Article November 11, 1916 Issue

The fact that the Christian Science movement is a world...

B. W. Oppenheim

Twin Falls (Idaho) Times

The fact that the Christian Science movement is a world wide one, drawing to itself intelligent Christian men and women and ennobling their lives, is sufficient to refute the critic's comparison of it to a stain and blight. The moral code of Christian Science is based upon the ten commandments and the teaching of Jesus the Christ. So far from encouraging the indulgence of sin, its whole practice is the overcoming of sin, not by the mere declaration that there is no sin, but by the daily practice of purity and holiness—a practice made possible by the knowledge that sin is not an irresistible force with which man copes in vain, but that all power and the only power is God, whom man reflects. It is the knowledge of the ever-presence and omnipotence of God which gives man hope in what has before seemed a hopeless struggle with sin and disease, and which enables him to overcome both sickness and sin and thereby prove them unreal.

The tendency toward purity and holiness inculcated by Christian Science was first demonstrated by its Founder, whose life of unselfishness, righteousness, and purity caused her to be respected and honored in every community where she resided. She is now generally recognized as one of the leading women not only of this age but of all ages. Her life of achievement has placed her beyond the reach of petty scandal or attempted ridicule. Her wonderful work in circumventing the "reign of lust and crime" referred to by the critic is daily becoming more evident. Only one who misreads her life could regard her in any other light than as a spiritually minded woman, whose influence was exerted only in the direction of righteousness.

The message of Christian Science is one of peace and healing. It offers to tired humanity the same message of redemption from present ills which brought about the universal recognition of primitive Christianity. Christian Scientists are not so much concerned about a far-off judgment day or an abstract millennium as they are about gaining a knowledge of God, who promises to all mankind salvation and freedom here and now from both sickness and sin.

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