Article October 19, 1899 Issue

A Plain Statement

BY FLETCHER L. WILLIAMS.

Had any one predicted five years ago that I would write the following statement, I should have ridiculed the idea. But it seems to me that I should now come out before men, and acknowledge my God.

Although I lived many years on Beacon Street in Boston, I heard of Christian Science but on one occasion, and it was presented in such an unwise manner I never wished to hear of it again. It might not be out of place to state that we as Christian Scientists cannot be too careful in our statements of this Science, and it seems to me that the wiser course is to put our text-book "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker G. Eddy, into the hands of the investigator. I feel this deeply, because had this been done in my case, it would have saved me much suffering in the years that were to come.

Having married, I decided to leave my home and settle in England. At this period of my life I was an Agnostic; and was it to be wondered at, as (I believe) there are today four hundred different sects who base their belief on the Bible, and each claims it is correct, and the other three hundred and ninety-nine are incorrect. Where was an honest man to turn? It would be an impossible feat to honestly look into each sect's claim. and in all this theology the religion of Jesus was lost. Then my love for mathematics was so strong that it made me demand a proof—if there was a God, prove it. I did not affirm that there was a God or that there was not, but I demanded a proof.

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