Article June 3, 1916 Issue

An article in the Israelite contains disparaging remarks...

Avery Coonley

Chicago (Ill.) Israelite

An article in the Israelite contains disparaging remarks about Christian Science, but it might be left without comment did it not purport to give information about this religion while conveying, unintentionally perhaps, false impressions of some of its teachings. It cannot properly be said that the article "exposes the fallacies of Christian Science and pricks its illusions," for it is evident that its author has not made such study of Christian Science and its accomplishments as would enable one to know whether or not it contained fallacies. If he had, it is safe to say that his article would never have been written, for an unprejudiced investigation would have convinced him that Christian Science is substituting happiness for unhappiness, contentment for suffering, and health for disease; and fair-minded people everywhere have an inherent respect for that which alleviates suffering, even if they are unwilling to admit that these results are brought about by the power of God, but instead attribute them to purely superficial and fortuitous circumstances.

One could only be driven to the conclusion that the remarkable list of achievements which Christian Science has to its credit were all coincidences, by an utter inability to conceive that God could so manifest Himself. And to maintain that unusual manifestations of protection such as those referred to as "miraculous" healing cannot be attributed to God's presence and power, seems to involve a repudiation of notable evidences of such power which the Bible credits to prophets and patriarchs.

Christian Science does not try to "convince a hungry man that he is not hungry." Shallow sophistry would neither prevent hunger nor cure disease, nor would a religion built upon it satisfy thinking people, either Jew or Gentile. The Christian Science practitioner does not say that "there is no sickness" in the sense in which such a statement would be generally understood. He does maintain, however, that sickness is not of God, who made all that was made, "and, behold, it was very good," but that on the contrary it is the result of false consciousness, which a right understanding of the allness of God corrects. Let it be recalled that the soundness and the practical utility of such statements have been sustained for nearly fifty years, and in thousands of cases, by the healing of disease of all kinds in accordance with them.

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June 3, 1916
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