Article March 15, 1924 Issue

History, they say, repeats itself

Theodore Burkhart, Committee on Publication for the State of Oregon,—Myrtle Point

Southern Coos Country American

History, they say, repeats itself. To-day, after scholastic theology has for centuries wandered far astray from the teachings of the master Christian in some respects, the same divine message, revealing the truth in all its original purity, is once more presented to a weary world. But, in the words of the prophet Isaiah, "Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?" The so-called orthodox Christians of to-day—Jesus' professed followers and the very people who, one would think, would be the first to accept the glad news—seem to be the most unwilling to do so; while those who are ready and willing to leave the old landmarks and humbly accept the message of Christian Science "as a little child," are rejoicing in a new-found sense of the nearness of God and a freedom hitherto unknown in their experience.

Jesus said to his disciples, "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do;" and, "These signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." For a time, in fact for about three centuries, his followers did as Jesus said they could,—they practiced the Christian virtues, healed the sick and sinning, and even raised the dead, without the aid of material means. During the succeeding centuries, however, erroneous practices crept in, his teachings became perverted and misunderstood, and people were educated into thinking that the healing of the sick by the power of God was not, after all, to be permanent, but had been a special gift to a select few and for a certain period of time. Eventually they came to think and act as though Jesus had used the word "you" in addressing his disciples, instead of saying "he" and "them," forgetting that he plainly stated that "he" that believeth should do the works which he did, and these signs shall follow "them" that believe, that is, any one having the requisite faith and spiritual understanding. So, unfortunately for suffering humanity, the failure to grasp the real meaning and full significance of Jesus' sayings has led the great mass of professing Christians to believe that while the sinning may turn directly to God for salvation, the sick and dying may not. Much of this darkened sense of the truth (as originally taught by Jesus) has been due to a material and too literal interpretation of the Scriptures.

In this present age a gentle, spiritually-minded woman, Mary Baker Eddy, made the discovery that the healing power of God is just as available to us to-day, and in as many ways, as ever it was to Jesus and his immediate followers; and, moreover, her discovery included a demonstrable knowledge of how to avail ourselves of the divine power. This scientific understanding of God, man, and the universe, which was thereby revealed to her, she named "Christian Science." Later, she organized a church, now known as The Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, a church "designed to commemorate the word and works of our Master, which should reinstate primitive Christianity and its lost element of healing" (Church Manual, p. 17).

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History, they say, repeats itself

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