the true being of every man is his inmost being, which is in God's image, and that just so far as we recognize and give opportunity to this image to truly express itself, to that extent will it rectify and displace these distorted resemblances of true humanity in which it now appears. In other words, such recognition and affirmation will ward off or banish disease and vice and transform the region of the outward life until it becomes truly expressive of the divine. This science affirms, moreover, that the power of thought links all human souls together in such a way that this healing and quickening energy may be imparted from one to another, from the strong to the weak, and that in this way the whole body of mankind is to be lifted on to that plane of God-consciousness in which they shall realize that God dwells in them and they in Him, and there shall be no more pain and death.

The prime truth and fact of Christianity is its doctrine of a resurrection of the dead. The question before us now is, does this hope for the dead bring with it new hope for the living? If through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus the just are raised to the high plane of eternal life in order that they may succor and uplift those who are still struggling on the earthly plane, and if, through the same redeeming power, the unjust are restored again to life or the earthly plane in order that they may be carried on still further toward perfection, then it is plain that the Christian process of redemption harmonizes with the evolutionary process that prevails in the whole kingdom of life. It is further plain that in this process we are all members one of another, and that the perfection of the individual is to be reached through the perfection of the

whole. Self-seeking is seen to be the greatest foe to self. The altruistic spirit is given a deeper interpretation. It is seen that it should control all the forms in which the government and business of the world are organized and every relation which man sustains to his fellow. And the laws of life which link us all together are seen to admit of just such results of victory over morbid conditions of body and mind, and of the help of one soul by another as Christian Science contemplates.

All this shows that there are other lines of investigation along which this magazine may carry its torch of resurrection-hope, and that furnish reasons why its mission should not be abandoned. We hope to be able to show the socialist that there is a Christian explanation for all existing evils in society which should make us rest in the conviction that the Divine goodness is at the heart of everything in this system of the world, and that there is a Christian remedy for all these evils which, when once their true nature is understood, will effectually remove them. Christianity teaches that all human souls are passing through just that discipline needed to prepare them for higher conditions. It teaches, therefore, contentment: while it also teaches that those who have reached higher conditions have done so only as they have been helpers of others, and that the only path by which any class can enter into life is through the recognition of a struggling Christ in sick and imprisoned and famished brother-men. This is the profound teaching of that much misapplied judgment-passage, Matthew xxv, 31-46.

We hope also to be able to show the Christian scientist that in the effort to construct an universal philosophy of

human nature by basing it upon the fact that man everywhere is divine, he under-estimates the relation which the divine Son of Man-of whom they themselves confess that Jesus was the supreme expression-holds to the whole body of this humanity, and that the ideal stage of it can be reached only as by the hand of faith we lay hold of Him. It is true, indeed, that men may lay hold of “the essential Christ" who have never heard of Jesus. But this does not diminish the importance of the fact that the essential Christ is now personalized in the Man, Jesus, not merely as a supreme example of what is possible to all men, but as the Head and Fount of that divine humanity which is to be personalized in all the sons of men. For the lack of giving due place to this essential truth, the Christian scientist fails to give the doctrine of resurrection its rightful place in the Christian scheme. If Christ had not risen, there would have been no power developed in humanity to lift it above this earthly plane upon which it sins and suffers and dies.

What is needed then to cure the evils of human bodies and of bodies politic is a new recognition of the fact that Jesus was raised from the dead to become a new centre around which the whole of humanity is to be reorganized. The law of His triumphant life is love, finding its own highest good in seeking others' good. To this end His Spirit is penetrating the hearts of men and slowly uplifting all the forms and institutions of society to higher levels. The more readily men co-operate with this divine movement in the world, the more quickly will they be borne on its bosom to the haven of individual rest and happiness. And the more they submit their own lives to

the operation of this Christ-Spirit, the more surely will His saving health be manifest in their bodies. For the whole organism of humanity, both in the aggregate and in the individual, is the field in which this Divine Spirit works, and the whole is so bound together that the happy release of even the dead is dependent upon the fidelity of the living. What any man does to uplift and bless his fellow-men uplifts himself, and what he does to drag or keep them down must sink himself hereafter into the same mire. Every man has the highest motive to give himself to the good of others as the one true path to life and blessedness. And every one must share in the disadvantages which any class suffers by reason of the selfish and unjust arrangements which find place in the social order.

THEOSOPHY.

The present tendency of those who are dissatisfied with Christianity to turn to that form of Oriental philosophy known as theosophy, for the true explanation of the mystery of God and humanity, is quite remarkable. Under the leadership of Mrs. Annie Besant-a woman of high character and of remarkable gifts-this movement in England is making great progress, while societies are being formed in all the leading cities of this country for the spread of these views. There is no doubt that in its doctrine of Karma and of reincarnation, theosophy presents a system of divine wisdom, which seems to harmonize with the scientific thought of the age, and which answers its demand for a doctrine of God which shall supply certain features in

which it believes Christianity is deficient. The fact is, however, that these very features, while they have never been fairly brought out in the interpretations Christianity has received, are latent in the system itself. Karma, for instance, is nothing more than the principle that, either in this body or some other, men must receive according to deeds done. What the Church now needs, in order to counteract this theosophic revival and to retain under her own influence many thoughtful minds that are breaking away from her, is such an interpretation of the law of divine retribution and forgiveness as shall give due place to the principle of Karma, and such a comprehensive view of her own vital doctrine of resurrection as shall present the true doctrine of reincarnation. For all that there is true in both these world-wide beliefs is contained in the doctrine of Christ, in whom all treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hid.

IMMORTALITY.

Our thanks are due to the Rev. Geo. Dana Boardman, D. D., for a copy of a recent sermon on this subject, preached by him at the opening of the North Philadelphia Baptist Association, and published by order of the Association. The sermon illustrates the remark made in a recent number that many men of the highest standing in the orthodox churches are abandoning the old doctrine of an endless existence in suffering for the more rational and merciful view that only the man in Christ lives forever. Not only was this view announced by Dr. Boardman, but