Article June 1, 1918 Issue

From a report in the Review of the proceedings at a recent...

Peter V. Ross

Pacific Grove (Cal.) Review

From a report in the Review of the proceedings at a recent meeting of the Itinerants' Club I notice that one of the speakers selected as the subject of his discourse, "Substitutes for Christian Science." Possibly if he had investigated Christian Science as thoroughly as unnumbered thousands of other seekers for the truth have done, he might, with them, have reached the conclusion that Christian Science and Christianity are identical, and then have styled his address "Substitutes for Christianity."

In this land and age he would be a bold advocate indeed who, notwithstanding all the mistakes that have been made in the name of Christianity, would recommend any substitute for it or argue that its teachings, if understood and practiced by all mankind, would result in anything short of establishing the kingdom of heaven on earth. Yet is not this precisely the stand that any man takes when he commends some other system of healing and regeneration in place of the Science taught and demonstrated by Christ Jesus and aptly designated by Mrs. Eddy as Christian Science? Such advocacy, however, would have this much in its favor: it would carry, by implication, the admission that there is merit in Christian Science, else why offer a substitute?

This disposition to seek some other than the straight and narrow way marked out by Principle is no new development of the human mind. Centuries ago, it will be remembered, Jesus, who so well understood human nature that he "needed not that any should testify of man," discerned that tendency and referred to it in the parable of the man "that entereth not by the door," but "climbeth up some other way."

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