Article June 22, 1912 Issue

I have read with considerable interest the attack on...

Ezra W. Palmer

Fort Morgan (Col.) Times

I have read with considerable interest the attack on Christian Science recently made by a lecturer in your city. In all discussions of religious matters it is well to bear in mind the words and works of Jesus as a standard by which to measure the good accomplished by individuals or organizations. Jesus said, "By their fruits ye shall know them." What were the works which Jesus did to prove his divine mission to save humanity? The reader is referred to the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John for the answer. In these gospels we find that Jesus went about healing the sick of all manner of disease by the power of God. He stilled the tempest, raised the dead, walked on the waves, by the exercise of the same power he employed in healing the sick. Not only did Jesus thus prove his sonship with God, but he taught that all who believed or understood his teachings should manifest the same power.

He commanded his disciples to "heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils;" and in another place he said: "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father." In another place Jesus, referring to the unbelief of the people, said, "Though ye believe not me, believe the works," showing the stress Jesus laid, not on words, but on works in proving man's sonship with God in healing the sick and overcoming evil in all its myriad forms.

Is it not apparent that they have the best right to be called Christian who do the mighty works Jesus told them to do in his name; who heal the sick by the power of God, who rescue the drunkard, the libertine, the poverty-stricken, and the sinner by the power of prayer to ever-present Love? This is what Christian Scientists to the best of their understanding are doing all over the world today. What have these critics who denounce Christian Science to show that they are entitled to the term Christian? Can they prove their understanding of God by healing the sick as Jesus commanded them to do? Yet this test of works performed was the one laid down by the Master they profess to follow. Can they truly be called Christians who do not implicitly obey the great Teacher, Jesus Christ? Would it not also be well for those who attack Christian Science to ponder the words of the Master on another occasion, when he said, "Judge not, that ye be not judged."

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