Editorial January 1, 1916 ISSUE

"One thing I know"

Archibald McLellan

The fact that so many persons have become Christian Scientists because they have been healed of disease through the ministration of those who practise Mrs. Eddy's teachings, has led some to believe that physical healing is the sole aim and purpose of Christian Science. For this reason many of the published criticisms of this Science have had to do only with this phase of its ministry, and the attempt has always been to discredit in one way or another the statements made by those who have been healed. These critics have assumed to believe that the testimonies of healing given at our Wednesday evening meetings and through our periodicals are based upon the more or less amateurish diagnoses of those who give these testimonies; therefore their criticisms of Christian Science healing have been based upon the supposition that the persons referred to were simply victims of their own imagination, because the supposed serious nature of the ailments from which they suffered was not substantiated by the diagnoses of physicians.

The facts are, however, that very few persons who turn to Christian Science for healing do so until they have unsuccessfully tried one or more medical systems and have been treated by one or several physicians. It is likewise to be noted that the diagnoses reported by them in their statements concerning their healing are the diagnoses of these same physicians. While it is quite true that in at least half of these instances (according to the admission of an authority in medical circles) the diagnoses may have been wrong, it is also true that these diagnoses were given to the patient and his friends by the physicians in attendance, and formed the basis for whatever treatment was administered by them. As such they stand in precisely the same relation to the truth as do all other physical diagnoses, and undoubtedly they would have been the foundation for death certificates if these had become necessary.

Further than this, another physician of long experience and high standing declares that aside from a limited number of diseases the symptoms of which are unmistakable, in nine cases out of ten that come to him for diagnosis and treatment the doctor can only "make a guess" at the real nature of the disease, and prescribe experimentally until he hits upon something that seems to meet the conditions, with, in the wholly baffling cases which every physician occasionally gets, a postmortem as a last resort.

It would seem, then, that a medical diagnosis is of at least doubtful value in any event, and particularly as the basis of an argument against a system which recognizes as the one infallible authority Him "who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases." Granted that the diagnosis is correct in only half of the cases that come to the Christian Science practitioner after the physicians have admittedly done all in their power, it is doubly to the credit of Christian Science that it succeeds where materia medica has failed. As for the other half, whether the diagnosis was right or wrong, they can and do say as did the erstwhile blind man, "One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see."

As a matter of fact Christian Science does not base its appeal solely upon its healing work, even though the majority of those who accept this teaching turned to it primarily for relief from physical or mental suffering. This is clearly set forth in "Rudimental Divine Science" (p. 2 ), where Mrs. Eddy declares that "healing physical sickness is the smallest part of Christian Science. It is only the bugle-call to thoughtand action, in the higher range of infinite goodness. The emphatic purpose of Christian Science is the healing of sin; and this task, sometimes, may be harder than the cure of disease; because, while mortals love to sin, they do not love to be sick." The truth of this statement is borne out in the lives of her followers. A Christian Scientist must necessarily adhere to the tenets of Christian Science (p. 497 of Science and Health), the first of which is: "As adherents of Truth, we take the inspired Word of the Bible as our sufficient guide to eternal Life;" and the last: "And we solemnly promise to watch, and pray for that Mind to be in us which was also in Christ Jesus; to do unto others as we would have them do unto us; and to be merciful, just, and pure."

The man or woman who earnestly tries to be obedient to these teachings cannot help being a better man or woman than ever before, a more loving and helpful neighbor, and a truly devout Christian. This should be and is the aim of every genuine Christian Scientist.

Archibald McLellan.
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