Article May 24, 1913 Issue

This critic says that the command of Jesus to heal the...

Frederick Dixon—Bedford, England.

Bedford Daily Circular

This critic says that the command of Jesus to heal the sick was confined to a certain period, and that it is not necessary today. I am afraid, first of all, that the critic has started out on a war of exegesis in which he will have to dispose of a very large portion of the Church of England and the Nonconformist churches. Every one knows that one of the common admissions which the churches are inclined to make with respect to Christian Science is that it has at least drawn attention to the forgotten commands to heal, while a large section of the churches are themselves today engaged to the utmost of their ability in trying to carry out the command of the Founder of Christianity to heal the sick. Beyond this, the critic is seemingly not aware that the prayer-book for years contained a healing service, so that, apparently the generations of churchmen who accepted this knew no better than Christian Scientists, and no better than the great number of Christians who are today engaged in endeavoring to heal the sick.

As a matter of fact, Jesus' command to heal the sick is not confined to a single gospel, much less to any time or place. His command to the disciples was to "preach the gospel" and to "heal the sick." If it is a fact that Christianity no longer needs the healing of the sick in order to support it, it equally no longer needs the preaching of the gospel, for Jesus drew no distinction between the two. As a matter of fact, in his last recorded words, at the mountain in Galilee, he told his disciples to "teach all nations" and to observe all things whatsoever he had commanded them. I think the critic will hardly contend that the healing of the sick was not one of the things which Jesus had commanded his disciples to do. Again, in the famous words at the end of the gospel of Mark, speaking not of his disciples alone, but of his followers in all ages and in all places, he said, "These signs shall follow them that believe," and then he went on to speak of many things, including the healing of sickness. The strongest, however, of all these sayings is that to which I alluded, recorded in the gospel of John. Here, again speaking of his followers in all ages and in all places, he said, "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also." It is perfectly certain, therefore, that the believers in Jesus believe exactly in the proportion in which they do his works. Certainly among the most insisted on of those works was the healing of the sick. If, therefore, Christians fail to heal the sick, one of their strongest claims to being believers is necessarily shattered.

There is no possible use in endeavoring to escape from the plain meaning of Jesus' words in the gospels, and that is what the Christian church is gradually coming to perceive and to admit. The only proof, indeed, a man can give that the gospel he is preaching is the gospel of Jesus the Christ is the fact that he is demonstrating his teaching in the way demanded by Jesus. That is what Mrs. Eddy saw, and she accepted the burden of proof for Christian Scientists, and no matter how violently any one may attack Christian Science, it will not affect the question in the least. The world is gradually coming to see that the only way in which Christian Science can be shown to be wrong is by its opponents bettering the example of Christian Scientists. The Christian Science movement has spread itself all over the world simply because Christian Scientists are preaching the gospel and healing the sick; and the only way in which Christian Science can possibly be superseded will be when there shall arise a body of people who, instead of attacking Christian Science with words, give humanity a teaching which will inspire it with a grander hope, a more practical religion. Such teaching would not attack Christian Science for healing the sick, but would heal the sick better than Christian Scientists are able to do. When the critic is able to do this, he will not need to write letters to the paper. When he can do it, he will learn, I think, that he is doing it in the way in which it is done in Christian Science, and that the way to do it better than Christian Scientists are doing it is to learn to live more fully in accordance with the commands of Jesus of Nazareth, and one of these commands was, "Heal the sick."

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit

This critic says that the command of Jesus to heal the...

We'd love to hear from you!

Sign up for unlimited access