Editorial October 7, 1916 Issue

No Superstition in Science

Annie M. Knott

ON page 83 of Science and Health Mrs. Eddy says, "Between Christian Science and all forms of superstition a great gulf is fixed, as impassable as that between Dives and Lazarus." It goes without saying that the spiritual illumination which comes with physical healing in Christian Science removes from human consciousness many of the dark shadows which have seemingly been responsible for a multitude of ills; but as the demand of Truth is perfection, we need to press on until no false belief obscures for us the sunlight of divine Life.

When Paul preached on Mars Hill he was wisely conciliatory to the people whom he addressed, some of whom were deeply religious according to the beliefs of their own nation and time, while others were philosophical rather than religious; but all of them believed in matter and its asserted laws, and so from Paul's spiritual viewpoint they were still in bondage to superstition respecting both God and man. We must not forget that while "his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry," his only desire was to make known to them the true God whom they were ignorantly seeking to worship, and so we find him presenting a lofty concept of Deity as one who is never far from any of us, because "in him we live, and move, and have our being." There are perhaps very few who realize that the belief of life in matter is responsible for all superstition; yet a clear analysis of this statement will prove that all forms of superstition are attached to materiality, and that when we rise to perceive the essential dignity of divine Mind and its manifestations, superstition is ruled out.

Students of physical science would of course disclaim all belief in superstition, and the appeal to reason certainly seems to be a step in the right direction; but, as Mrs. Eddy reminds us (Science and Health, p. 167), "an error in the premise must appear in the conclusion," and so the belief of life in matter, which means a sense of life apart from God, must result in error and discord until material belief gives place to spiritual understanding. Strange as it may seem, many who are accounted intelligent people have been found willing to admit that certain physical ailments could be cured by merely carrying about in the pocket some article, as, for instance, a potato or a chestnut, and this, too, after what were considered powerful drugs had been taken in vain. Physicians would smile at the recital of such experiences, but they could not deny them and they would undoubtedly regard the belief in the potato or the chestnut as superstitious, while they would hesitate to admit this of their own orthodox remedies. The important question, however, at this point would be how it happened that the one apparently cured while the other failed to do so.

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