Article April 25, 1903 Issue

A Christian Science Reply

Theodore D. Warren

Newark (N.J.) Advertiser

If the many hasty critics of a Christian Science which they do not understand and have never even studied, would evince a candid and honest spirit of sincere inquiry, humanity might receive benefit instead of injury from their efforts.

Your correspondent, "Daw," should not confound the present attainments of Christian Scientists with the ultimate goal which Christianity sets forth. Jesus said, "These signs shall follow them that believe; . . . if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." This is a definite promise, but exactly how much of this promise an individual Christian Scientist can prove depends upon how much of a Christian he is.

Your own difficulty is in the supposed inconsistency between the Scientist's understanding of divine Mind, God, as the only healer of disease, and his attitude of submission to human statutes requiring vaccination, quarantining, etc. In this attitude he is simply applying the principle or rule laid down by Jesus, his divine Master, "Render to Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's." The Christian Scientist recognizes and teaches the absolute control of divine Mind over all the universe that He has made; and he claims and has demonstrated the possible divine healing of all forms of contagious or infectious disease. But to his neighbor in the flesh, who does not yet know God as the Lord "Who healeth all thy diseases," he may readily concede the relief of knowing that the medical precautions against the spread of disease, through fear, have been strictly observed. The compliance of the Christian Scientist with regulations of health boards proceeds from his respect for the rights of others who do not believe as he does and from his position as a good citizen of the community, not from any belief that such regulations are necessary in the cases of those who have a proper understanding of Christian Science.

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