Article November 1, 1922 Issue

The teaching and the methods of the hypnotist, the suggestionist,...

Brigman C. Odom, Committee on Publication for the State of Texas,

Houston Chronicle

The teaching and the methods of the hypnotist, the suggestionist, and so on, and the teaching and methods of the Christian Scientist are wholly antipodal. The mental scientist, the hypnotist, the suggestionist, the evolutionist, give much emphasis to materiality. Each lives in the world of human thought or mortal mind; he recognizes in this so-called mind, with its belief in material law, the power of both good and evil, life and death, truth and error; he accepts the teaching that matter and Spirit cooperate and dwell together; he relies chiefly on the human will, which is his principal asset for stimulating human endeavor and forging his way to success. This teaching with its practice brings out good results to-day and bad effects to-morrow; it inspires one with hope at certain stages of progress, and at other times overwhelms him with despair. The foundation, therefore, upon which the hypnotist builds is sand, and his method of operation is uncertain; it is a divided house, which cannot stand.

Christian Science is true Christianity—the standard, the single ideal, set and fixed by Christ Jesus in his life and mission in the world. Christian Science and its methods are, therefore, directly opposed to suggestion, hypnotism, mental science, evolution, and their methods. Christian Science is founded on immortal Truth; it acknowledges no power but good; it recognizes one God, who is infinite good, and one Christ, who is an ever present help; it conceives of man as God's image and likeness; that man is spiritual, not material; hence a perfect man, a whole man; it lends no support to the theory that man has come up through successive stages of development from a lower order of intelligence to a higher degree of intelligence. The so-called man that is "of few days, and full of trouble" is a mortal, a counterfeit. This mortal, or counterfeit, is the "old man," the false sense of man, which false sense must be put off, and instead, the "new man," or right sense of man, must be put on. Christian Science holds that mortals must improve their beliefs until they "all come in the unity of the faith ... unto a perfect man." This attainment is not accomplished through will-power or suggestion; it comes through the realization of what man is and why he is.

The theory that life capable of both good and evil leads to many differing ideals among men; as, for example, in religion, many different creeds may be advanced; in economics, many different panaceas may be argued; in politics, many different measures proposed; in social life, many different standards of virtue upheld. Each advocate of his theory thinks his ideal and his method are right, and that those of the others are more or less tinctured with error. From this sort of thing it would be surprising if confusion did not arise.

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