Article May 3, 1919 Issue

Although commending the optimism of Christian Science...

Aaron E. Brandt—Pittsburgh, Pa.

The Dispatch

Although commending the optimism of Christian Science, and deeming its refusal to dwell upon evil an excellent thing, nevertheless a correspondent has an objection to it. His view is that "it would be a very poor system of prevention that depended entirely upon ignoring the existence of disease."

Now this objection is easily met by the Christian Scientists; for it can hardly be said that the so-called existence of disease is ignored by healing it or preventing it, any more than any mistake can be said to be disregarded by correcting it or preventing it. Information at hand shows that during the recent epidemic the morbidity or extent of disease and mortality among Christian Scientists was not nearly so great as among others. The reason lies in two simple facts; namely, that the prevention of disease, as was so apparent during that epidemic, cannot be successfully carried out without a knowledge of the cause of the disease; and, secondly, that Christian Scientists are taking advantage of Mrs. Eddy's discovery as set forth in her textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," and her other writings, to the effect that disease has a mental origin as comprised in erroneous human consciousness, but has no existence in an absolute or true sense as a God-created entity. Therefore an understanding of spiritual truth, as Jesus taught and demonstrated, heals and prevents it. The erroneous mental cause being removed in any individual case, its bodily effect disappears.

On pages 369 and 370 of her textbook Mrs. Eddy writes: "The prophylactic and therapeutic (that is, the preventive and curative) arts belong emphatically to Christian Science, as would be readily seen, if psychology, or the Science of Spirit, God, was understood. Unscientific methods are finding their dead level. Limited to matter by their own law, what have they of the advantages of Mind and immortality? ... The body improves under the same regimen which spiritualizes the thought."

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