Editorial October 11, 1913 Issue

Faith and Intelligence

Annie M. Knott

Strangely enough, apart from the teachings of Christian Science, faith and intelligence are not supposed to have any direct relation to each other, and this explains to large extent the antagonism to Christian Science expressed by many who suppose that the faith which it inculcates is divorced from intelligence. A prominent member of an orthodox church once said that for his part he would much rather trust to a good pair of oars, if out on a storm-tossed lake, than faith. The Scientist to whom this remark was addressed replied that she would, too, so far as the kind of faith which he evidently meant was concerned; but that Christian Science had an altogether different concept of faith to offer, one which led to the healing of the sick when all material means had failed, and which brought safety and peace to Jesus' terrified disciples when their oars and nautical skill were of no avail.

It can hardly be questioned that those who prove the power of the spiritual over the material would display very little intelligence if they failed to place the deepest reliance upon spiritual ways and means. It is, however, hardly necessary to remind students of Science and Health that blind faith has no place in its teachings, that understanding of God and of man's relation to Him is insisted upon at every step of the way. Respecting this, Mrs. Eddy says, "Until belief becomes faith, and faith becomes spiritual understanding human thought has little relation to the actual or divine" (p. 297). It thus becomes clear that we must press on until all our thought and endeavor is related to the actualities of being which express intelligence and power. The student of Christian Science learns that disease has no intelligence. In spite of popular belief it can neither make nor enforce laws of suffering or of death. It is also true that drugs have no intelligence to go of their own volition to the part of the body supposed to be affected, yet mortals in general blindly accept this belief and bow down before a god that cannot save, quite oblivious of the fact that the awakened spiritual sense, through its reflection of divine intelligence, lays hold upon the spiritual law which proves the nothingness of mortal belief and overcomes both sin and suffering.

No professed Christian would question that Christ Jesus presented the highest type of manhood, manifested the highest intelligence ever presented to humanity, yet his standards were altogether different from those of mortals either in his day or at the present time. He constantly called for greater faith in God, especially when the more aggressive claims of evil presented themselves, as sin, disease, and death, as storm and tempest, or as a lack of needed supply. Never once did he say that they had too much faith, although he insisted upon demonstration when he said, "Where is your faith?" This was when they had failed to still the storm! They very likely thought they had faith, but they took in the material evidences of impending destruction and then called upon the Master to do their work for them, thus placing the burden of proof upon another.

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