Article October 24, 1908 Issue

Christian Science denies the existence of sin and disease...

J. V. Dittemore

New York Journal

Christian Science denies the existence of sin and disease in the sense of their being any part of God's "very good" creation. The life and practice of Jesus Christ indicated very plainly that he recognized physical disease as wholly abnormal and illegitimate, and as the result of sin, including ignorance and false beliefs. Through the metaphysical process he described as knowing "the truth," he promised that mortals were to be made "free" from the penalties of these deceptions. He said of one sufferer that Satan had bound her; not that God had caused her disease, or that it was so great a reality that even the creator could feel it, but that it was the result of that which he so clearly defined as "a liar," a deception. It is through the understanding of the omnipotence of God and His ever-present availability, as taught in Christian Science, that the impotence of sin and disease becomes apparent. This does not mean that existence of these evils as a part of erring human experience is not recognized, or that they are ignored; but it does mean that their pretense is unmasked and their claims grappled with and overcome through a realization of the truth of being. . . .

Christian Scientists believe that the dominating note of true Christianity is the supremacy of spiritual power, and that the import of the teachings of the Old Testament, as well as the mission of the Saviour, was to prove that mortals must gain dominion over the flesh, which "profiteth nothing," through the Spirit, which "giveth life." The signs of the times indicate unmistakably that the world is tiring of materiality, with its forms, symbols, and "the contentions of creeds, and that it is rapidly approaching the time when, as prophesied in a recent issue of the Westminster Review, it "will recognize no God who leaves His own creatures to wriggle and writhe through unmerited pain and sorrow to a doubtful heaven or undeserved hell;" when "it will not exalt and preserve suffering and poverty on the unwarranted assumption that such misery forms the safest passport to paradise." and when it will refuse to accept "the theological anesthetics administered to lull men to present slumber by persuading them of the eventual righting of all human ills."

Christian Science declares its Principle, its rules of practice and its promise, and then willingly awaits the hour when humanity will perceive, and in some measure approve, the inestimable value of its mission.

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit

Christian Science denies the existence of sin and disease...

We'd love to hear from you!

Sign up for unlimited access