Article December 16, 1911 Issue

In a recent issue the Rev. John W. Greenwood is reported...

Alfred Farlow

Oshkosh (Wis.) Northwestern

In a recent issue the Rev. John W. Greenwood is reported as having said: "Christian Science has spoken nobly for the spiritual; it has not always practised what it preached." The gentleman evidently has overlooked the point that Christian Science, like mathematics, does not practise itself. It must be understood and practised by somebody, and if Christian Science, as he admits, has "spoken nobly for the spiritual," it has done its part; and it remains for the adherent to do the work. If Christian Science has spoken more nobly from a spiritual point of view than some other religious theories, and still the people have not deported themselves accordingly, the point to be lamented is not that Christian Science is wanting, but that the age is so steeped in materialism that it refuses to move forward even under the impulse of Christian Science.

Certainly Christian Science points to the "unselfish," as our critic declares. The old saying is, "One man can lead a horse to the water, but twenty cannot make him drink." However, the writer has a very large acquaintance among Christian Scientists, having been identified with the movement for a number of years, and he thinks it is but just to say that those persons who have become adherents of Christian Science have, as a rule, been greatly improved morally as well as otherwise. The mere fact that one makes use of the best things in life should not be taken as positive proof that one is not spiritually elevated, for the purest and best in the material most nearly approaches the spiritual. However, material possessions should be a secondary matter to those who appreciate the Master's teaching: "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven."

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