Article December 18, 1926 Issue

When I set out to correct a misstatement about Christian Science...

Miss Madge Bell, Committee on Publication for North Island, New Zealand,—Auckland

Star

When I set out to correct a misstatement about Christian Science I had no expectation of being drawn into a controversy with learned exponents of "Biblical scholarship," nor can I see that we are more likely to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion than are two men arguing about the relative positions of the sun and earth, when one bases his views on material sense testimony and the other on scientific spiritual facts. I should like to point out that the first chapter of Genesis is accepted by all Christian Scientists as the record of the orderly unfoldment of God's creation or universe, and that among them are men and women of high scholarly attainments in the fields of religion, law, literature, art, and even philosophy, to whom the "flawless logic" and practical Christianity of Christian Science appeal. Probably there is not a single claim made by the clergyman in his letter that would not be rejected by other clergymen. I know some claim that the second record of creation is a false one; and a Hebrew scholar has stated that the word translated "God" in the first chapter of Genesis refers, in the original, to a metaphysical, not a physical being, who is possessed of the spiritual attributes of both the masculine and the feminine. The term "Father-Mother," as exemplifying God's relation to man, was not, however, claimed to be a Biblical one; and the idea is not peculiar to Christian Scientists, for the late Rev. Basil Wilberforce, D. D., refers to "the whole multitudinous race of men, of which race God is the father, the mother, the soul, the glory, and the eternity." If "the infinite is infinitely human—infinitely man"—there can be no place for God, who is Spirit, since there can be nothing beyond infinity. The best definition that can be given our critic of God is the following: "God is incorporeal, divine, supreme, infinite Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, Love" (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, p. 465).

Some people consider that the "chief concern" of the Bible is to reveal God, and how men can know Him aright. To know God is the work of eternity, and Christian Scientists realize that they are only at the beginning of such knowledge. If Christian Scientists find that their knowledge of or faith in God is unequal to their proving that God supplies all their needs, they are free to ask help if they wish to do so; but they know that the limitation lies not with God, but with themselves. I have encroached so much upon your space that other points must be left untouched, and I would merely add that our critic's letter is but an exposition of his misconception of what Christian Science teaches, and that the only remedy I know of is a practical understanding of the Christian Science textbook already mentioned.

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