Article July 22, 1916 Issue

The Lectures

with contributions from Lewis R. Works, Herman Blitz, Bert M. Whisner, A. H. Flanegan, John W. Doorly, Margaret Linsley, Charles E. von Heitman

A lecture on Christian Science, under the auspices of the Christian Science Society, was given by William D. McCrackan at Whitson Hall. He was introduced by Judge Lewis R. Works, who said in part:—

Preach the gospel, heal the sick, were two of the cardinal commands of our beloved Master, Jesus the Christ. The first of these has been generously obeyed, in form at least, and nineteen centuries have listened to a persistent preaching of the gospel. Christendom cannot boast an equal degree of obedience to the command to heal the sick. For sixteen or seventeen of the centuries mentioned, and up to the time of the discovery of Christian Science by Mrs. Eddy, the healing of the sick was no part of the practice of the Christian religion. This lapse from the example furnished by the early Christians was so uniform, so complete, that the dictum was continually announced that the command to heal the sick was only intended for the immediate followers of Jesus.

The incorrectness of this statement may be demonstrated by three methods. In the first place, the book of Acts records many healings by those who were not Jesus' immediate followers, notably in the case of Paul, who never saw the Master. In the second place, profane history teaches us that the dead were raised for more than a century and the sick were healed for more than two centuries after the ascension, by the early Christians. The third proof of the untruth of the statement lies in the discovery of Christian Science. Mrs. Eddy and her followers have demonstrated that the sick may be healed today, as a part of the practice of the Christian religion, as they were by Jesus and the early Christians.

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