[The Union Signal, Chicago]
[Extract]
The New Woman and the New Church
The dedication, in Boston, of a Christian Science temple costing over two hundred thousand dollars, and for which the money was all paid in so that no debt had to be taken care of on dedication day, is a notable event. While we are not, and never have been, devotees of Christian Science, it becomes us as students of public questions not to ignore a movement which, starting fifteen years ago, has already gained to itself adherents in every part of the civilized world, for it is a significant fact that one cannot take up a daily paper in town or village — to say nothing of cities — without seeing notices of Christian Science meetings, and in most instances they are held at “headquarters.”
We believe there are two reasons for this remarkable development, which has shown a vitality so unexpected. The first is that a revolt was inevitable from the crass materialism of the cruder science that had taken possession of men's minds, for as a wicked but witty writer has said, “If there were no God, we should be obliged to invent one.” There is something in the constitution of man that requires the religious sentiment as much as his lungs call for breath; indeed, the breath of his soul is a belief in God.
But when Christian Science arose, the thought of the world's scientific leaders had become materialistically “lopsided,” and this condition can never long continue.
