Article February 2, 1924 Issue

An address on "God and the Earthquake, A Modern...

Harry K. Filler, Committee on Publication for the State of Ohio,—Conneaut

News-Herald

An address on "God and the Earthquake, A Modern Theodicy," would have people think that according to the teachings of Christian Science there was no earthquake. The most practical argument that could perhaps be used in refutation of this is to state that Christian Scientists, through The Christian Science Board of Directors of The Mother Church, in Boston, Massachusetts, made prompt arrangements to ship one hundred tons of relief supplies direct from Seattle, Washington, to Japan, aboard the United States Shipping Board steamer, President Jefferson, immediately after learning of the dire calamity that befell the Japanese nation. A relief fund was at once established, and contributions from The Mother Church and its branches will be made to this fund by Christian Scientists throughout the world so long as there is need of financial aid. The practice of Christian Science includes rendering practical aid to those in distress, as well as healing the sick and reforming the sinner. Christian Scientists do not shut their eyes, but go to the Bible for higher and more spiritual views of God and His universe.

The experience of Elijah, related in I Kings 19:11, 12, may be recalled at times like the present. Elijah, in obedience to the word of the Lord, went forth and stood "upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: and after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice."

A standard Bible encyclopedia defines God as "an essence or being, fully and absolutely perfect." Christian Science teaches that a realization of God as the only presence and the only power dispels the sense or consciousness of any other presence or power. Only as we become Christlike, only as we put on the Mind of Christ, only as we see and know as the Father sees and knows can we realize the perfection of God and His creation, thus winning the victory over sin and disease, and so proving their unreality. Christian Scientists are engaged in a warfare against all that would oppose itself to God; and they know that heaven cannot be achieved except as they get the victory over evil. Speaking of John's vision of heaven as recorded in Revelation, Mrs. Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, in her book "Miscellaneous Writings," on page 30, states: "He saw the real earth and heaven. They were spiritual, not material; and they were without pain, sin, or death. Death was not the door to this heaven. The gates thereof he declared were inlaid with pearl,—likening them to the priceless understanding of man's real existence, to be recognized here and now."

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