Article April 7, 1917 Issue

The distinguished lecturer whose discourse was published...

Peter V. Ross—San Francisco, Cal.

Emanu-El

The distinguished lecturer whose discourse was published in Emanu-El under the caption "Judaism and Christian Science," can hardly be said to have adequately or accurately presented the subject of Christian Science. One would suppose that with all the suffering in the world and all the desire and effort to alleviate it, there might be found a readiness to investigate the merits of Christian Science and ascertain whether its propositions can be demonstrated, before declaring, as the lecturer has done, that Christian Science violates alike the spirit of religion and the spirit of science. If he would approach Christian Science with the same unbiased open-mindedness with which he approaches other subjects of investigation, he might find, as tens of thousands of others have found, a science more exact and a religion more exalted than he has dreamed of.

Any theology which persists in teaching that the aim of religion, as the lecturer says, is not to relieve one of pain but to make him bear it nobly, will henceforth command less and less attention, for men are coming in ever increasing numbers to demand that their pains be stilled and their sins destroyed, and this not in some future world or in some indefinite manner, but here and now, definitely and scientifically. It is in this attitude of thought that the Jew, along with the Gentile, feels irresistibly drawn toward Christian Science, where he begins to escape the oppression of sickness and sin. This movement is in response to the invitation, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

Christian Science found the great majority of its adherents in poverty or some other form of distress, but by teaching them their birthright and dominion it has raised them out of the slough of wretchedness and made them healthy, normal, and self-respecting men and women. Herein does the vitality and virtue of Christian Science become apparent; and herein is shown forth the tremendous power of Christian Science in improving the social order, not through any wholesale plan and intricate organization, but by bringing individuals, here and there as they are ready to respond, to a realization of health, industry, morality, and an abiding sense that they cannot be made the victims of untoward circumstances, since good has all power and evil is but a pretense.

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