Article November 18, 1911 Issue

Some one has said that it is good policy to leave some...

Charles K. Skinner—Fremont, Mich.

News-Indicator

Some one has said that it is good policy to leave some things unspoken. After reading two articles on what a writer represents Christian Science to be, I am inclined to think the statement is true. The fact is, the gentleman has made a man of straw, which he has vigorously belabored for the edification of your readers, and his attempted witticisms are out of place, considering his misapprehension of the subject. First, our critic says, "The Bible does not teach that God is all." It would seem that he has read the Scriptures to but little purpose if he has overlooked the many statements in the New Testament in which God is referred to as all in all. In Jeremiah we read, "Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? . . . Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord."

As to the reality of matter, Christian Science takes the position that all of God's creations are spiritual, perfect, and eternal, as expressed in the first chapter of Genesis, in which God said: "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion . . . over all the earth." "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good." Christian Science does not charge that, after having created perfection, God then made imperfect man and a universe subject to sickness and decay. This theory of creation is but the expression of the carnal or mortal mind externalized in the belief of another power, another creator. To the material senses matter seems a reality, for matter is all they can comprehend, but these senses are no more real to God and the spiritual man than is matter. This position taken by Mrs. Eddy, and once scoffed at by the learned physical scientist, has been accepted by many noted scholars of our age. Professor Ostwald of the University of Leipsic, Germany, writes, "Matter is a thing of thought." Grant Allen says, "The universe as known to us, consists wholly of Mind, and matter is a doubtful and uncertain inference of the human intelligence." Mr. Huxley, Professor Bowne, Professor Dorris, and many other students of deep research take the same position. It is true that the Bible states that "God is a Spirit," but the revised edition reads, "God is Spirit," filling all space. Christian Science teaches that man is the image and likeness of God, Spirit; hence he is spiritual.

The writer says that "man is not coexistent with God." If man is the image and likeness, he is certainly coexistent with God, and any other position would be impossible. This coincides with the Bible. Does our critic deny it? Christian Science does not accept a man of dust as God's creation when He had already created a perfect man. Even the thought is an insult to the Almighty. The material senses are unreal and deceptive because they have brought the race no nearer to the understanding of God and the real man than it was six thousand years ago. They tell us nothing of the spiritual, and make very many mistakes as to the material. Job had learned this when he said, "Canst thou by searching find out God?"

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit

Some one has said that it is good policy to leave some...

We'd love to hear from you!

Sign up for unlimited access