Article July 23, 1927 Issue

Under the heading of "Christ for the World," your contributor...

Stanely M. Sydenham, Committee on Publication for Yorkshire, England,—Middlesbrough

Northern Weekly Gazette

Under the heading of "Christ for the World," your contributor passes judgment on various teachings, including Christian Science. He states that some of those teachings named by him "and so-called Christian Science vie with one another to occupy the coveted place of unrivaled supremacy in the world." What the ultimate position of Christian Science in the world may be remains to be seen. Mrs. Eddy, in her sermon "Christian Healing," commencing on page 1, says: "The difference between religions is, that one religion has a more spiritual basis and tendency than the other; and the religion nearest right is that one." An important difference between Christian Science and other religions is that Christian Science rests upon demonstration, whereas most other religions get no farther than theory. Proof of efficiency is demanded in practically every other line of human endeavor; and mankind is increasingly demanding proof in religion. And Christian Science is meeting that demand. Your contributor further states, "We shall presently see that these [Christian Science and the other teachings mentioned] are like thick fogs, not only unhealthy, but they distort and hide." Who are the best judges in a question of this kind—those who are still blinded by mistaken beliefs, or those who have, with an open mind, looked into Christian Science to see whether it could "give them an explanation of the origin of the universe or man"—to use an expression of your contributor? Every Christian Scientist—and to-day it has millions of adherents—would state emphatically that he never really understood the Bible until Christian Science gave him the correct premises.

In the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 275), Mrs. Eddy writes, "The starting-point of divine Science is that God, Spirit, is All-in-all, and that there is no other might nor Mind,—that God is Love, and therefore He is divine Principle." When an individual accepts this, and holds to the absolute supremacy of God, good, his whole attitude towards the problem of life changes, and he is then able to go to the Bible and gain from it rich and valuable lessons which he can immediately apply to all the details of his life. When once it is admitted that "God, Spirit, is All-in-all," what is there left of an opposing power as a reality? Nothing. All evil is included in a suppositional belief that there is an opposite to God, the All-in-all.

Your pastor contributor, pursuing his subject further, says, "Christian Science is only Christianity which lays too much stress on its physical effects." Christian Scientists are grateful for the admission that Christian Science is Christianity. It is necessary to point out, however, that the healing in Christian Science is an effect, or a result, of a correct understanding of the nature of God, Spirit, and of man, as His spiritual image and likeness. Why did Christ Jesus spend so much of his time healing the sick and overcoming every form of evil? It was not for the purpose of displaying his superiority over his fellow-men, nor was it because he alone was endued with healing power; for did he say, "He that believeth on me"—that is, he who understands the basis upon which these works are wrought—"the works that I do shall he do also"? He not only set an example, but commanded that his followers should follow it. If, as your correspondent says, "religion is not intended to meet the problems of the mind," why did that stanch supporter of Christ Jesus, Paul, say, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus"? He knew, as Christian Scientists are learning, that to the extent that the Mind of Christ displaces or replaces the so-called human mind, harmony reigns. In reply to the question, "Is healing the sick the whole of Science?" Mrs. Eddy, in her book "Rudimental Divine Science" (p. 2), writes: "Healing physical sickness is the smallest part of Christian Science. It is only the bugle-call to thought and action, in the higher range of infinite goodness."

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