Article June 16, 1917 Issue

All Christian believers must admit that Jesus did his works...

W. Stuart Booth

Trinidad (Col.) Picketwire

All Christian believers must admit that Jesus did his works in accordance with and because of the will or law of God, "with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." It must inevitably follow, then, that God's will or law is unchanging, and obedience to this law will produce the works today that were wrought by Jesus and his followers in the early Christian era, even as he promised, "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also."

The claim recently made by a Trinidad clergyman, that the power of healing by prayer has been given to but a select few, is refuted both by the Scriptures and by secular history. The Bible statement that "God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him," was verified by the Christians in Rome and elsewhere, who, according to Gibbon, healed the sick and even raised the dead by prayer. This continued until the time of Constantine, through whose influence the Christian church became darkened spiritually by allowing dogmas to displace deeds and material ritual to take precedence over spiritual righteousness. From that time until 1866, when Mrs. Eddy discovered Christian Science, but comparatively few instances of healing by prayer are recorded. One such was Wesley, the founder of Methodism, whose faith in Spirit resulted in his healing without the use of any material agency.

The statement that Christian Science healing is merely the action of human will or suggestion reveals an utter lack of understanding of Christian Science teaching and practice. On page 206 of Science and Health Mrs. Eddy writes: "Will-power is capable of all evil. It can never heal the sick, for it is the prayer of the unrighteous; while the exercise of the sentiments—hope, faith, love—is the prayer of the righteous. This prayer, governed by Science instead of the senses, heals the sick." Jesus demonstrated that the divine law which healed sickness operated simultaneously to destroy sin, and Christian Science, being the reinstatement of primitive Christianity, is manifested not only in the healing of disease but more especially in its reforming, uplifting, and spiritualizing influence in the lives of its adherents.

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