Article May 9, 1914 Issue

In a published article it is stated, "Judge Smith may know...

Eugene O'Neill

Lewiston (Idaho) Tribune

In a published article it is stated, "Judge Smith may know law as a judge, but he is out of his province in theology." Christian Science is not a discussion of theology; it is a presentation of the truths that Jesus taught and demonstrated with "signs following." The scribes and Pharisees sat in Moses' seat and interpreted the Mosaic law, being well versed in the Scriptures; but Jesus did not select his disciples from the scribes and Pharisees. He called the tax-gatherer and the humble fisherman. These men imbibed the truth that Jesus taught, and they were afterward able to do the works that he did. Jesus' command was to preach the gospel and heal the sick, and these early Christians lived up to the command. History shows that they raised the dead until the end of the second century, and healed the sick until the end of the third.

It is necessary to understand the distinction drawn by Christian Science between the human personality of Jesus and the Christ. In "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mrs. Eddy (p. 332) we read: "Jesus was born of Mary. Christ is the true idea voicing good, the divine message from God to men speaking to the human consciousness. The Christ is incorporeal, spiritual,—yea, the divine image and likeness, dispelling the illusions of the senses; the Way, the Truth, and the Life, healing the sick and casting out evils, destroying sin, disease, and death." As Paul says, "There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." The corporeal man Jesus was human. Christian Science does not deny that Jesus was divinely inspired, nor does it deny the divinity of Christ, but rather declares (Science and Health, p. 25), "The divinity of the Christ was made manifest in the humanity of Jesus."

It is said that Christian Science is infidel. If healing the sick and the sinner is infidelity, then Jesus was infidel, as were his immediate followers. A Christian Scientist can only say in the language of Paul, "After the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers." The claim made for the Christian Science concept of God and man's relation to Him is that it heals the sick and reforms the sinner as the Master said should be done by those who believed on him. This is brought out plainly in Jesus' last words before the ascension: "And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following."

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