Article March 22, 1913 Issue

A clergyman in an excellent sermon, in which he expresses...

W. E. Fell

Batley (England) Reporter

A clergyman in an excellent sermon, in which he expresses admiration for the medical profession, for their devotion and courage, which we all heartily endorse, goes on to speak, perhaps not quite so kindly, of Christian Science as a "one-eyed system." In a sense he is right; we do strive to be single-eyed, for Christ Jesus declared, "If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light." I take this to mean that if we acknowledge no law but the spiritual law, as did Jesus, who overcome in his mighty works every so-called material law through his understanding of spiritual law, our bodies will manifest nothing but health and holiness or wholeness.

When this critic says that Christian Scientists "have brought themselves to believe that there is no physical," he misrepresents them. Jesus said that the physical (or the flesh) "profiteth nothing," and that we were to "take no thought" for it. But behold the fearful energy with which people lay themselves out to take thought for nothing else. To them the physical is real, that is to the physical senses; for to these nothing else is real. The only reality is, however, that which is immortal and indestructible; in other words, the spiritual.

Our critic tries to extenuate the spiritual barrenness of the Christianity of today by attempting to prove that the Founder of the Christian religion intended us to use material remedies. So far as we can judge from the gospels, he never used them himself, nor did he commend them to his followers, but he did say, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." There is no mention of oil as curative, but of the truth only. The word "oil" has a much deeper meaning than appears in its context. Throughout the Bible oil stands metaphorically for spiritual consecration. The apostle James did not say that the "oil" would heal the sick, but that "the prayer of faith" did the work. Doubtless as did their Master, so did the apostles heal patients at a distance. Where were the material means in such a case?

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March 22, 1913
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