Article January 25, 1913 Issue

In an issue of recent date an article under the caption,...

Frank C. Barrett—Portland, Me.

Express-Advertiser

In an issue of recent date an article under the caption, "Does God Fix the Death Rate?" contains the statement that "the Christian Scientists who close their eyes to the possibilities of material aid, which may often so potently be added to the psychotherapy they are employing, swell the death rate."

For the benefit of those who may have gained an erroneous impression of the teachings of Christian Science from the statement quoted above, it is only fair to state that Christian Science bears no relation whatever to "psychotherapy," i.e., mental suggestion, hypnotism, faith-cure, etc., which is the exercise of the mortal or carnal mind. We read in Romans: "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." Here are mentioned two opposite state or conditions of mind, the one attended by evil results, the other by the very best possible results, which it is plain cannot be attained by "material aid." Near the close of Jesus' ministry he said: "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; ... because I go unto my Father." It is evident from this that Jesus expected his example to be perpetuated by his followers throughout all time, because he was going away; but his teaching he left for all. He did not use psychotherapy, which is only a new name for will-power, etc., and he proved for all time that it is God who "forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases."

Christian Science teaches that those who would follow the Master in his works must have that "mind" in them "which was also in Christ Jesus," which is quite a different thing from the carnal mind which is employed in psychotherapy. So we can pardon our critic for thinking that material aid might be useful in psychotherapy (which he mistakenly assumes is the practise of Christian Science), because psychotherapy itself is a very material theory which doubtless needs material props, since it is likely to do more harm than good. Christian Science, on the other hand, avoids the necessity for material aid by adopting the same method that Jesus and his disciples used with such unparalleled success in the first century, and which, as it is applied in Christian Science, has during the last forty years healed many thousands after every material aid had been employed in vain.

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