Article June 10, 1922 Issue

The definition of pantheism, according to Webster, is:...

W. K. Primrose—Ireland

Fermanagh Times

The definition of pantheism, according to Webster, is: "The doctrine that the universe taken or conceived of as a whole is God; the doctrine that there is no God but the combined forces and laws which are manifested in the existing universe." The teachings of Christian Science have nothing in common with this, and a critic in a recent issue of your paper is quite correct in stating that Christian Scientists deny the charge of pantheism. He writes: "To say that God is all is to put all existence on one level. Some will say that that level is matter; some will say it is the human mind." I should like to point out that in Christian Science, "the level" is neither of these, but is the divine Mind, the Mind which was reflected in Christ Jesus. The fundamental premise of Christian Science, as given by Mrs. Eddy on page 468 of the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," is that "all is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all," and everything in its teachings is consistent therewith. This does not mean that Christian Scientists complacently put aside mortals and the material universe as nonexistent to the physical senses, or adopt an attitude in regard to them which they have not made their own—far from it. They do know, however, that as they learn more of God, the divine Mind, and His creation, their views of all these things will alter in proportion to their understanding. I would refer the critic to the answer given by Mrs. Eddy on page 86 of her "Miscellaneous Writings," to the question, "Is it correct to say of material objects, that they are nothing and exist only in imagination?" The teachings of Christian Science have, further, nothing whatsoever in common with the doctrines of Spinoza; and the critic's reported summary of his philosophy is most inaccurate. The critic writes that the only inference he could draw from the statement of the Christian Science lecturer he quotes, is that "the Godlike man is God." This is quite wrong. The Bible teaches that man is made in the image and likeness of God, which is the correct inference; and here the critic has further apparently confused man with mortal man. It is a little difficult to understand what the critic means when he writes, "About the medical side of its work I shall say little or nothing." The early Christian church for nearly two hundred and fifty years after our Master's ascension healed the sick, and even, it is recorded, raised the dead; and in their endeavor to heal the sick by spiritual means alone, the members of the Christian Science church feel they are but humbly seeking to obey our Master's command. Before long the world will wonder how the term Science ever came to be divorced from the teachings of Christ Jesus; but in a letter to the press it is impossible to answer in detail every point raised.

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