Editorial April 9, 1904 Issue

Jesus' Works not Supernatural

M.

The following extract is the closing paragraph of a sermon preached by a prominent clergyman in a Western city and reported in a local paper,—

"We conclude, therefore, that miracles are possible, they are probable, and the evidence that Christ interposed his will in the course of natural law and did things not attributable to such law, is overwhelming. These works were for the authentication of his mission in the world, and while wrought in the material realm, they have their counterpart to-day in the spiritual. Jesus is still opening blind eyes, cleansing leprous hearts, giving strength to the impotent, and making the dumb to sing praise. He is now the Physician of souis, as he was then the Physician of the bodies of men."

This sermon as a whole may fairly be taken as a statement of commonly accepted beliefs concerning the healing ministry of Jesus, and inasmuch as it was intended as an expression of opinion in support of the authenticity of the Scriptural record, and is a plea for the possibility and probability of the miracles of the New Testament, it can be accepted as the utterance of one who is in sympathy with our Master and his teachings. In view of this intention, and with Jesus' words in mind, "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do," we naturally might expect this clergyman to urge upon his hearers that the healing work which accompanied the preaching of the Nazarene and his disciples is a vital part of modern Christianity and should be as familiar to Christians to-day as of yore; but he does not do so. On the contrary, he tells them in substance that God, the omnipotent and omniscient creator of the universe, had made a mistake; that in order to correct this mistake it became necessary for Him to employ extraordinary measures, that the miracles of the early Christian era were designed solely to attract the attention of humanity to the Messenger whom He had sent to save mortals from sin, and that when this was accomplished the physical healing ceased. We think this is a reasonable interpretation of the sermon when the above quotation and those which follow are considered.

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Editorial
The Three Hundredth Edition of Science and Health
April 9, 1904
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