Article September 8, 1923 Issue

Suggestion or hypnotism is based on the belief in many...

W. Clyde Price, Committee on Publication for the State of Utah,—Provo

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Suggestion or hypnotism is based on the belief in many ruling minds, or in the power of one human mind over another; whereas Christian Science teaches the impotence of this mortal so-called mind, and concedes all power and control to the one infinite divine Mind, called God. The mortal or carnal mind, through which suggestion claims to operate, is, according to Scripture, the source of all evil, sickness, and death; for Paul calls it "enmity against God." As the same fountain cannot send forth sweet water and bitter, it is evident that the so-called carnal mind is in need of something above itself for its redemption. Mr. Coué has stated that he does not invoke divine help, while Christian Science teaches that permanent and complete healing can proceed only from the operation of that Mind "which was also in Christ Jesus," of which the Master said, "The Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works."

Christian Science forbids the use of formulas. Human will and the repetition of formulas are modes of the carnal mind, contrary to the teachings of Christ Jesus, who cast out devils (evils) through his understanding of the omnipotence of the divine Mind, God. We read that "when the devil was cast out, the dumb spake." The presence and power of God are able to heal the sick and to overcome evil now, as surely as in the days of the early Christians. The operation of Christian Science is so to instruct mankind that it may rightly understand the power of the divine Mind and the will of God, and thereby bring harmony to humanity. Therefore, it cannot be affiliated with any form of mental suggestion. On page 272 of the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mrs. Eddy writes: "It is the spiritualization of thought and Christianization of daily life, in contrast with the results of the ghastly farce of material existence; it is chastity and purity, in contrast with the downward tendencies and earthward gravitation of sensualism and impurity, which really attest the divine origin and operation of Christian Science."

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