Article June 9, 1917 Issue

In the correspondence in your column bearing upon Christian Science...

Charles M. Shaw

Blackpool (England) Gazette-News

In the correspondence in your column bearing upon Christian Science prayer, two erroneous expressions have been used. They were: "The abuse by Christian Scientists of the privilege of prayer," and "It is superstitious to expect prayer to remove disease." Briefly speaking, there are two theories of prayer held. One is that the human mind by persistent and believing supplication can prevail upon God to suspend or set aside His laws for the benefit of the supplicant, or those for whom he intercedes; the other, that the object of prayer is so to change the mind of the supplicant and bring it into conformity with the divine Mind, that the order of the divine realm is realized in some degree in human experience, which is practically the Christian Science view.

Ground for accepting the latter as true is afforded by the abundant evidence there is of the direct and immediate influence of mental states upon the body. Where Truth is not understood, fear can produce disease; it can even kill. Anxiety, apprehensiveness, anger, hatred, jealousy, and the like, have unmistakably injurious effects upon health. On the other hand, it is equally true that such mental states as calm confidence, courage, joy, kindliness, and honesty have beneficial effects upon health.

It would be, however, a complete misconception of Christian Science to suppose it to be a method of so disciplining the human mind as to secure good health,—an effort, say, to substitute by will-power calm confidence for anxiety. Christian Scientists know too well the futility as well as the spiritual danger of such methods. Based upon the knowledge of God as Mind or Spirit, according to revelation, and of man as His reflection or expression, therefore spiritual, theirs is the Scriptural method of eliminating progressively the human self and will, substituting for them—or at least striving to bring them into oneness with—the divine Mind or will, so that the latter is enthroned in human consciousness, and produces those fruits of the Spirit which tend to health, as well as establishing a constant mental resistance to the claims of the physical senses.

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