Article September 19, 1925 Issue

Suggestion and Christian Science are distinctly opposites....

Hugh Stuart Campbell, Committee on Publication for the State of Illinois,—Bloomington

Pantagraph

Suggestion and Christian Science are distinctly opposites. Suggestion is the exercise of mortal will, a belief that one human mind can control or influence another. Because suggestion may be used to foster evil, its use should be condemned by all right thinking persons. And because such practice is, even as Paul declared, "enmity against God," mental suggestion with its train of questionable influences operating through the carnal mind, has neither place nor presence in the religion of Christian Science. There is thus a wide gulf between Christian Science and mental suggestion. Christian Science is founded on the premise that there is but one Mind, the eternal God, governing man and the universe through spiritual law. Christian Science heals the sick and reforms the sinner through the curative and corrective power of God alone. This fact proves conclusively that it is not minds many, not human will-power, but complete reliance on and submission to the will of God that brings freedom from sickness and salvation from sin in this Christian ministry. With reference to this question Mrs. Eddy writes in the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (pp. 495, 496): "In the Science of Mind, you will soon ascertain that error cannot destroy error. You will also learn that in Science there is no transfer of evil suggestions from one mortal to another, for there is but one Mind, and this ever-present omnipotent Mind is reflected by man and governs the entire universe."

Those who are familiar with the spiritual practice of Christian Science know that its teachings consistently counsel obedience to divine law. The Christian Scientist seeks to grasp the spiritual import of Jesus' words, as when he said, "The Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works." The divine philosophy embodied in this assertion is unequivocally taught in Christian Science. Thus it is that those who place full reliance upon the omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience of the one infinite Mind, gain a demonstrable ability, being able to repeat in a marked degree the "signs following" manifested by the Founder of Christianity. Jesus called upon the one Mind to accomplish his marvelous works; and the Christian Scientist, following in the footsteps of the Master, confidently expects to exemplify, in a measure, the appeal of Paul to the Philippians, when he said, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."

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