Article June 14, 1913 Issue

It would be difficult to imagine how a greater number of...

Albert E. Miller

Marietta (Ohio) Register-Leader

It would be difficult to imagine how a greater number of misstatements could be introduced into an article of equal length than one finds in the criticism of Christian Science in the Resgister-Leader of recent date. Christian Science is as widely separated from the things which your correspondent names in part one of his attack as are the poles separated from each other. Christian Science has nothing in common with mesmerism, spiritualism, hypnotism, and other phenomena of this sort. Christian Science is based upon the teaching and practise of Jesus of Nazareth, and it heals the sick by entire reliance upon divine power as did Jesus and his disciples.

To charge Mrs. Eddy with having absorbed queer superstitions and strange beliefs in her early years, is at variance with the truth. Mrs. Eddy's early education was, by reason of her invalidism, mostly dependent upon the home training and loving direction of her family, and her studies were very largely planned by her brother Albert, who was a graduate of Dartmouth College, an eminent lawyer, and a chosen representative to Congress from his native state, New Hampshire. Her advantages in this respect were superior to those of the average child, and to state otherwise is to claim that which is untrue. It is absurd to charge the members of the Christian Science church with being compelled to distribute the literature of their faith. Whatever the members may do in this respect, they do gladly and voluntarily, as they realize the necessity of sharing the good one has if one would possess more, and they very naturally recommend to others the perusal of that literature which they have found beneficial and helpful in teaching them how to overcome disease and sin.

The charge that Mr. Quimby was the originator of this teaching has been refuted many times, in season and out of season. Mr. Quimby was one of many to whom Mrs. Eddy applied for relief from her ailments, and through his magnetic treatment she seemed to obtain, for a time, a measure of relief. In her enthusiasm for this new-found cure she may have assumed, for the time being, that his gift was traceable to a higher source than that of the others who had endeavored to help her. Later, however, she found that the help she had thus obtained was temporary in its effect, and through her vanishing hope she was forced to the discovery of Christian Science, whose Principle is God, the giver of every good and perfect gift. It is sad indeed that one should be called upon to refute such base falsehoods as those uttered by our critic concerning a woman whose whole earthly life was one tireless effort to benefit others. Mrs. Eddy's later years witnessed in a measure the fruition of her early hopes. Those who had been sick and sorrowing poured in upon her their grateful testimonies of the healing of sickness and of their emancipation from sin. Let me assure your readers that the onward march of the Christian Science movement has in no sense diminished, and today there are being reared in many cities of America and abroad beautiful church edifices which testify to the strength and permanence of Mrs. Eddy's teaching.

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit

It would be difficult to imagine how a greater number of...

We'd love to hear from you!

Sign up for unlimited access