Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1911-09-21

AoSAOA IL 1AAe1ItSl L llG NOISu1D Oh IIG
Father in Spirit and in Truth was
more and more neglected, while Chris
tians no less than physical scientists
accepted material theories as truth
1t was generally agreed that man was
born of matter and that some ma
terial law would cause his death, un-
less this might be postponed for a
time by recourse to some other law
of matter. In short, matter-the op-
posite of Spirit-was universally re-
garded as substance, and as the
source of life, intelligence, and law.
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-
fist or a doctor of divinity But ST.
John, for instance, was not graduated
from a theological school, and there
is no reason why the vision of spirit
ual reality should come to those sci
NAACAoCo "1IOoO 4CoVol SIIOo are COl-
fined to the elements, properties, and
phenomena of matter. 1t is more
reasonable to expect that understand
ing will come to those who are gain
ing the Mind of Christ
For these reasons there is nothing
abnormal in the fact that the world
has gained an accession of actual
knowledge through Mary Baker Ed
dy. She was brought up in 'the at
mosphere of piety and devoutness
that perVaded a New England home
of nearly a century ago. From child
hood she was a profound student of
the Scriptures. She was compassion
ate, helpful, spiritual; she was a
Christian in the best sense of that
name. She had become accustomed
to ponder the larger problems of hui
man affairs. She had grown in the
love for God and neighbor until her
| desire and aspiration were to heal
i and to save. She had turned away
| from matter to Spirit with an unusu-
al degree of understanding. In these
circumstances, the normal operation
! of divine law enabled Mrs. Eddy to
discern the true nature of God and
His universe, including man, and to
understand the problem presented by
the apparent existence of evil in spite
of infinite good When apparently
near death, her spiritual sense grasp
ed the sublime verify that all evil
whether moral, mental, or physical
must be Elusive and unreal because
contrary to the nature of the only
cause and creator; and this Christ
! idea healed her.
| The attitude of existing churches
toward her message made it nee
essary for Mrs. Eddy to found new
church; but the Church of Christ, Sc
/ enlist, has gained members only as
those who have come to Christian Sc
ence have gained a better life. Sure
| ly there is no cause for offense in this
| 1t is the object of all churches, and
none of them need feel a loss when E
man finds in Christian Science what
could not, or even did not, find else
where.
Mrs. Eddy never sought a personal
following. Throughout her work as
the leader of d great religious move
ment she consistently turned the at
tention of Christian Scientists away
| from herself to the message from God
to man which was spoken thru her
Her aim and hope, as she often said
were to quicken and increase the
| beneficial effects of Christianity
| (Science and Health, page 367; Mis-
cellaneous Writings, page POD The
spiritual vitality of her message is
proved b. what it has already accom-
plished; but this is only a foretaste
Of the benefits that will accrue to
humanity as this Science is more wide
ly understood and practised.
THE MISSION OF CHRIST.
One reason-perhaps the main rea-
son-Why Christianity has not yet
| accomplished all that Christ Jesus
foretold for it, is that the purpose
and meaning of his ministry have been
misunderstood The various theories
which have been formulated to ex-
plain what have been called his mir
| acles, his passion, and his atonement
all need to be reconsidered; they need
to be re-examined in the light of both
reason and revelation
From the time of Irenaeus in the
third century to the time of An
selm in the twelfth, the accepted
theory was that Jesus by his suf-
ferings paid a ransom to the devil
and thus wrought the deliverance of
those who believed on him. Then
came the theory which is still held by
quite large majority of all who
profess the Christion religion Ac
cording to this, the righteousness of
Jesus was accepted by the Father
as a substitute for the righteousness
of mankind lost through the fall, and
the suffering and death of Jesus were
accepted as an equivalent for the
punishment justly incurred by man
kind; men being consequently re-
leased from punishment, on condi-
ton of their acceptance through faith
of his sacrifice. q am using the Ian
guage of one of the dictionaries.
In the seventeenth century, Gortius
of Holland advanced the theory that
violation of divine law must be follow
ed by the punishment, for the deterre
effect on sinners, as in the case of
human government, but that the suf-
fering and death of Jesus was such
a spectacle to the world as to serve
this purpose of warning, thus obviat-
ing the necessity of Furnishing men
and renting the penalty for sin.
These are the theories to which the