Editorial April 19, 1913 Issue

EXACTNESS IN STATEMENT

Archibald McLellan

Christian Scientists who travel to any extent are often surprised to hear expressed in conversations to which they must listen, the most erroneous concepts of Christian Science, and they wonder how and where such misinformation could have originated. The persons talking appear to be well informed on other subjects, and generally intelligent in their grasp of affairs, but are utterly without knowledge of what Christian Science is or what it stands for. Few, however, stop to think that in many instances these misconceptions of Mrs. Eddy's teachings are due to the careless or indefinite statements of Christian Scientists themselves. For instance, we often hear Christian Scientists say that they repeated "the scientific statement of being" (Science and Health, p. 468), and were straightway healed. This is, of course, true, but a person who knows nothing of Christian Science, hearing this declaration, might suppose that the person making it claimed that the mere repetition of Mrs. Eddy's words had produced a miracle, whereas the idea intended to be conveyed was that these words express the true status of man and his relation to God, and by their repetition the person was so reminded of this true status and relation that he was enabled to realize the unreality and powerlessness of the evil which had seemed so real to him while forgetful of God's omnipotence and the perfection of His creation.

Another expression oftentimes used by Christian Scientists when referring to some untoward happening, and which it is almost safe to assume does not express what they intend to say, runs something like this: "I know it is for some good purpose, or it would not have happened." To the person who does not know that Christian Science teaches that God does not work through evil to accomplish good, this statement is likely to convey the impression that Christian Scientists believe that sin, sickness, disaster, and death are of God's creation, and the means by which He governs the universe; whereas Christian Science utterly and absolutely negatives this belief, which is so entirely opposite to the nature and manifestation of Deity.

We might quote many other careless, indefinite, or inadequate statements from which the public has gained a false impression of Mrs. Eddy's teachings, but these seem sufficient to indicate that Christian Scientists are not always as careful as they should be in expressing themselves. It will not do for them to say that no harm is done by these and similar erroneous expressions, because their thought is right, nor can they justify their failure to express themselves correctly by Mrs. Eddy's words on page 349 of Science and Health: "The chief difficulty in conveying the teachings of divine Science accurately to human thought lies in this, that like all other languages, English is inadequate to the expression of spiritual conceptions and propositions, because one is obliged to use material terms in dealing with spiritual ideas. The elucidation of Christian Science lies in its spiritual sense, and this sense must be gained by its disciples in order to grasp the meaning of this Science."

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