Article April 10, 1909 Issue

It is not strange that one whose belief as to what constitutes...

Alfred Farlow

Bloomington (Ill.) Pantagraph

It is not strange that one whose belief as to what constitutes science is based upon material sense, should differ in his conclusions from Christian Scientists, who reason from spiritual premises; but when one undertakes to deal with the arguments of a Christian Scientist, we have a right to insist that they be weighed against our premises and not against his. The question regarding the veracity of material sense is a much mooted one, and since the gentleman makes the charge that I speak with "metaphysical obscurity" he may be better satisfied if I quote of the opinions of the leading scientists of the day. In discussing the properties of matter, Dr. G. W. in Marmsworth's Self-Educator Magazine, page 231. declared: "So it became necessary to conclude—since matter, to use the words of Mr. Balfour, 'had been not only explained, but explained away'—that matter is made of electricity, or is merely an electrical phenomenon. Hence the question arises—What, then, is electricity? We may here briefy say that electricity is none other than a mode or form of energy. In other words, matter is merely a particular form of energy."

The Van Norden Magazine contains an interesting article by Hereward Carrington, from which we extract the following: "Matter, it has been found, is not everlasting and indestructible—as it was thought—but it can be split up and disassociated, and even caused to vanish and cease to be matter altogether. The phenomena of radio-activity prepared the field for this; and then came forward Dr. Gustave Le Bon, membre de l' Academie de Belgique, whose previous work accorded him a high place in scientific circles, and in his 'Evolution of Matter' asserts that he has caused matter to vanish without return, and that he has found that it ceases to be matter altogether. Of course Dr. Le Bon is not alone in this. Several other English, American, and European scientists have advanced very much the same ideas: but not with Le Bon's sweeping conclusiveness. Further, the right of priority belongs to him, in a sense, since he advanced his ideas when no one in the scientific world paid any heed to them: and it is only recently that they have won acceptance. What he says, therefore, is of the highest value; while his conclusions are sufficiently sweeping and far-reaching to affect every one who follows the trend of science at all. Thus, for instance, we have read: 'Matter, hitherto deemed indestructible, vanishes slowly by the continuous disassociation of its component atoms.' There can be no question that Dr. Le Bon's experiments are authoritative and conclusive. He has been at work on them for ten years, and was the first to announce to the scientific world many of his discoveries. His past reputation as a careful scientist ensures his work, and acts as a guarantee of its genuineness and care. Further, Dr. Le Bon clearly shows us how his results were brought to pass. The facts are established beyond question. It becomes merely a matter of interpretation."

Dr. Le Bon declares: "Energy is not indestructible. It is unceasingly consumed, and tends to vanish like the matter which represents one of its forms." We do not vouch for the correctness of these deductions, but famous men confidently affirm that they have been and can be demonstrated, and if this be true, our critic's demand is supplied and matter is explained away from a material point of view. It is our purpose to deal with the subject from a spiritual point of view. If the gentleman has read the Bible as carefully as he has "Alice in Wonderland," he is aware that Jesus, who from a Christian standpoint was the greatest scientist the world has ever known, said, "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing." The word flesh in the text is evidently equivalent to our word matter, since it unmistakably refers to materiality in contradiction to Spirit. Jesus said, "Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." clearly expressing the fact that the state of existence which insures health and harmony, that which is commonly called heaven, is not to be found through material observation, but is within the individuality of the man as a characteristic of God's image and likeness, and that it must be discovered there and brought forth in the life of the individual in order to insure what is needed for the existence and comfort of the man.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

THE PUBLISHING HOUSE BUILDING FUND