sub- stance, and as the source and seat of intelligence, law and life.
 This was the scene upon which Christian Science entered. Some per- sons are not disposed to consider this Science seriously because it was not discovered by either a physical scien- tist or doctor of divinity But St John. for instance, was not graduat- ed from a theological school, and there is no reason why the vision of spiritual reality should come to those scientists whose researches are confined to the