Editorial March 17, 1906 Issue

The Efficacy of Christian Science

Archibald McLellan

It has often been alleged by persons opposed to Christian Science, that if this system possesses any healing efficacy at all, it extends only to nervous and imaginary diseases, and is not to be relied upon in serious cases or in those believed to require surgery; but however plausible this statement may seem on its face, it is not borne out by the facts of actual experience.

We receive many testimonies from those who have been operated upon without benefit, as well as those who have been pronounced incurable except by surgery. A case of the latter kind is that of Hen. Wainwright Cushing of Foxcroft, Maine, a well-known and much-respected public man, who writes as follows:—

During the month of April, 1895, I had the misfortune to sustain a fracture of my left leg. The fracture was reduced in the usual way by a local surgeon, but I was confined to the house some three months. A few months after my recovery I noticed that a weakness had developed in this limb, which was aggravated by much walking, and I was obliged to use a cane or crutch at frequent intervals in order to get about. This difficulty grew from bad to worse until the summer of 1898, when I decided to consult one of the best surgeons in New England, who, after making a thorough examination of the limb, pronounced it a well developed case of varicose veins. He advised me to submit to a surgical operation, as this, he emphatically stated, was the only known remedy. I naturally disliked to undergo this ordeal, and so put the matter off from week to week, wearing an elastic stocking and going about with crutches and cane. At this juncture a member of my family suggested that I try Christian Science for the trouble. I was skeptical—knowing but very little about this method of healing—and told them that I did not believe it could help in a case where surgery was the only known remedy. After a while, however, I decided to try this Science, and a local practitioner commenced treatment. At the end of three weeks' time I noticed that the elastic stocking which I had been wearing was becoming loose. This was very encouraging; so I continued the treatment, and was thoroughly healed before the end of the fall of 1898. This was nearly seven years ago, and I have had no return of the trouble. In addition to this, my general health, which had been undermined to some extent by the local troubles above mentioned, has been wonderfully improved. I am over sixty years of age and weigh above two hundred pounds, but I can walk long distances without cane or crutch and with no inconvenience whatever. I shall be very glad to make oath to the truth of these statements, and testify to my gratitude for what Christian Science, without the aid of drugs or any other material methods, has accomplished in my case."

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