Article September 2, 1916 Issue

A precept written by Mrs. Eddy which has become a rule...

Judge Clifford P. Smith

Lowell (Mass.) Courier-Citizen

A precept written by Mrs. Eddy which has become a rule for Christian Scientists is this: "We entertain due respect and fellowship for what is good and doing good in all denominations of religion, and shun whatever would isolate us from a true sense of goodness in others" (Pulpit and Press, p. 21). The attitude of other religionists toward us is mainly their own concern. Now and then, however, the nature of a sectarian attack on Christian Science in public print may move us to file a protest in the forum of public opinion. Such an instance was furnished by the Baptist minister whose comment on Christian Science the Courier-Citizen has just published.

This gentleman's pronouncement that Christian Science is a contradictory and composite compromise, invites a comparison with some criterion of religious teaching and practice. Inasmuch as this assertion was made by a minister of the Christian gospel, it would seem that he as well as Christian Scientists might accept the teaching and practice of Christ Jesus as the standard of religious purity and integrity. Assuming this to be the case, Christian Scientists wish that all men, of every creed or no creed, would compare the teaching and practice of Christian Science with that of Christ Jesus as it is recorded in the New Testament. We would quickly admit that his example is different in degree from any one's effort to follow it, but we would say that his teaching and practice of religion were perfect, and that whichever body of his followers comes nearest to doing likewise is most Christian and nearest right. St. Peter described the ministry of Jesus by saying that he "went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil." The Master himself said something to the same effect (see Luke iv. 16-21). Tested by this criterion, Christian Science will at least compare favorably with the Christianity of persons who feel impelled to oppose it.

The same gentleman's more specific comments on Christian Science were equally thoughtless. They can be illustrated and disposed of by taking his remark that Christian Science includes an element of Hindu philosophy. Hinduism is the national religion of India, with which Christian Science has nothing more in common than it has with any other religion sincerely accepted by large numbers of civilized people. As the religion of more than two hundred million persons, most of whom are entirely worthy of respect, Hinduism must be more than the name of a missile to be rudely thrown at something one dislikes. In the articles on this subject in standard works of reference, a Christian Scientist finds one point, but only one, for entire agreement; that is, Hinduism "lays stress on love as a means of salvation." If this should be called Hindu philosophy, a Christian Scientist might accept it nevertheless. But it is to be remembered that the Christian religion originally included this same element. For this reason Mrs. Eddy, with both consistency and fidelity, said to the members of her church (Message for 1901, p. 1): "As Christian Scientists you seek to define God to your own consciousness by feeling and applying the nature and practical possibilities of divine Love: to gain the absolute and supreme certainty that Christianity is now what Christ Jesus taught and demonstrated—health, holiness, immortality."

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