Article June 28, 1900 Issue

Defends Christian Science

Willard S. Mattox

Standard Union

To the Editor of The Standard Union:—Will you kindly grant me space to reply to the criticisms on Christian Science contained in your account of a sermon preached by the Rev. Dr. A. C. Dixon of Brooklyn. If it were true, as Dr. Dixon asserts, that Christian Science is bequeathed to modern times by philosophic Athens, and that Christian Scientists are charmed by the new, rather than the true, how could it be explained that the movement has grown so remarkably, and that the firmest adherents are those who have longest practised its teachings. The facts repudiate the statement with which Dr. Dixon begins his sermon. Many who turn to Christian Science have conspicuously opposed it before accepting its teachings. Christian Science does not profess to introduce a new truth. Truth is God, unchangeable and eternal. Every statement in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker G. Eddy, has Biblical authority, based on the teachings of the prophets, and on the life and teachings of Jesus the Christ, as epitomized in the Sermon on the Mount.

Christian Science is neither un-Christian nor pagan. A comparison of Christian Science with any of the mystical philosophies of India exhibits ignorance of what it really is. The Indian cult, of which Dr. Dixon speaks, is a society of stoics, who do, indeed, ignore pain and suffering. This is not Christian Science, which recognizes that pain and suffering are real to those who have not overcome them. If the impression given concerning Christian Science by Dr. Dixon, is as far from correct as that conveyed to the public by his allusion to Pundita Ramabai, the effect of his remarks is not greatly to be feared. The delicate little lady, whose life work has been to elevate the condition of women in India, would be surprised to hear herself spoken of as "Ramabai" and described as "he." Is it possible that Dr. Dixon's statements are as unreliable in one case as in the other? Christian Science is not based on selfishness. In "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker G. Eddy, p. 493, is given the tenets of our church, one of which reads as follows: "We solemnly promise to strive, watch, and pray for that Mind to be in us which was also in Christ Jesus, to love one another, and to be meek, merciful, just, and pure."

The very essence of Christian Science is unselfishness. The highest form of compassion is to destroy whatever causes suffering and grief. Ineffectual pity, which emphasizes one's mental and physical distress, is not Christlike. When the sick and deformed and morally unclean came to Jesus, he did not stop to commiserate, but healed them. Christian Science does the same, because it is based on Jesus' works, as well as his words.

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