The Cordova daily times., 1921-08-02

| began to wane. its vision vanished. and it sank approximately to the worlds level, where it seemed to sleep for a thousand years. while every phase of sin and tyranny was practiced in its name. These cen turies constitute what may properly be called the Dark Ages A theoreti. cal system of salavation had thrust 1t. self between God and the individual man. And 1t was night"
 THE RE-DAWN
 In 1866 A. D. John Wycliffe called the Morning Star of the Reforma- tion, was at the zenith of his influ. ence. An article in the Encyclopedia Britannica which gathers up the thought of many scholars says: He John Wycliffe) may at least claim to have discovered the secret of the immediate dependence of the individual Christian upon Cod, rela. 1 tion which needs no mediation of any priest, and to which the very sacraments of the Church. however desirable, are not essentially neces- sary." This spirit of the Reforma- ton began to do away with serfdom and feudalism and to emphasize the right of the individual It broke somewhat the bondage in which the human mind had been held, and thought thus released became active in many directions. The printing press appeared. the Bible was trans. lated into languages understood by the people, the catacombs with their valuable early Christian records were thrown open.
 Christian Scientists are not un, mindful of, but recognize. the value of this Reformation movement in human history, which prepared man. kind for the reception again of the nnnutilated gospel They acknowl- edged the Reformation stood for ac-
 
 not radical enough to remove all the misconceptions about God with which the Dark Ages had beclouded thought If man is to be freed from the burden of sin. sickness. and death, he must find such freedom through God who neither creates nor sustains these evils. Christian Scientists know no god but the good | God. God is revealed more clearly | through the teachings of Christian | Science than through any other re. | ligious instruction, and the real | Christian understanding which Jesu3 l possessed becomes possible, at least in some degree. to every one through | the study of Christian Science, which | proves that Christian Science is the genuine misunderstanding. or | Christian knowing. The Reformation | movement did not free itself entire. ly from the false teaching of the Dark Ages. To some extent it still sees God as through smoked glass" Doctrinally it holds to men. tai positions which involves the be. lief that God creates and sustains sin, sickness and death. while prac. ticaliy it teaches that the man who is sorry for his sin may always be forgiven, but the sick man who is sorry for his sickness can hardly ever be healed. This contradictory attitude of thought was never enter tained by Jesus. The fact is that so. far as specified cases in the New Tes. lament are concerned, he healed sick. ness much more frequently than sin. This Is the prominent feature in the ministry of Jesus the Christ which the Reformation movement did not recover. This work remained to be accomplished by movement more spiritual in it's perception, more com. prehensive in it's understanding of the gospel.
 In the year 1866 Mary Baker Eddy, whom medical skill had failed to relieve of serious physical trouble, was instantaneously healed through reading the Scriptures. Christian Scientists know that with her heal ing began the modern fulfillment of Jesus promise: When he, the Spirit Of truth. is come, he will guide you into all truth" Instead of talk. ing her physical healing and losing herself in the throng of the unthank- full, her gratitude to God and compass sion for suffering humanity led her to investigate and to mediate. On | page 109 of Science and Health with