Article May 20, 1911 Issue

Christian Science teaches that sin, disease, and death are...

James D. Sherwood

Temple (Text.) Telegram

Christian Science teaches that sin, disease, and death are unreal in the sense that they are not the works of God. The Scriptures declare there is none beside Him; that He made all that was made, "for of him, and through him, and to him, are all things;" and that "God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good." When sin, disease, and death are considered in Christian Science, they are classified in their due rank, of that which seemeth to be but is not. To say there is no sin and then to commit what is commonly known as sin, is an unpardonable offense, and it will produce certain and unavoidable punishment. A Christian Scientist, probably more than any other individual, understands there is no escape from punishment for sin, if he indulges in the practice of sinning; and he learns how to overcome the claim of sin by proving his mastery over sin, thus making it unreal in his experience. When he has finally overcome all sin, he has proved the unreality of sin; and when all men in like manner overcome sin, then sin will be without a victim, without a witness, and sin will be lost to consciousness, will become unreal. This achievement is possible; it is the ultimate goal. Each individual must work out his own salvation, each must master temptation to sin, get the mastery over sin and thus demolish it. When this is finally accomplished, it will then be seen and acknowledged that all that is unlike God, all that is carnal, sinful, transient, and finite, is illusive phenomena.

In declaring the unreality of matter, it is well to know that Christian Science does not teach that creation is unreal, that the beauties of nature are illusive. It does not teach that what is useful and good is unreal; but it teaches that all reality is spiritual and not material. Mortal men see everything as matter; they do not see things as they are. This is due to their immature condition and belief in something apart from God. All that really exists is Spirit and Spirit's manifestation; nothing really is material since what is called matter is but a subjective state of erring mortal consciousness. The unreality of matter is now becoming more generally acknowledged by physicists than formerly, and their discoveries along this line confirm the statement made by Mrs. Eddy as early as 1866. In her book entitled "Retrospection and Introspection" (p. 24), she writes: "During twenty years prior to my discovery I had been trying to trace all physical effects to a mental cause; and in the latter part of 1866 I gained the scientific certainty that all causation is Mind, and every effect a mental phenomenon."

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