Article August 14, 1915 Issue

The fact that a clergyman would not allow a lecture on...

Judge Clifford P. Smith

Sioux Falls (S. Dak.) Press

The fact that a clergyman would not allow a lecture on Christian Science to appear in your columns without giving vent to a tirade of vilification, is one of the signs of these times. An evolution of religious thought is going on, and the rate of its progress is indicated by the nature of the opposition it has aroused.

The speaker whose lecture was recently published, preached the gospel of Christ as it is understood in Christian Science, and left all other religionists to do the same from their different points of view. He presented what he had found to be true, in a dignified, orderly, and dispassionate manner, so that all who might be interested in his subject could calmly consider the points we stand for in the quiet of their own meditation. This was something which your reverend and censorious correspondent would not tolerate. He said, "The American people are a busy folk, and have not time to think out the answer to every word-puzzle." In fine, he reasserted the claim—outworn by the clergy of a former period—that the people are not able to think for themselves.

It is to be observed, however, that your correspondent paid but little attention to the particular lecture for which his letter was to be an answer, since it for the most part consisted in a prolonged effort to say whatever might be prejudicial to Christian Science. Only on one point did he fairly state the teaching of Christian Science, and even this single point was not without erroneous comment. After stating that Christian Scientists do not believe that Christ is God (and it is true they do not believe that Jesus is God), your correspondent went on to say: "Christian Science thus breaks with historic Christianity, and allies itself with Unitarianism, Judaism, and Mohammedanism against the most fundamental doctrine of Christianity, the incarnation."

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