Page:Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.djvu/237

Rh It is sometimes said, cynically, that Christian Scientists set themselves on pedestals, as so many petty deities; but there is no fairness or propriety in such an aspersion.

Atheism and profanity are opposed to Science, as they are to religion; but it does not follow that the profane or atheistic invalid cannot be relieved. The moral condition of such a man demands the remedy of Truth more than most cases; hence Science is more than usually effectual in the treatment of moral ailments.

The Holy City, described in the Apocalypse as coming down from God out of heaven, is Christian Science. The builder and maker of this New Jerusalem is God, as we read in the Book of Hebrews; and it is “a city which hath foundations.”

The word city conveys the idea of an assemblage of people for high purposes, and is akin to another word, civilization, both coming from the Latin words civis (citizen) and civitas (city or state).

A great city has a twofold life. The worst is to be found in it — the worst criminals, the worst poverty. A city also contains the best things. Towards it gravitate the first fruits and the greatest geniuses. In it are the most eloquent preachers and the most benevolent institutions, the miracles of architectural grandeur, — like Saint Peter's Church in Rome, or the Mosque of Saint Sophie at Constantinople, — and wonderful provisions for public convenience, like extensive aqueducts and well-ordered streets. So largely is this true that one can easily believe that our word polish is derived from polis, the Greek word for city.

Now the Scriptures compare the heavenly kingdom or