A recent issue of the Enterprise announced a sermon on...

W. G. Watkins

Oconomowoc (Wis.) Enterprise

A recent issue of the Enterprise announced a sermon on "Why I am not a Christian Scientist," or "Mrs. Eddy versus Jesus Christ." The implication carries with it the assumption that the critic is thoroughly familiar with the teachings both of the Master and of Christian Science. The question arises, "How are we to know what the Master taught and what Mrs. Eddy teaches?" Jesus said : "My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself."

On page 28 of the Christian Science text-book, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mrs. Eddy says: "Neither the origin, the character, nor the work of Jesus was generally understood. Not a single component part of his nature did the material world measure aright. Even his righteousness and purity did not hinder men from saying : He is a glutton and a friend of the impure, and Beelzebub is his patron."

There are many today who still believe that Jesus' earth mission consisted of a few years of miraculous acts. From that view-point the teachings of Mrs. Eddy would conflict with his; for Christian Science emphasizes the fact that Jesus came to make available to all mankind, and for all time, the law of Life, the law of God, the law of health. He demonstrated that "the flesh profiteth nothing," that "it is the spirit that quickeneth." A comprehensive interpretation of this is given on page 26 of Science and Health : "The Christ was the Spirit which Jesus implied in his own statements: 'I am the way, the truth, and the life;' 'I and my Father are one.' . . . Divine Truth, Life, and Love gave Jesus authority over sin, sickness, and death. His mission was to reveal the Science of celestial being, to prove what God is and what He does for man."

It is not from the negative statement, "There is no matter," that the Christian Science movement has attained to the dignity of a large and rapidly growing denomination, but it is due to the exalted concept of God as Spirit, Life, and Love, and of man's true nature as His reflection. It is a realization of these facts that saves to the uttermost all that call upon Him. The general mistake of critics is that they do not understand what Christian Science gives in place of that which it repudiates. It is giving to religious faith a new and permanent inspiration by placing the emphasis not upon the temporal and finite, but upon "the things which are not seen." When it is affirmed of matter or evil that it is not real, it means that, looking from the standpoint from which the Master looked, it has not the qualities of permanence.

We are living in an age when materialistic doctrines are being cast aside for a higher order of things, — the kingdom of heaven on earth. Prophetic of the times are the words of Mrs. Eddy in the Preface to Science and Health (p. vii): "The time for thinkers has come. Truth, independent of doctrines and time-honored systems, knocks at the portal of humanity. Contentment with the past and the cold conventionality of materialism are crumbling away. Ignorance of God is no longer the stepping-stone to faith. The only guarantee of obedience is a right apprehension of Him whom to know aright is Life eternal. Though empires fall, 'the Lord shall reign forever.'"

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