Article October 16, 1926 Issue

In your recent issue you report an evangelist as having...

Ralph W. Still, Committee on Publication for the State of Texas,—Terrell

Daily Tribune

In your recent issue you report an evangelist as having said that Christian Scientists "do not believe that there is a hell; neither do they believe that Christ Jesus was divine. To them he was a great man, and that was all." As such statements tend to create wrong impressions as to the position of Christian Science on these important points, this letter of explanation is respectfully submitted for publication in your columns. While Christian Scientists disagree with the evangelist's contention that hell is literally a place of fire, they understand that there is indeed a hell of a woeful sort for those who transgress the moral and spiritual law. On page 37 of the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mrs. Eddy writes, "Does not Science show that sin brings suffering as much to-day as yesterday?" And on page 588 of this volume a partial definition of "hell" is given as "self-imposed agony; effects of sin."

Heaven is described by the Master as being "within" us, and not "Lo here! or, lo there." In other words, heaven is not a place, but a state of divine consciousness. Hell, then, must be accounted as mental also—a wretched state of evil belief in which the sinner inevitably finds himself, where the fires of remorse, fear, suffering, and despair torment him until he turns to God for succor and salvation. Religionists often seem to fear that sinning mortals will not receive their just punishment, notwithstanding that the Scriptures lay down the immutable law, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." But that the God who is Love would consign any one to eternal torment, Christian Scientists deny. In Isaiah we read that even though our sins be "red like crimson, they shall be as wool;" and throughout the Scriptures we find the assurance that if we but repent and turn from our evil ways we shall live, be saved. But this repentance must be genuine; for it is "a broken and a contrite heart" only that the Psalmist has said God will not despise.

As to the question of the divinity of Christ Jesus: A synonym for "divine" is "Godlike;" and Godlike the Master most certainly was. However, when Jesus made such statements as, "Before Abraham was, I am," and, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world," he was manifestly referring to his divine nature, the Christ; for Jesus not only disclaimed any power of his own, in such words as, "The Son can do nothing of himself," but likewise disclaimed any personal goodness, rebuking a person for calling him "Good Master," by saying, "Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God." And it is this clear differentiation between the divine, eternal, and incorporeal Christ and the corporeal, human Jesus that Christian Science makes. On page 25 of Science and Health it is written, "The divinity of the Christ was made manifest in the humanity of Jesus." Christian Scientists accept literally the Biblical account of the life, words, and works of the Master, and acknowledge him as the Exemplar, the Way-shower, the Saviour; and they discern, through the teachings of Christian Science, the practical nature of the Saviour's precepts, and are able—to the degree of their spiritual understanding—not only to cleanse the leprosy of vice and sin, but also to heal the sick through the divine power, thus furnishing present-day evidence of the availability of God's power in the destruction of every phase of human error, sickness and disease included.

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