Article June 26, 1915 Issue

The reference to Christian Science in a lecture on the...

Judge Clifford P. Smith

The Springfield (Mass.) Union

The reference to Christian Science in a lecture on the wonders of the ancient world, as reported the other day in The Springfield Union, was far-fetched in more ways than one. According to a papyrus dating from the time of Moses, one physician wrote to another: "If you have a nervous patient, who says she has a pain in a certain part of her body, place your hand upon the part and tell her she has no pain, whereupon she will have no pain." This was said to be Christian Science.

From a Christian Science point of view, the action thus advised was an effort to induce the mesmeric effect of deception or suggestion. To quote from Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy: "Mortal mind, acting from the basis of sensation in matter, is animal magnetism" (p. 178). The practice of Christian Science is not upon this basis; it "rests on the conception of God as the only Life, substance, and intelligence" (p. 185). A Christian Scientist, therefore, in conversation with his patients, does not attempt to manipulate or deceive them. What he endeavors to do is this: "Give them divine and wholesome understanding, with which to combat their erroneous sense, and so efface the images of sickness from mortal mind" (p. 396). The effect of this practice is thoroughly wholesome, and it has been proved to be applicable to every kind of disorder.

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