Article February 19, 1916 Issue

The article in a recent issue entitled "Christ and Mrs. Eddy"...

Charles W. J. Tennant—London, England

New Days

The article in a recent issue entitled "Christ and Mrs. Eddy" reveals an extraordinary misunderstanding of both the teachings of Jesus and of Christian Science. Our critic, in speaking of Jesus, says, "He lived a life of poverty, self-denial, and persecution, and went at last, of his own choice, and innocent of all offense, to a violent and shameful death." Jesus certainly did not lay up any store of materiality, for he knew perfectly well that matter was not substance. All the same, at a moment's notice he could apply his spiritual understanding to produce loaves and fishes for the multitude, money from a fish's mouth to pay a requisite tax, and clothes to wear when coming out of the tomb. Possessing the ability to prove God's power to this extent, it were folly to call him poor, in any sense of the word. Jesus went through what mortals term death in order to prove its unreality and that it had no dominion over him. He said, "Destroy this temple [body], and in three days I will raise it up;" and he did so.

Our critic, speaking of Mrs. Eddy, says, "She denied the existence of sin, suffering, disease, and the devil, although he whom she professed to follow had treated them as serious realities, of which nothing but his death could ever rid the world." If the critic had understood for a moment the meaning of reality, as used in Christian Science, he would have understood why Mrs. Eddy denied their reality. On page 335 of Science and Health she writes, "Reality is spiritual, harmonious, immutable, immortal, divine, eternal." From this it will be seen how impossible it would be to include sin, disease, and death in this definition. Mrs. Eddy never denies that these conditions seem real to the material senses, for she thoroughly agrees with St. Paul when he says, "The things which are seen," that is, by the physical senses, "are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal."

Referring to the Christian Science text-book, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," our critic says, "This curious volume has very little in it that is prayerful." Now it all depends upon what prayer is considered to be. Mrs. Eddy had devoted a chapter in the text-book to the subject of prayer, and many have expressed their opinion that it is the finest treatise on the subject extant. St. James tells us, "The prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up." This effect has followed in hundreds of cases while reading and understanding Science and Health, and this is a clear proof of the prayerfulness of the text.

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