Article March 4, 1911 Issue

A recent article which states that it is "horrible heresy...

Charles K. Skinner

Battle Creek (Mich.) Enquirer

A recent article which states that it is "horrible heresy that there can be such a thing as purely spiritual religion," is amusing to those who have even a slight understanding of the subject. The gentleman freely admits the power of Christian Science to heal disease, but his persistent effort to divorce spirituality from it, and in fact from all religion, is decidedly inconsistent with one who doubtless accepts Christ's teaching as the truth. Christian Science accords with the Scripture which says that "faith without works is dead." In other words, that a man to show his spirituality and his trust in God's love and care for him and for all His children, must do so in his daily living, and not merely in long prayers and euphonious words. To say at one moment that God is omnipotent and in the next that He requires some material remedy with which to do His mighty works, is the height of absurdity.

Inasmuch as Mrs. Eddy's teaching is precisely along the line of that of Jesus, one must admit that it is spiritual, or take issue with the teaching of the Master. Jesus said very plainly, "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing." Jesus constantly strove to lead the people away from his personality to God, Spirit, as the Principle of his works. He said, "I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works." Again he said: "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."

There is certainly no concession to materialism in this teaching. Jesus' conception of sin, sickness, and death as expressed by mortals, was that of wrong thought externalized. It made no difference in his work of healing whether it was the result of sin, so-called heredity, or infection, or whether it was functional or organic. He saw the discord as something entirely foreign to man as created in the image and likeness of God, man given the birthright of dominion over all his environments, even the material body and its so-called laws.

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