Article December 30, 1922 Issue

In the statement by a critic which appeared in a recent...

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

El Paso Times

In the statement by a critic which appeared in a recent issue of your paper that "the mind rules the body and the world," the reader is left under the impression that the human mind is the principal factor in the demonstration of Christian Science, whereas it is through divine Mind that proof in Christian Science work is brought out. What Christian Science revealed to Mrs. Eddy was that the human mind is enslaved by its own errors of belief, and that this enslavement is abolished through the understanding that the divine Mind is supreme and governs man (God's man, the only real man), and the universe, perfectly.

The so-called human mind is supposedly capable of various phases or states; it is sometimes passive, indifferent, lazy; at other times it manifests all kinds of discord, such as fear, resentment, dishonesty, and so on. But when the good is lifted up, reflecting the ever present, omnipotent divine Mind, which is God, then human thought begins to put off the "old man" and put on the "new man." In this way the beliefs of mortal existence, with their now and then attendant ills, are destroyed. So it is found, through the study and application of Christian Science, that the so-called human mind or intelligence is not real intelligence, and does not emanate from God, good, from the immortal divine Mind. Thus it will be seen that a mortal may appear to enslave and mesmerize himself by his own errors of belief, but cannot save himself from the condition he thus seems to make, except through appeal to a higher power.

The critic further states that "Christian Science brings to bear on problems physical and mental the concentrated power of the will." This statement is not in harmony with Christian Science, but is utterly contrary to its teaching. In "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 490), Mrs. Eddy says: "Human will is an animal propensity, not a faculty of Soul. Hence it cannot govern man aright." Again she says (Ibid., p. 445), "Christian Science silences human will." Numerous similar references might be given from Mrs. Eddy's writings to show that human will-power is in no way akin to Christian Science or to its practice.

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