Article May 8, 1909 Issue

A discovery cannot be considered apart from the discoverer,...

Algernon Hervey-Bathurst

Surrey (Kingston, Eng.) Comet

A discovery cannot be considered apart from the discoverer, but Mrs. Eddy needs no justification at my hands, her life and actions are sufficient proof of what she, the Leader of the movement, is. The fact that men and women today, in well-nigh land, bear grateful testimony to the freedom from the bonds of sickness, sorrow, and sin which has come into their life through the study of the Scriptures in the light of the Christian Science text-book, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mrs. Eddy, is proof enough that what she has revealed is the truth. Our critic surely cannot imagine that to turn people to the Bible, to make the spiritual meaning of the Scripture clear, to lay stress on the importance of fulfilling the injunctions of the Master as does Mrs. Eddy, is a work that can do other than uplift humanity! Christian Science is based on the healing of the sick and the reforming of the sinner; and, as is well known, the healing of the sick was considered as essential a part of religion as was the reforming of the sinner, for some three hundred years after the crucifixion, in fulfilment of the distinct command of the Master to preach the gospel and heal the sick. Our critic should regret as much as should every one else that gradually this great command was divided, and men began to turn to drugs instead of to God for healing, and instead of endeavoring to uphold the divided garment we should thank God that the world was able to receive the rediscovery of the omnipotence and omnipresence of Him "who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases," which has been made clear to all earnest students of the Christian Science text-book.

Christian Science does not heal the sick by the mental influence described by our critic, but by following the teachings of the greatest metaphysician the world has ever known, and, as Mrs. Eddy has said, on page 313 of Science and Health, "the most Scientific man that ever trod the globe." "This is life eternal," said Jesus, "that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." God is good, and to the extent, therefore, that we know God or good aright, we must lose the consciousness of evil, and it is as we humbly endeavor to let "that mind" be in us "which was also in Christ Jesus" that we shall succeed in demonstrating the knowledge of Christ, or Christian Science. Jesus clearly destroyed sickness and sin, thereby revealing the fact that neither sickness nor sin was legitimate, real if you please, or part of God's law, which he said he had come not to destroy but to fulfil. Now the Master's "mighty works" were not the result of the working of the mortal or human mind, viz., suggestion, mesmerism, or hypnotism, but they were the result of understanding, as said Jesus, that "I and my Father are one," and that, in the words of John, "now are we the sons of God,"—having dominion, that is, over everything which is unlike God and His perfect creation.

The attitude of Christian Scientists to those who do not agree with their views is not one of antagonism or competition. Christian Scientists hold in highest esteem the efforts of all engaged in healing the sick and preventing sin and suffering, and they very fully appreciate the motives of self-sacrifice and love for humanity that have prompted the efforts of so many great physicians throughout the world; nevertheless they maintain that the method of healing taught and practised by Jesus and his disciples is the right way; and they know that to understand and apply his teachings is not refusing "to use all wise means for combating disease." To those who hold other views they say, in the words of Abram, "Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, ... for we be brethren."

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