Article April 13, 1918 Issue

In two recent sermons by an evangelist reference was...

Herbert Hopkins

The Atlanta (Ga.) Georgian

In two recent sermons by an evangelist reference was made to Christian Science in a manner which showed a misapprehension of its true teachings on the part of the speaker, and a consequent wrong impression was conveyed in what was said. The time has long since passed when Christian Science can be waived lightly aside and classed as a cult, an ism, or a fad. Christian Science is thoroughly established through reason and revelation, through its absolute coincidence with the Bible, and through practical demonstration of its teachings. The hackneyed saying that Christian Scientists worship Mrs. Eddy falls of its own weight. Loving gratitude and profound respect can hardly be confounded by any fair-minded person with worship. The Master said: "It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." This is the doctrine of Christian Science.

All the quotations of the speaker from the textbook of Christian Science, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy, being torn from their context, need explication. Also his first statement, "Matter is non-existent, but an illusion," is misquoted. One of the definitions of matter, which Mrs. Eddy gives (Science and Health, p. 591), is: "Another name for mortal mind; illusion." Then on page 513 she speaks of mortal mind as "being non-existent." In Genesis we read, "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good." If there is nothing in the flesh pleasing to God, it was evidently not among His creations, and must consequently be an illusion of mortal mind, or a product of the "mist" (or mystification) which went up "from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground." This "mist," or "illusion," or "carnal mind" is all summed up in the term "matter." The unreality of matter is by no means a conclusion that is held by Christian Scientists alone, but by the great majority of natural scientists.

When the Bible is quoted, the hearts of Christian Scientists glow with love and interest, because no other religion is more completely in accord with the Bible. Jesus said he came to fulfill the law. In healing the diseases of those who were brought to him, then, he was fulfilling the law of God. God could hardly have sent His Son to destroy a real condition of the real man of His creation. Jesus said also, "If ye continue in my word, ... ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." If it is knowledge of the truth that makes free, it must be ignorance of truth that leads the sick and sinful into bondage, and, as fast as knowledge of truth is brought to bear on any discordant belief, whether of sickness or sin, freedom is obtained from that belief. In Genesis we read: "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him." The Christian Science textbook says (p. 344), "Is it sacrilegious to assume that God's likeness is not found in matter, sin, sickness, and death?" Christian Science explains, however, that from the ordinary mortal point of view, disease and sin seem real.

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