Editorial September 11, 1915 Issue

Spurious Literature

Archibald McLellan

We are informed that the practice of circulating manuscripts which purport to be extracts from letters written by Mrs. Eddy to her students, alleged shorthand reports of instructions given by teachers to their pupils, and other papers of doubtful authenticity, is still going on in some parts of the field. Because of this we have been asked to repeat a warning which was given editorially in the Sentinel some years ago. This we gladly do, with the hope that these papers will no longer continue to hold the attention of those who have been led to believe them to be authentic:—

"These papers are not what they purport to be, and they have been disowned and repeatedly branded as spurious by their reputed authors. Their circulation is a fraud upon those who receive them in good faith and believe them to be clear expositions of Christian Science, when as a matter of fact they are positively harmful, because they are largely incorrect both in letter and in spirit, and therefore misleading to those who depend upon them as advanced teachings of divine Science. No one but the author of Science and Health has 'explained' this book without diluting the Science which it contains.

"The principal reason that the circulation of these manuscripts is harmful is that they rob the young student of his individuality and independence, and tend to make him dependent upon the words of another rather than upon his own demonstrable understanding of the teachings of our text-book.

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