Article November 23, 1907 Issue

The philosophy of annihilation is as far as possible from...

Willard S. Mattox

Montreal (Can.) Herald

The philosophy of annihilation is as far as possible from the teaching of Christian Science, which is constructive rather than destructive in its intent. Christian Science teaches that since man is made in the image and likeness of God, he has in fact a perfect body, but this body is not what it appears to the distorted and abnormal material senses. Since God is Spirit, man, in His image and likeness, must be spiritual, and man's body or individual selfhood is not what it appears to mortals, but is spiritual. Christian Science does not teach that the human mind is all in all, but that Mind which was in Christ, or the Mind which is God, is supreme. The healing in Christian Science is not performed by the power of the human will, but by the action of this beneficent Mind.

The serious charge that Christian Scientists sometimes allow children to die without medical attendance requires a word of defense and explanation. Our friends who do not believe in Christian Science ought to understand that reliance upon Christian Science methods is not an indication of fanatical zeal, but is rather a result of calm experimentation with several methods. The majority of Christian Science parents who to-day trust their children to that system of healing have had previous and often disastrous experience with the medical schools. A comparison of results has convinced them that Christian Science is more reliable, and consequently they give it their adherence and support.

It would be absolutely impossible to say in any given case of failure under Christian Science treatment that some other system of healing would assuredly have brought out better results. If such an argument were permissible, it would work both ways. Christian Scientists might with equal justice claim that the thousands of deaths under materia medica could have been prevented if the patients had resorted to Christian Science; and the results of Christian Science practice would warrant such a statement quite as much as the results of medical practice justify the opposite claim.

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THE LECTURES
November 23, 1907
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