Article August 31, 1912 Issue

I have read with interest in your paper a review on the...

E. M. Ramsay

Haddingtonshire (Scot.) Advertiser

I have read with interest in your paper a review on the Rev. T. H. Wright's book, "Christian Science: Its Teachings and Practice in the Light of Christianity." If we go no farther than the title of the book, it will be plain to any one who gives the matter a moment's thought that Mr. Wright has set himself an impossible task. There is no general consensus of opinion among the various Christian churches with which the teachings of Christian Science can be compared. The most divergent views are entertained on such important matters as the virgin birth, the atonement, baptism, the Lord's supper, and the after-life. A chasm, declared to be unbridgeable, divides different sections of the Presbyterians of our native land, and within the communion of the Church of England are found men holding views foundationally opposed. It is self-evident that while all these differing interpretations of Scripture may be incorrect, only one can in any case be correct. Like all the other Protestant churches, the Christian Science church claims to be founded wholly on the teachings of the Bible. It accepts unreservedly, and as historically accurate, the gospel story, and going beyond mere beliefs, understands why Jesus Christ was the Saviour of the world, and why no man can come to the Father but by him. The interpretation which Mrs. Eddy places on our Lord's words and on other passages of Scripture may differ widely from the interpretations accepted by other bodies of Christians; the proof she has to offer that hers is the correct interpretation lies in these very works of bodily healing and moral reform which our critic admits do take place. "These signs [of healing] shall follow them that believe," our Lord said. Is it then unreasonable to suppose that a failure to find these signs must indicate a lack of belief, in the sense in which the word is here used? Is it a matter for regret that Christian Science explains the teaching of the Saviour in such a way that we can grasp its inner meaning as never before, and find a new world of light and happiness opening out before us, new opportunities of usefulness presenting themselves as we ourselves become new? "Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,' St. Paul writes. The increase in health, intelligence, and well-being which we gratefully and humbly acknowledge in ourselves and in others is the outward and visible sign of improved thought, of a purer, kinder, truer, and more active condition of mind than that we manifested before we studied this subject. The benefits we have received are open to all, and we feel sure that in a few years' time the good Christian Science is doing will be yet more widely recognized.

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