Article November 25, 1905 Issue

Critics mistake the end for the beginning, and claim for...

Alfred Farlow

Boston Times

Critics mistake the end for the beginning, and claim for the present ability of Christian Scientists what the Scientists do not claim for themselves. These critics do not consider that advanced spirituality is requisite to divine healing and that theory must always precede practice. The logic of mathematics leads to infinite solutions and calculations, but the beginner can solve only the most simple problems. The insistence that the neophyte in mathematics, simply because he believes in the whole system, is inconsistent with this belief because he cannot demonstrate the most advanced propositions, is quite as sensible as the claim that a Christian Scientist is inconsistent with his belief because he cannot raise the dead and restore a limb which has been amputated. It is likewise as unreasonable to suppose that a pupil in mathematics is a menace to the schools because he may undertake the solution of problems which are years in his advance, as it is to suppose that a Christian Scientist is a menace to the public health because he may undertake that which appears to be in advance of his present understanding. Christian Science is no more likely to rob its devotees of their common sense than is mathematics. The Christian Scientist should be allowed to speak for himself in a matter of this kind. He makes no special claims beyond that which he has already proved by demonstration can be performed. He insists upon infinite possibilities only to those who fully realize the omnipotence of God and that any want of ability to demonstrate the divine power is due to exactly the same reasons which explain the failure of others. Those who understand but little of Christian Science are imperfect in their ability to heal, for the same reason that those who understand none of it are not able to heal at all.

Alfred Farlow.
Boston Times.

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