Article March 5, 1910 Issue

It would not be right if the Swedish public were permitted...

Willard S. Mattox—Jamestown, N. Y. (original English.)

Skandia

It would not be right if the Swedish public were permitted to gain their impressions of Christian Science from articles appearing of late in the Swedish press. Without in the least wishing to engage in a theological controversy, I would appreciate the courtesy of enough of your space in which to correct some of the misstatements. It is said that the Christian Science text-book, Science and Health, "is the Bible of the Scientists." Christian Scientists have the same Bible that all Christendom unites in using, The King James translation, which is used in all Christian churches where the English language is spoken, is used in the Christian Science church. Science and Health is exactly what it purports to be, a key to the Scriptures. It is a commentary, and inasmuch as other denominations have their commentaries, it is difficult to understand why Christian Scientists should be criticized for having one of their own.

Christian Science is not "impossible to understand." The gospel message of salvation, as contained in Christian Science, is no more mysterious than were the teachings of Jesus, although today, as in his time, there are many who do not understand this message for one reason or another. The message itself is simple, and the fact that hundreds of thousands of men and women in all walks of life, in varying degrees of mental culture, understand and demonstrate the truth of Christian Science, seems to be satisfactory proof that it is not impossible to understand. Nothing is farther from the fact than the statement which has appeared, that Science and Health says "the Bible is full of mistakes, and can be rightly understood only when interpreted by Science and Health, which is the only book that is infallible." Science and Health makes no such statement about the Bible, and no one has ever claimed that Science and Health is infallible.

It is a mistake to suppose that the primary object of Christian Science is the healing of the body. Salvation, according to Christian Science, necessarily includes a whole mind and a whole body. Much of Jesus' ministry was devoted to the healing of disease no less than to the overcoming of sin, but he plainly regarded physical discord as the work of the devil, because when he healed one patient he referred to her as one "whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years." With the moral and spiritual improvement which comes from a better understanding of God, there goes naturally an improved physical condition.

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit

It would not be right if the Swedish public were permitted...

We'd love to hear from you!

Sign up for unlimited access