Article December 7, 1912 Issue

Mrs. Eddy called her teaching "Christian Science" because...

Charles K. Skinner

Cadillac (Mich.) Evening News

Mrs. Eddy called her teaching "Christian Science" because its first step is "Christian," its effort being to follow the redeeming and healing work of Christ Jesus in his daily ministrations among the people. It is Science because the Principle from which it springs and by which it operates is the understanding of God and His relation to His spiritual creation, through which understanding Jesus did his mighty works. The great Master understood God as divine Principle,—"the same yesterday, and today, and forever." He at no time claimed to do the works by his own power, but said most emphatically, "I can of mine own self do nothing;" "The Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works." His teaching and his works were in the perfect accord of Science because, endowed as he was with the highest understanding of God, his works never failed to prove the truth of his teaching. He also made the strong demand on his followers that they should do the works which he did. His words were, "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also." How can a true Christian consistently disregard this command?

The Christian Scientist is doing these works so far as he is able with his limited understanding, and the proofs of his efforts are shown in every land on the globe. He does not claim that he is perfect today, or that he knows all there is to know of God and the perfect man. He is like the boy at school who is diligent in applying the rules of his problem, and is successful in so far as he understands the underlying law. In like manner the Christian Science student knows that as his life manifests a higher spirituality and expresses more love to his brother man, he will do still better work. Jesus understood that the same law cleansed the sinner and healed the sick. To his critics (for there were critics then as now) he said, "Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk?" He knew that when the wrong thought which controlled one, whether it was fear or sin, had been eradicated, then he was healed. In like manner Mrs. Eddy writes on page 404 of Science and Health, "Healing the sick and reforming the sinner are one and the same thing in Christian Science. Both cures require the same method and are inseparable in Truth." These words certainly coincide with the Scriptural teaching, and if Christian Science is a "humbug," what of Jesus' words, "Ye shall know them by their fruits"?

It has never been claimed that Christian Science is a new religion; it is, on the contrary, a return to the spiritual understanding and application of Jesus' teaching. He said to those about him, "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." It is true that the control of mind over body is no new theory, but the trouble has been and is now that mankind has been perfectly satisfied to be controlled by the carnal mind of which St. Paul speaks, and this carnal mind has nothing but the indulgence of self-gratification in its consciousness, and as a result its fruits are externalized on the body in sin, sickness, and death. Christian Science does not teach the control of the body by such a miscalled mind, but by that Mind which the apostle said "was also in Christ Jesus." When this is brought about, the body responds to its healing power, and the man is healed morally and physically.

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