Article October 17, 1914 Issue

In a recent issue I notice the remarks of the Rev. Mr.—...

John W. Doorly—Dewsbury, England

Mirfield and Ravensthorpe Reporter

In a recent issue I notice the remarks of the Rev. Mr.—at the Dewsbury Town Hall. This gentleman states that doctors and nurses could not be done away with, for, with all due respect to Christian Science, medical aid was a necessity. In the first place, will you permit me to state that Christian Scientists have absolutely no desire to do away with doctors or nurses? Their only desire is to have for themselves the remedial agent which they have proved to be the most efficacious; and because this agent happens to be the power of that infinite Mind or intelligence whom men call God, and because they rely wholly and solely for themselves on spiritual means, this does not mean that they desire or request others, who believe that material means are potent to help them, to desist from those means.

However, there are other opinions on the necessity of doctors and nurses, even in the ranks of materia medica. Mrs. Eddy cites the statement of the well-known surgeon, Dr. James Johnson: "I declare my conscientious opinion, founded on long observation and reflection, that if there were not a single physician, surgeon, apothecary, man-midwife, chemist, druggist, or drug on the face of the earth, there would be less sickness and less mortality;" also the statement of Dr. Mason Good: "The effects of medicine on the human system are in the highest degree uncertain; except, indeed, that it has already destroyed more lives than war, pestilence, and famine, all combined." (See Science and Health, p. 163.)

Christian Science teaches that the doctrine of Jesus Christ was the "undivided garment" (Science and Health, p. 142); that it demands the healing of the sick and the saving of the sinner; that it was the gospel of the ever-presence and infinite availability of Spirit, and that this healing system, which required neither a doctor nor a nurse, is the only one that will eventually heal and save mankind. This healing was not confined to Jesus or his disciples, since it was practised by Paul and Philip, and by the Christian church for three hundred years after, during which time they frequently raised the dead. Does the reverend gentleman suggest that the aid of a doctor or a nurse was necessary to aid in these accomplishments, and if these acts were accomplished through Christ, is not Christ "the same yesterday, and today, and forever"?

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