Article January 26, 1907 Issue

The letter of "F. E. H." contains an argument definitely...

Frederick Dixon—London, England.

The Times

The letter of "F. E. H." contains an argument definitely advanced. I should be very pleased to answer him point by point, but as his objection traverses the field of Christian Science and idealism in general, I am afraid my reply would demand more space than I could fairly expect. If, however, our will forgive me for putting it a little bluntly, the sections of his letter dealing with the influence of mind on matter are founded on a complete misunderstanding of the Christian Science teaching on this subject, a misunderstanding so complete indeed that a Christian Scientist might almost agree with his presentation of the facts. This comes out very clearly in the sentence in which he sums up this part of his argument, for no Christian Scientist ever spoke, or thought, for no Christian Scientist ever spoke, or thought, or dreamed of charming away a tumor by a suggestion. It is just as much a misrepresentation of Christian Science to affirm this, as it would be a misrepresentation of Berkeleyism to insist that it taught that tumors could be charmed away by tar-water.

When he turns to the law of God in support of his arguments he opens up another enormous vista of thought. The Christian Scientist is every whit as insistent as is he, that a transgression of a law of God has its inevitable and natural sequence. Before, however, you can argue such a question you must first define law. "F. E. H." claims that God's law includes all physical law, but Jesus declared that any one with the faith of a grain of mustard seed could root up a sycamine tree, and replant it in the sea; and that any one who believed in him could do all his works—that is, walk upon the sea. If, then, the critic's definition is a sound one, Jesus that a man could break the physical law, which the critic assumes to be God's law, and the natural sequence would not inevitably follow.

Finally, it is not the purpose of Christian Science to persuade any one who has faith in medical science to eschew it. With that great race of men who have devoted their lives to the incessant struggle with disease on a material plane, they have no quarrel; but for themselves they conceive that they have found a higher and better way, —a way that leads not merely to the conquest of sickness, but to the conquest of sin; a way that binds up not only the maimed, but the broken-hearted; a way that leads out of the darkness of the valley of doubts and fears to the mountain-tops gilded with "the sun of righteousness."

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