Article September 23, 1922 Issue

Whatever the writer, in a recent issue of your paper,...

Aaron E. Brandt, Committee on Publication for the State of Pennsylvania,

Pittsburgh Press

Whatever the writer, in a recent issue of your paper, means by "real science," near the conclusion of his editorial he says, "Fear is a great force, but will-power is greater," and the questions naturally arise: Is will-power a science, and does it overcome fear? A Christian Scientist would say "no" to both questions, and with decided emphasis. That Christian Scientists lay great stress upon overcoming fear is true; for they, perhaps more than others, have been taught to recognize the fact that fear is responsible for nearly all sin, sickness, poverty, business failures, and human misery generally, and that whatever will destroy this enemy of mankind will practically save the whole race. Christian Scientists are therefore to be found in the front ranks fighting the foe. They have become adherents of Christian Science because they have found Christian Science the most effectual means of accomplishing this end; and the reason is that Christian Science is real Science, having a demonstrable and scientific basis, a basis which is the very opposite of a material science, so called, or of human will.

Will-power is a kingdom divided against itself. The exercise of will-power in most cases is caused and governed by fear. It claims to be equally available for evil or good purposes. Will-power is responsible for the recent World War and all its ill consequences. The most interesting point of the question arises from the understanding that will-power becomes utterly useless whenever the truth of any question becomes apparent. No mathematical proposition is ever solved by will-power, but by understanding the governing rules. Christ Jesus, "the most scientific man that ever trod the globe" (Science and Health, p. 313), said, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Christian Science overcomes fear from the standpoint of Truth alone, and this gives its method not only a scientific basis but the only scientific basis. This in no respect controverts the statement of the beloved disciple that "perfect love casteth out fear." Rather does it show that Truth and Love in a spiritual and scientific sense are synonymous terms, since Truth, like Love, "never faileth."

The fundamental truth by which Christian Science overcomes fear is that God, the only creator, never created evil of any kind; and evil therefore can only seem to have as much reality as human belief claims to give it. Without the understanding of this truth, the statement, "Be not afraid," has no more efficacy than any other form of suggestion. Christian Science succeeds by the understanding that suggestion has no scientific basis whatever, and that Truth alone can solve the problem. Therefore Mrs. Eddy wrote thus on page 144 of Science and Health: "Human will-power is not Science. Human will belongs to the so-called material senses, and its use is to be condemned. Willing the sick to recover is not the metaphysical practice of Christian Science, but is sheer animal magnetism. Human will-power may infringe the rights of man. It produces evil continually, and is not a factor in the realism of being. Truth, and not corporeal will, is the divine power which says to disease, 'Peace, be still.'"

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