Article January 16, 1926 Issue

Jesus the Christ constantly affirmed the impossibility of...

Henry R. Colborne, Committee on Publication for New South Wales, Australia,—Sydney

Australian Christian World

Jesus the Christ constantly affirmed the impossibility of a good tree bringing forth evil fruit and an evil tree bringing forth good fruit. These affirmations must have been overlooked by the writer of the article in your recent issue, which contains a definte admission that Christian Scientists contribute to the support of their churches because of gratitude for genuine blessings received. Therefore, accepting the teaching of Jesus as stated above, and admitting that genuine blessings have come through Christian Science, no other conclusion can be come to but that the writer must look for some other cause than Christian Science for needless pain and torture. Christian Science has benefited not only the rich and influential; there are numerous instances of Christian Scientists, formerly sunk to the lowest dregs of humanity, who have been raised by its beneficial influence. Poverty, sickness, drunkenness, sensuality have all been healed by it. True it is that if you should attend a Christian Science service you would probably not realize this until you heard testimonies at the Wednesday evening meetings, because these things have disappeared, and are continuing to disappear, from the lives of those touched by its beneficent healing power. The submerged masses are those who have no understanding of the true God who bestows nothign but good on His children. A person may have a great deal of material wealth and yet be poor, being without God, submerged in the beliefs of sin and sickness, in brief, of materiality.

A study of our Master's life shows that he went about doing good, and healed all who came to him. He set no example of forcing his teaching on those not ready or not seeking for the true God. Christian Scientists are ready to bring the healing truth to those who come, whether rich or poor, learned or unlearned. Christian Science accepts, as did Jesus, the ever operative spiritual law of Love to heal, acknowledges that he healed according to this divine law, and that this law is as fixed and determined as the law of mathematics, true yesterday, to-day, and forever, available for use when understood and obeyed. If there are cases in which healing has not apparently been brought about, it is not because of the failure of Christian Science, any more than the lack of success of a schoolboy to have his sums correct is a failure of the law of mathematics. In both cases it is a failure either to understand or properly apply the law or rule. We do not blame the laws relating to bride building if a bridge collapses because the engineer was ignorant of such laws, or if, being acquainted with them, he misapplied his knowledge. Our Master had no hesitation in saying that those who followed his teaching should be able to do the works he did, and even greater.

A temptation once came to our Master to throw himself down from a pinnacle of the temple, the tempter quoting in part the ninety-first psalm. Mrs. Eddy, in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," says (p. 385), "Whatever it is your duty to do, you can do without harm to yourself." Neither the Bible nor Christian Science teaches that the protection of divine Love will be bestowed on us if we are not walking in all our ways as God would have us do, and are not obedient to Him.

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit

Jesus the Christ constantly affirmed the impossibility of...

We'd love to hear from you!

Sign up for unlimited access