Article September 30, 1911 Issue

The major premise of Christian Science is that God, who...

Frank C. Barrett

Rockland (Me.) Courier-Gazette

The major premise of Christian Science is that God, who is Spirit, Life, Truth, and Love, is the cause and creator of all that has real existence. The minor premise is that all God created He created in kind,—it is like Himself in quality, manifesting His wisdom, perfection, and grace in all continuity. The conclusion which must be derived from this is that God is not responsible for evil. Sin, sickness, and death cannot be classified among the "very good" things that God made. Thus, starting from the main premise you may state as many propositions as you like, and if the syllogism is correctly drawn the conclusions will be similar in every instance. The Christian Science text-book contains hundreds of propositions based on the one fact of the allness of God, or divine Mind, and in no case does one proposition contradict any other proposition in the book.

Jesus said, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Free from what? Why, from error of every kind. Now right here is where Christian Science "bulks large in denial." It denies error and refuses to give it place or power. Nothing less would be scientific if Truth is real. However, we are not so much concerned as to what Christian Science denies as we are concerning what it gives in place of what it denies. While it denies error, it leaves Truth in its place. While it denies the false sense of the universe, it gives in the place thereof a more perfect sense which liberates from discord and inharmony and establishes the enduring and true harmony in all things, and brings the "peace of God, which passeth all understanding." Now, let us continue and apply this teaching to sin. If sin is a reality, it can never be overcome and it would be useless to try to "resist it." Whereas, by knowing its unreality, seeing that there is "nothing in it," you are in a position to grapple with it and overcome it. If, then, we serve God, good, supremely, we will serve sin not at all, and it will pass out of our sight just as surely as darkness gives place to the light.

Mrs. Eddy says, "A sinner is not reformed merely by assuring him that he cannot be a sinner because there is no sin" (that is, merely to say there is no sin does no good); but, as she also makes clear, "to put down the claim of sin, you must detect it, remove the mask, point out the illusion,and thus get the victory over sin and so prove its unreality" (Science and Health, p. 447). This gives an altogether different meaning from that conveyed by the reverend gentleman in his reference to the passage from the Christian Science text-book first quoted, and it annuls all that he has said on the subject. Therefore, by denying sin, Christian Science stands for all that is good and pure and Christlike, for it will have none of it.

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit

The major premise of Christian Science is that God, who...

We'd love to hear from you!

Sign up for unlimited access