Article April 26, 1919 Issue

I have read the editorial reference to Christian Science...

Henry Vandegrift

Middlelown (Ohio) News-Signal

I have read the editorial reference to Christian Science in which is expressed disapproval of the Christian Scientists' entire reliance upon God for redemption and healing. While you admit the beneficial results of a right mental attitude, you should also recognize the fact that will power does not enter into the practice of Christian Science, nor is it any part of its teaching. In the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mrs. Eddy states on page 206, "Will-power is capable of all evil;" and again on page 490: "Will—blind, stubborn, and headlong—cooperates with appetite and passion. From this cooperation arises its evil."

Christ Jesus, the great Exemplar, did not teach that God needed any help from material agencies, neither did he employ any such means. He said, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength," and this because, as he also said, "ye cannot serve God and mammon."

Christian Scientists believe they are consistent followers of Christ only as they adhere to his divine precepts. From beginning to end the Christian Science textbook draws a sharp line between God and mammon—between spiritual healing as taught by Jesus and ordinary medical practice. It shows in an unmistakable way that physical and metaphysical means of healing can never combine, that "no man can serve two masters." So it should not seem remarkable that Christian Scientists do not employ material remedies, especially as such remedies have not proved infallible, and in most cases have previously been "weighed in the balances" and "found wanting."

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