Article December 26, 1914 Issue

There has recently come to my notice a pamphlet which...

John L. Rendall—Lime Springs, Iowa

The Sun Herald

There has recently come to my notice a pamphlet which has been assiduously circulated in your locality, the title being, "Christian Science and Christianity Compared: Twenty Fundamental Differences Clearly Proven." A careful reading of this pamphlet convinces me of two things: first, that its author has not in the least grasped what Christian Science is teaching; secondly, that the supposed differences which he calls fundamental, are purely hypothetical. What he intends to convey is, that Christian Science differs in some respects from orthodox theology. This I readily concede, but I emphatically deny that it differs in any degree from fundamental Christianity.

The critic's first point of contention is: "She [referring to Mrs. Eddy] calls God a principle." This is misstatement number one. Mrs. Eddy calls God "Principle," or "the Principle of the universe, including harmonious man" (Science and Health, p. 276). The term "a principle" is just as objectionable to Christian Scientists as would be the term "a god," for from the Christian Science view-point there is but one absolute Principle, or God, the creator of all. Misstatement number two reads: "Again she contradicts the Bible regarding the creation record." I wonder which of the creation records this critic thinks Mrs. Eddy contradicts. There are two distinct and varying accounts in the Bible of the creation and origin of man. When he reads Science and Health understandingly, he will find that Mrs. Eddy accepts and emphasizes the record of spiritual creation as given in the first chapter of Genesis.

The critic's third objection states: "She contradicts the Bible regarding the creation of man." He notes, however, the fact that Mrs. Eddy adheres strongly to the Bible in regard to the creation of man as related in the first chapter of Genesis. This being true, it is impossible to accept logically and consistently another account which is entirely at variance with it. In a fourth misstatement he says: "She denies the Bible regarding the existence of man." In "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mrs. Eddy, we read: "Man, made in His likeness, possesses and reflects God's dominion over all the earth. Man and woman as coexistent and eternal with God forever reflect, in glorified quality, the infinite Father-Mother God" (p. 516).

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