Article April 9, 1910 Issue

It is true that Christian Science promises health, harmony...

John L. Rendall

Cedar Rapids (Ia.) Republican

It is true that Christian Science promises health, harmony, peace, and a reasonable amount of prosperity. It is also true that the Bible makes the same promises to all who "trust in God." Christian Science simply emphasizes the plain teachings of Scripture. The psalmist stated: "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want;" and again, "They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures." In Proverbs we read: "The fear of the Lord tendeth to life: and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil." And again: "By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, and honor, and life." The prophet Isaiah stated: "And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not." Jesus taught: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." The Bible from beginning to end is full of promises of health, strength, peace, and prosperity to "them that believe." Jesus' practical example, and that also of his immediate followers, was one of healing the sick and the sinner through their understanding of the ever-availability and all-sufficiency of the infinite power of God. It is the effort of every intelligent individual to attain the most complete, satisfactory, and harmonious conditions possible, physically, mentally, morally, spiritually.

The Christian religion teaches that these are to be found in the "kingdom of God," and Jesus taught, "The kingdom of God is within you." It therefore stands to reason that a religion which minimizes fear, which displaces discord, doubt, discouragement, which implants hope, faith, and confidence in God, which brings to the individual the consciousness of God's ever-presence and power, that which insistently and consistently attributes all power to God, must be and is a desirable possession. Christian Science is this sort of religion. It is intensely practical in all the "good things" our critic has stated that it promises, and moreover it fulfils its promises. That which produces better conditions spiritually must of necessity result in better conditions in every respect. It is therefore not to be wondered at that intelligent people everywhere are finding within the range of Christian Science that for which a weary, storm-tossed humanity has earnestly longed, because it is meeting the practical need of mankind for a satisfactory and adequate religion.

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