Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures | Page 4

morn- ing beams and shine the guiding star of being. The Wise- men were led to behold and to follow this daystar of vi:12 divine Science, lighting the way to eternal harmony. The time for thinkers has come. Truth, independent of doctrines and time-honored systems, knocks at the vi:15 portal of humanity. Contentment with the past and the cold conventionality of materialism are crumbling away. Ignorance of God is no longer the stepping- vi:18 stone to faith. The only guarantee of obedience is a right apprehension of Him whom to know aright is Life eternal. Though empires fall, "the Lord shall vi:21 reign forever." A book introduces new thoughts, but it cannot make them speedily understood. It is the task of the sturdy vi:24 pioneer to hew the tall oak and to cut the rough granite. Future ages must declare what the pioneer has accomplished.
vi:27 Since the author's discovery of the might of Truth in vii:1 the treatment of disease as well as of sin, her system has been fully tested and has not been found wanting; but vii:3 to reach the heights of Christian Science, man must live in obedience to its divine Principle. To develop the full might of this Science, the discords of corporeal sense vii:6 must yield to the harmony of spiritual sense, even as the science of music corrects false tones and gives sweet con- cord to sound.
vii:9 Theology and physics teach that both Spirit and matter are real and good, whereas the fact is that Spirit is good and real, and matter is Spirit's oppo- vii:12 site. The question, What is Truth, is answered by demonstration, by healing both disease and sin; and this demonstration shows that Christian healing con- vii:15 fers the most health and makes the best men. On this basis Christian Science will have a fair fight. Sickness has been combated for centuries by doctors using ma- vii:18 terial remedies; but the question arises, Is there less sickness because of these practitioners? A vigorous "No" is the response deducible from two connate vii:21 facts, - the reputed longevity of the Antediluvians, and the rapid multiplication and increased violence of diseases since the flood.
vii:24 In the author's work, RETROSPECTION AND INTROSPEC- TION, may be found a biographical sketch, narrating experiences which led her, in the year 1866, to the dis- vii:27 covery of the system that she denominated Christian Science. As early as 1862 she began to write down and give to friends the results of her Scriptural study, for vii:30 the Bible was her sole teacher; but these compositions were crude, the first steps of a child in the newly dis- covered world of Spirit.
ix:1 She also began to jot down her thoughts on the main subject, but these jottings were only infantile ix:3 lispings of Truth. A child drinks in the outward world through the eyes and rejoices in the draught. He is as sure of the world's existence as he is of his own; yet ix:6 he cannot describe the world. He finds a few words, and with these he stammeringly attempts to convey his feeling. Later, the tongue voices the more definite ix:9 thought, though still imperfectly. So was it with the author. As a certain poet says of himself, she "lisped in numbers, for the numbers ix:12 came." Certain essays written at that early date are still in circulation among her first pupils; but they are feeble attempts to state the Principle and practice of ix:15 Christian healing, and are not complete nor satisfac- tory expositions of Truth. To-day, though rejoicing in some progress, she still finds herself a willing dis- ix:18 ciple at the heavenly gate, waiting for the Mind of Christ. Her first pamphlet on Christian Science was copy- ix:21 righted in 1870; but it did not appear in print until 1876, as she had learned that this Science must be 1876, as she had learned that this Science must be demonstrated by healing, before a work on the subject ix:24 could be profitably studied. From 1867 until 1875, copies were, however, in friendly circulation. Before writing this work, SCIENCE AND HEALTH, she ix:27 made copious notes of Scriptural exposition, which have never been published. This was during the years 1867 and 1868. These efforts show her comparative ix:30 ignorance of the stupendous Life-problem up to that time, and the degrees by which she came at length to its solution; but she values them as a parent x:1 may treasure the memorials of a child's growth, and she would not have them changed.
x:3 The first edition of SCIENCE AND HEALTH was pub- lished in 1875. Various books on mental healing have since been issued, most of them incorrect in theory x:6 and filled with plagiarisms from SCIENCE AND HEALTH. They regard the human mind as