Article February 6, 1904 Issue

Christian Science not Stoicism

W. D. McCrackan

Brooklyn (N. Y.) Times

An address delivered on January 11, in Brooklyn, by President William De Witt Hyde, D.D., LL.D., of Bowdoin College, on "Stoicism," contained some references to Christian Science which lay bare vital problems. The public is entitled to have certain distinctions made which President Hyde overlooked, or of which he may not have been aware. He stated that "Stoicism is a slight exaggeration of the truth of which Christian Science is a fantastic and extreme exaggeration." Now even a slight study of Christian Science will reveal the fact that it differs widely from President Hyde's description of stoicism. He stated: "The central principle of stoicism is that we are the sum of our mental states." Christian Science, however, follows the Scriptural teaching that the real man is made in the image and likeness of God. According to this teaching the real man, or immortal man, is an expression or manifestation of God only, and is not the sum of varying and shifting states of human or mortal mind. The real man reflects the attributes of God, which are invariably and unchangeably good. According to Christian Science, therefore, the only safe way of determining what man really is, is to study the nature of God and to arrive at a definite and scientific understanding of Him. To do this, is certainly not to indulge in any "fantastic and extreme exaggeration," for Jesus himself stated: "And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent."

When even a slight scientific understanding of God has been reached, and He is recognized as Spirit and as Love, omnipotent and ever-present, then comes the necessary conclusion that the real man must be wholly controlled by God, and thus the term "self-control" is seen to be susceptible of misuse and misunderstanding, if it involves any assumption that the real man can be controlled by what St. Paul denominated the "carnal mind."

This carnal mind would try to imply that immortal man is a mixture of good and evil, harmony and discord, truth and error, but such a concept is opposed to Scriptural teaching, and is a false or mortal concept of man, which disappears as Science is more clearly understood. Mrs. Eddy has stated on this point:—

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