Article August 8, 1925 Issue

May I make it clear in reply to a letter appearing in...

Miss Kate E. Andreae, Committee on Publication for Sussex, England,—Eastbourne

Chronicle

May I make it clear in reply to a letter appearing in your issue of recent date that no Christian Scientist ignores evil or "the palpable bad," as our critic calls it? To do this might bring about very well-deserved consequences,—an accumulation of the evils he ignored. Neither does he merely deny the existence of evil, for denial alone would not move it or heal it, and to attempt its destruction by such means would be to court failure. It would be as foolish as denying the darkness without bringing in the light. Furthermore, Christian Scientists do not look upon the woes of humanity, the ills which fill the hospitals, prisons, workhouses, and so forth, as imaginary, as is averred. They are just as much awake to the need of lifting heavy burdens and of bringing in better conditions as are all others who are engaged in combating the world's evils. Unlike commonly accepted methods, however, Christian Science handles the belief in evil from a different standpoint, recognizing evil as having no part in God's purpose for man, but only appearing to masquerade as a self-styled agent of Deity,—a pretender and usurper, deluding and ensnaring mankind to belief in its legitimacy, authority, and power. Proportionately as it is approached from this viewpoint, the Christian Scientist discovers that evil loses its ground and its false claims disappear. The Christian Scientist believes, and has in some measure proved in the healing of so-called hopeless disease and sin, that he must stop reasoning from the dust upwards, and from belief in a far-away heaven, if he would attain the highway to freedom. The hope he carries with is for the daily prayer of all Christian denominations to be fulfilled: "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." This he realizes is the prayer for the reign of Truth on earth, for the revelation of what already exists in the divine Mind, of what man actually is, and always will be in the sight of God. On page 491 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" Mrs. Eddy writes: "Matter cannot connect mortals with the true origin and facts of being, in which all must end. It is only by acknowledging the supremacy of Spirit, which annuls the claims of matter, that mortals can lay off mortality and find the indissoluble spiritual link which establishes man forever in the divine likeness, inseparable from his creator."

Our critic tells us that a good God, the God Christian Scientists worship, has no warrant in the Scriptures, that nature itself is a vehement protest against this assumption. He further states that Christ Jesus has neither destroyed the works of the devil nor established the truth about God and man. May it not be quite likely that if this critic would stop thinking that the devil "is the most potent influence in the world to-day," as he informs us, the shutters might be flung open to reveal what Christ Jesus has accomplished on earth? Then the light of his great and glorious gospel would have the opportunity of flooding in, and its mighty import be understood. A God who can only do right has Scriptural warrant, and is the God Christ Jesus proclaimed, illustrating by healing every sin and every disease, raising the dead, and dispelling evil, his conception of omnipotence, and his knowledge of the baseless pretensions of evil.

In reply to the question, "What are we?" the teaching of Christian Science is that our present finite sense of existence as material and mortal is a misconception of man. Christian Science presents the true concept of man as an idea in the divine Mind, an idea which remains untainted and undefiled, which neither changes nor falls, and awaits recognition throughout all time. Jesus revealed this idea. He lived it and taught it, and by the understanding thereof he healed and saved. This idea was the Christ, the Redeemer, and is with us always, "even unto the end of the world." As man lifts his consciousness through prayer to this high, unchanging, perfect idea of God, so will the mists of the Adam-dream evaporate, and he will awake to man's eternal birthright as the son of God. "While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal."

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit

May I make it clear in reply to a letter appearing in...

We'd love to hear from you!

Sign up for unlimited access