Article September 28, 1918 Issue

Christian Science is based solely upon the teachings of...

M. Scott Till—Brighton, England

Sussex News

Christian Science is based solely upon the teachings of Jesus, and it is a dangerous thing for a public speaker to advise his hearers to try to fight against such teachings. Jesus said: "And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?" Would any of our critics attacking a religion based on such sayings, try to convince Jesus of the reality of sin were he here to-day, in the way that they tried to convince their audience at Seaford? It is obious that the speakers aired their views on Christian Science with an utter disregard for its tenets, giving their opinions on a subject the textbook of which they had obviously not studied,—a method recognized, I believe, by enlightened men and women as wholly unfair and hardly likely to carry much weight. Mrs. Eddy says in her textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 341): "In Christian Science mere opinion is valueless. Proof is essential to a due estimate of this subject. Sneers at the application of the word Science to Christianity cannot prevent that from being scientific which is based on divine Principle, demonstrated according to a divine given rule, and subjected to proof. The facts are so absolute and numerous in support of Christian Science, that misrepresentation and denunciation cannotoverthrow it. Paul alludes to 'doubtful disputations.' The hour has struck when proof and demonstration, instead of opinion and dogma, are summoned to the support of Christianity, 'making wise the simple.' ... He that decries this Science does it presumptuously, in the face of Bible history and in defiance of the direct command of Jesus, 'Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel,' to which command was added the promise that his students should cast out evils and heal the sick." Should the Seaford audience wish to know what Christian Science teaches, they will find it in the textbook above quoted, which contains the Christian Science tenets, the third of which (p. 497) tells you: "We acknowledge God's forgiveness of sin in the destruction of sin and the spiritual understanding that casts out evil as unreal. But the belief in sin is punished so long as the belief lasts."

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