Article November 27, 1915 Issue

There is nothing in Christian Science to warrant the statement...

J. Edgar Fielding—Sarnia, Ontario, Canada

The Observer

There is nothing in Christian Science to warrant the statement that it teaches that sin does not exist to mortal sense, or that it is imaginary. Mrs. Eddy teaches that sin is responsible for the suffering and misery—the sickness, disease, and death—that is so prevalent in the world. She also insists that they who sin must suffer, and that this suffering will continue so long as the sin lasts. But sin is unreal in the sense that it is not eternal for the Scriptures declare in Revelation that "death and hell were cast into the lake of fire,"—destroyed by the power of Love, which destroys everything unlike God, good.

The statement that Christian Science denies the value of real prayer is so far from the fact that no one who has the faintest understanding of its teaching would think of accepting it. If our friend would read the chapter on Prayer in Science and Health with anything approaching an unbiased thought, he would, I am sure, find that it coincides with the teachings of Jesus. Does our friend think that because Christian Scientists do not indulge in audible prayer they do not pray aright? Jesus said, "But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." The value of prayer is proven by its results, and it is through the prayer of Christian Science that the sick are being healed, the sorrowing comforted, and the sinners reclaimed. The results are too evident for any one successfully to gainsay.

The statement is also made that Christian Science is the shadow, forerunner, and herald of anti-Christ. Anti-Christ is that which denies and opposes the Christ. Jesus said that those who believed on him should do the works that he did—heal the sick, give sight to the blind. Now, could any body of people do those works while living in opposition to and denying him? The question then is, Does Christian Science deny or affirm the Christ-teaching? Christian Scientists point to the fruits of their work as an answer to this question.

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