Article April 29, 1922 Issue

In answering the criticism on Christian Science given by...

Brigman C. Odom

Cleburne (Tex.) Morning Review

In answering the criticism on Christian Science given by an evangelist, I should like to make the following statements:—

Christian Scientists do not deny that sin exists as a material sense phenomenon, but they do deny that it is real in the sense that it is God-ordained. They see it as a false belief, a lie, an illusion of human sense. In its broad sense, anything out of harmony with divine law is either sin or the result of sin. Sin is a belief in other gods, a belief in other powers, a belief in something apart from God. This belief violates the First Commandment, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." In dealing with sin, therefore, one's sense of it is that with which he must grapple. This false sense is overcome through the realization of the omnipresence and omnipotence of God. Sin, thus understood and overcome, is destroyed, or forgiven. It might be added that so long as one believes in sin and indulges it, so long to him does its penalty last.

Christian Scientists are reputable, intelligent, law-abiding citizens. It can be said of them, too, that they endeavor to be Christians. They believe in wholesome education; they are charitable, enterprising, and progressive; they are Christian Scientists because Christian Science has given them a better view of life than they had before. Christian Science appeals to them because, as religion, it offers help at all times and under all circumstances. It does not tell one that he should do right or live right and leave him there; it tells him how to do it.

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