Article November 2, 1912 Issue

I really do not think that our critic need have written a...

Frederick Dixon—Newcastle, England.

Evening Mail

I really do not think that our critic need have written a further letter to point out that he and I do not agree on the subject of Christian Science, for, as far as I can see, that is all his letter amounts to. He says in it that he will deal with the fundamental assumption on which Christian Science metaphysics is based, and he goes on to do this by quoting the text, "What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." I gather from his letter that what God has joined together is mind and matter, and he says that I speak of them as if they were separate.

Now, first, to attribute any such meaning to that text is, to put it mildly, a quaint piece of exegesis, but it is not so quaint as his declaration that I have separated mind and matter. In letter after letter I have pointed out that Christian Science accepts the idealism of natural science to the full extent of the declaration that matter is the subjective condition of mortal mind. "Mortal Mind and body," Mrs.' Eddy writes, on page 409 of Science and Health, "combine as one." How on earth the gentleman makes that a separation of mind and matter, it is impossible to say. Where Christian Science differs from the idealism of natural science is in insisting that this mind, with its subjective condition, is nothing but the negation of divine Mind and its spiritual creation.

He now says that I have pointed out that the great idealistic thinkers have had the misfortune to differ from him. That is so. What he omits is that I was forced to do this because he gently insinuated that everybody who accepted the idealistic position was an ignoramus. I was pointing out that there were quite a lot of people, commonly called great thinkers, who fell under the ban of this critic's disapproval. Then he goes on to say that, on my own showing their teaching differs from Christian Science. Of course it does, but Christian Scientists do not write voluminous letters to the papers for the purpose of pointing out how ignorant they are for differing from them. Christian Scientists are quite content to go on endeavoring to demonstrate the truth they have seen, and to allow their neighbors to demonstrate their vision of the truth without interference.

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