Article June 17, 1916 Issue

A writer in the Signs of the Times has criticized Christian Science...

Thomas F. Watson

Mountain View (Cal.) Register-Leader

A writer in the Signs of the Times has criticized Christian Science because it conflicts with his concept of God. He admits that "cures are performed," but, he tells us, "the devil . . . can perform wonderful cures," and a "hypnotist may convince a patient whose ills are largely imaginary that the disease is gone." The many thousands who have been healed in Christian Science, however, were benefited morally and spiritually, as well as physically, and this shows the superiority of Christian Science healing over other systems which only improve one physically. Moreover, the majority of cases healed through Christian Science prayer had been previously given up by regular physicians, therefore they could not very well be said to be "imaginary" from the stand-point of materia medica.

The Bible tells us that God is Spirit, and John, the beloved disciple, defined God as Love. Paul said, "In him we live, and move, and have our being." This God, who is "our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble," "the same yesterday, and today, and forever," who knows all things, cannot be less than supreme, infinite intelligence; and this is just how Christian Science defines God, —as infinite Mind. This teaching is the opposite of pantheism, which, according to Webster, teaches that "the universe, taken or conceived of as a whole, is God." A religion which heals the sick and reforms the sinner, and thus reinstates primitive Christianity, as the Science has done, has proved itself rightly named the Science of Christianity, or Christian Science.

Our critic has tried to disprove Christian Science by wresting a few short statements from their context; but this is so manifestly unfair that it proves nothing. He scoffs at the idea that Truth can heal a boil, yet the Master said, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free," and healed all manner of disease and raised the dead through the power of Truth. He also said, "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also."

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