From Simon Peter

When a theologian starts out to make himself ridiculous he can beat anybody in that behalf, and if it were not so sad it would really be very funny to see him squirm. I am led to write this letter from having read an article on Christian Science in the Church and Home, a six by nine religious paper edited by Rev. T. J. Mackay of this city. I am not a member of the organization maligned in said article, but I write about it because I believe in honesty and fair play. The good priest starts out by admitting that the Scientists do cure diseases, and in the next paragraph says that they ought not to do so because such patients as they can cure would get well anyhow. Funny argument, is it not? They cannot cure everybody, therefore they should cure nobody. It was probably an Episcopal clergyman who said of Jesus, "He saved others: himself he cannot save." Then he comes to the money question — a modern preacher always reaches the money question early in the game. He objects to Christian Science demonstrators because they charge for their services, and mentions the fact that Jesus said to his disciples, "Freely ye have received, freely give." Jesus neither charged a fee for healing nor for preaching. How is it with the clergyman who receives three or four thousand dollars a year for preaching Christ's gospel to the poor? Christ lived in poverty and associated with publicans and sinners, and Mary the Magdalene was one of his chosen friends. The modern preacher lives in a fine house, handsomely furnished, his friends are the rich and powerful, and he wouldn't have anything to do with a Magdalene even if thereby he could save her soul alive. The Scientist charges a small fee for healing, but he preaches and prays for nothing. Mr. Mackay charges an immense price for preaching, but he doesn't even try to heal anybody. A modern preacher could hardly be expected in this hard climate to live out doors and preach in groves and forests, or deliver wise sermons from the mountain top, or gather a precarious existence by plucking corn from his neighbors' fields, and therefore it is right and proper that he should receive such payment as his labors are worth. That would put some of them on mighty short allowances—but I do not think any of them should be compelled to do as a certain Omaha preacher testified the other day that he was doing. He said he preached the gospel while his patient wife took in washing to support the family. If the preacher is entitled to pay, so is the healer, for the laborer is worthy of some hire, even if he be a mighty poor laborer. He says next that Mrs. Eddy charges one hundred dollars to educate a doctor of medicine. Now isn't that cheap when we consider how many thousands it takes to make a doctor of divinity? He wastes half a column in telling us that healing gifts cannot be purchased with money. Who ever said that they could? The power to heal comes from God or it doesn't come at all, and that is exactly what the Scientists claim. Christ said: "And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."

The apostle James says: "Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed." When the good doctor hears of a sick brother, does he call his vestry together to pray over him, or does he pray over him himself? and do these prayers cure the patient? Do he and his congregation pray for each other when any of them have the grip or the smallpox, or do they send for a doctor? The Scientists have all the texts on their side. They are modestly and conscientiously following the commands of Christ. They are hurting nobody, but helping many. They believe Jesus meant what he said, and that he was not romancing, and they are copying his noble life as far as possible. If these things be so, why are they maligned and persecuted? The answer is plain and simple. The pews in the churches are being vacated, the communicants are seeking a new religious home and a new faith. Even some of the paying Christians are paying their tithes elsewhere. Something must be done to keep the sheep from abandoning the fold, and therefore the clergy are arousing the prejudice of the people against these faithful followers of the Saviour of the world. But it won't do, brethren; it won't do; persecution will only make them grow the faster; the rack and the thumbscrew never yet killed a good cause, and it never will. As an outsider I am enjoying this fight, and in this and all other contests I rejoice to see the under dog winning the battle. The Nonconformist.