Article September 15, 1917 Issue

The report of an address on Christian Science before...

Samuel Greenwood

Victoria (Canada) Times

The report of an address on Christian Science before the church summer school, rightly calls for some comment. The division of Christendom into many differing creeds and churches proves the lack of uniformity of thought on religious questions; but when one's difference of opinion develops into denunciation, he is perilously near that unreasoning intolerance which has cursed the past so abundantly.

It is not in any sense correct to say that "Christian Science is the creed of a class," or that "it is a plea for the prosperous who are weary of life." Its appeal is universal. It is the appeal for good thinking and good living, and in this appeal there can be no class distinctions. Christian Science is being sought by rich and poor alike, although in most instances the latter lose their sense of poverty as they gain a better understanding of man's relation to God.

The speaker's acknowledgment that "Christian Science has produced physical, mental, and moral cures," belies his statement that it is "anti-Christian," or that it is "scientifically cruel," whatever he means by that. Christian Science teaches, not that all existence is a dream, but only the untrue sense of being. St. Paul's exhortation to "put off the old man," or the carnal, evil sense of man, implies that that sense of man is not worth keeping; in other words, it is not divinely real, but in its relation to reality is as a dream.

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit

The report of an address on Christian Science before...

We'd love to hear from you!

Sign up for unlimited access