Editorial September 12, 1903 Issue

Unfounded Criticism

WITHIN the past few weeks some daily newspapers have had considerable to say about the new edition of the Church Manual, and through them an effort has been made to convey the impression that radical changes have taken place in the internal economy of the Christian Science denomination.

To those who may have been misled by such efforts to create the impression that Christian Science is on a mercenary basis, we can say that the cost of Christian Science Church edifices standing to-day, the money necessarily expended for the conduct of services in these churches and the general expenses incident to the maintenance of a denominational organization, for exceeds the aggregate amount received by Christian Scientists for teaching and healing, and it is a well-known fact that Christian Scientists have not applied to those outside of their own ranks for financial help in the erection of their churches nor to pay the other expenses incident to the spread of a great religious movement.

When these periodic attacks are made upon Christian Scientists they are usually accompanied by the assertion that our people bear the outward marks of a well-to-do class, and the intimation is conveyed that their prosperity is secured at the expense of those who are not. Christian Scientists. The explanation of this favorable showing is found, however, in the fact that Christian Scientists have acquired simpler habits of living, that their exemption from sickness and its attendant loss of time and effectiveness has materially increased their savings, and that in many and most significant ways Christian Science conduces to the realization of man's lawful dominion over his environment, enhancing his endurance and mental power, enlarging his perception of character, giving acuteness and comprehensiveness, and an ability to exceed his ordinary business capacity. (Science and Health, p. 128.)

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