Article July 28, 1917 Issue

If by the deity of Christ our critic means that the man...

Lloyd B. Coate

McConnellsville (Ohio) Herald

If by the deity of Christ our critic means that the man Jesus was God, then Christian Science differs from such a theory, which is contrary to the Master's own statement, for he said he was the "Son of God." If Jesus had been God, it would have been foolish for him to teach us to pray to "our Father which art in heaven." On the other hand, Jesus being the Son of God it was perfectly natural that he should teach us to pray to the only true and living God. In the Scriptural account of the transfiguration, God called Jesus His "beloved Son." Christian Scientists thus honor Jesus the Christ, but they do not deify him, for such a course would be contrary to the Scriptures.

No class of people could or do believe more strongly in the atonement of Christ than do Christian Scientists. They believe that redeeming power is not in material blood or matter. Jesus said, "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." When Simon Peter discerned the Christ, Jesus at once informed him that spiritual discernment was not revealed by flesh and blood, but that God had revealed this understanding to him. Mrs. Eddy's views are in accord with this spiritual thought of the Master. She says that Jesus' "true flesh and blood were his Life; and they truly eat his flesh and drink his blood, who partake of that divine Life" (Science and Health, p. 25). This explains how we are to have redemption through Jesus' blood.

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