Article January 9, 1926 Issue

We trust you will permit us to say a few words respecting...

Samuel Greenwood, Committee on Publication for the Province of British Columbia, Canada,—Vancouver

Sun

We trust you will permit us to say a few words respecting an article in a recent issue, entitled "Church Deplores Modernism Curse," in which the author incorrectly interprets the attitude of Christian Science toward the evils of human experience. With much of this article we are in full accord, and deplore, with the writer, not only the prevalence of unbelief and its effects, but the exhibition of that "cheap optimism" which would close its eyes to the evil conditions that are in the world, and declare blandly that all is well. He errs, however, in assuming that this is the attitude of Christian Science. While it is true that Christian Scientists desire to emphasize good rather than evil and to look for the best instead of the worst in men, they are inspired to this course by the recognition of God's universal fatherhood, and not by any "confidence in human excellence."

There is nothing in Christian Science that affords the shadow of an excuse for wrongdoing, for the legitimate sequence to accepting the teaching that evil is unreal is, not to become a greater sinner, but to strive for a life of goodness. Christian Science denies the right of evil to exist, because it is not of God, because the truth of His omnipresence consents to no place for it, and because Jesus declared it to be untrue. Speaking of the belief in personified evil, which the Scriptures name devil, he said, "There is no truth in him." But Jesus did not leave the matter there, any more than Christian Science to-day leaves the matter there. Although the Master substantially declared evil to be a lie, he went about destroying its works, that is, delivering men from its deceptions. It is the aim of Christian Scientists to adopt the same course so far as they have attained the ability to do so, and their success results, not from an exaltation of human manhood, but from their reliance upon the perfection of God and His creation. The recognition that evil does not belong to the truth of being does not imply that men may indulge it with impunity; on the contrary, it supplies the confidence and the courage to resist and overcome its temptations. Christian Science is the practical application of the truth that God is the only power in the universe, and it harmonizes with nothing which teaches less than this.

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In the review of a book entitled "Modern Religious Cults and Movements"...
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