Article November 21, 1914 Issue

I cannot help feeling that the clergyman who complains of...

Algernon Hervey Bathurst

Newcastle (England) Chronicle

I cannot help feeling that the clergyman who complains of my not replying to all the statements he made as to the practice of Christian Science, is somewhat inconsistent. I said very emphatically in my previous letter that in giving Christian Science to the world Mrs. Eddy was reiterating the teaching of Christ Jesus, having first proved that what he taught to the fishermen and others in Judæa and Galilee nearly two thousand years ago, is as practical, and therefore as scientific, or demonstrable, in this twentieth century as it was then. Since the Founder of Christianity revealed absolute Truth, it is obvious that if the knowledge of Truth healed the sick for some three hundred years after the ascension, a knowledge of that same Truth is able to and must heal the sick today.

Now, it is with some regret that I am compelled, at this critic's own request, to refer to his statement that "the practice of those who believe in it [Christian Science]" tends to "become a real peril to society." In the first place, it is wise always to be careful when criticizing something one has not throughly tested. There are many thousands of men and women who have proved that, thanks to Christian Science, they are able to understand and apply the teaching of Christ Jesus as never before. This being the case, the critic can scarcely insist that the practice of Christian Science, or in other words the whole-hearted acceptance of the teaching of the Founder of Christianity, including the scientific understanding of how to make that teaching practical, has "become a real peril to society." There is no getting away from results, and just as the man who was healed of blindness in the temple said, in reply to the Pharisees who questioned him as to how he had been healed, "One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see," so the man who has turned to Christian Science and has been healed of some functional or organic disease, is left in no doubt whatever as to the healing or as to what has healed him.

The critic considers that my last letter was a long one on the merits of Christian Science. If, however, I were to endeavor to explain to him in detail the practice of Christian Science, it would be very much longer than the Chronicle would care to publish. In conclusion, however, I would like to say that the standard of Christian Science is the standard of the Founder of Christianity, namely, that a tree is known by its fruits. The fruits, or works, therefore, must remain the final answer, and can be the only test by which Christian Science, or any other system, can be fairly judged.

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