Article February 20, 1915 Issue

The report of a sermon on Christian Science, which was...

Judge Clifford P. Smith

Springfield (Mass.) Union

The report of a sermon on Christian Science, which was published in a recent issue, is my reason for asking a portion of your valuable space. The speaker "called the Christian Scientists idolaters," so your report read, "as they worship a principle, not a personal God. ... The Hottentot has just as good a religion."

Invective is a projectile which carries, not forward, but backward. It is a verbal torpedo, which always explodes when you try to launch it. It is a wordy fusee, which casts a light only on the person who uses it. As for the word "Principle," or the term "divine Principle," as one of seven synonyms for God, its propriety is acknowledged by nearly all who have observed its use in Mrs. Eddy's writings. Any sincere reader of her works on Christian Science is likely to find that each and all of the synonyms which she has employed help to discover or bring into view the infinite attributes of the infinite One. Christ Jesus said, "We worship that which we know" (Rev. Ver.).

"Christian Scientists are antichrist," your report also read, "in denying that Christ is the living manifestation of God." If Christian Scientists are "antichrist," it must be for some other reason. This one is a complete failure, as any one may observe who reads Mrs. Eddy's writings in an unbiased manner. For example, on page 54 of Science and Health, speaking of Jesus, Mrs. Eddy has said, "Through the magnitude of his human life, he demonstrated the divine Life;" and on page 583 of the same book she has spoken of Christ as "the divine manifestation of God, which comes to the flesh to destroy incarnate error."

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