Article July 11, 1908 Issue

Christian Science teaches that all "reality" is of God,...

W. S. Morris, Jr.,—Richmond, Va.

Times-Dispatch

Christian Science teaches that all "reality" is of God, Spirit; that, therefore, the spiritual is the real, and that the material and its accredited phenomena are the unreal. In its treatment of disease Christian Science does not rely on or use any phase of the material. It insists that the only way in which to combat sin and disease successfully is to gain a proper understanding of the reality and permanence of God's creation, and the impermanence, yea, the unreality, of all that is not of Him. God's creation is really a spiritual creation, and is perfect. That it is material and imperfect, as it seems, Christian Science denies. It holds that He does not send sin and sickness upon His creatures, and that, as all He creates is eternal, and constitutes the real, it follows that sin and disease, which He did not create, are transitory, and from the standpoint of a perfect creator, who could only make a perfect creation, they are unreal—the result and passing phenomena of human belief, ignorance of the real and good. Evil is neither a factor nor a fact in the real creation. Jesus proved this to be so when he destroyed the works of the devil (evil), and taught his disciples how to overcome evil with good.

It is a mistake to assume that Christian Science recog nizes the bearing of the nervous on the physical system. It teaches that nervous and physical phenomena are the results of the beliefs of the human mind, and that it is this mind which causes and produces in mortals all the discords and ailments to which they are subject. Christian Science shows it to be impossible to evolve, with the human mind as a basis, an effectual and permanent system for the cure of disease, because its premise—that mind exists in matter and is something separate and apart from God—is wrong. It places no trust in the belief of curative properties in drugs, and it teaches that if drugs were a benefit to man, and a help in healing the sick, Christ Jesus, the greatest of all physicians, would have used them in his healing work and recommended their use to his followers.

Christian Science teaches that it is the power of God, good, alone which can heal man physically, mentally, and morally. It teaches the preeminence of spiritual forces over the material, and it does not recognize nor regard the human mind as a factor in its treatment of disease and sin. Jesus Christ taught the reality of the spiritual and the unreality of the material. Christian Science accepts and emphasizes his teachings, interprets them spiritually, and calls upon men to know God, Spirit, as omnipotent, besides whom there is no other power, if they would be delivered from every manifestation of evil, and gain eternal life. It is true that prayer is the chief resort of the Christian Scientist, and our critic might have gone farther and said that prayer is his only resort and resource. In Christian Science it is the prayer of faith that reforms the sinner and heals the sick. From it we learn that true prayer is the realization of the unity which exists between God, Spirit, and man—man made in His image and likeness, not out of the dust. "The prayer that reforms the sinner and heals the sick is an absolute faith that all things are possible to God,—a spiritual understanding of Him, an unselfed love" (Science and Health, p. I).

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit

Christian Science teaches that all "reality" is of God,...

We'd love to hear from you!

Sign up for unlimited access