Article November 10, 1928 Issue

I have read the articles on Christian Science which have...

Miss E. Mary Ramsay, Committee on Publication for Midlothian, Scotland,—Edinburgh

Protestant Advocate

I have read the articles on Christian Science which have been running for some months in the Protestant Advocate, and while, of course, I admit that the quotations from "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy are correct in themselves, separated as they are from the context they give a very unfair impression of the teachings of this Science. Our church Tenets start with the solemn declaration, "As adherents of Truth, we take the inspired Word of the Bible as our sufficient guide to eternal Life" (Science and Health, p. 497); and we maintain that Mrs. Eddy's great work lay in so explaining the words and works of our Saviour as to enable us to keep his commandments in a profounder sense than had ever been possible since the apostolic age. That her interpretation differs widely from those accepted by the other Christian churches is plain; but it is equally plain that these other interpretations, greatly as they differ from one another, are alike in this, that they have never enabled those who accept them to heal the sick as our Lord bade his followers do. Does this not indicate that Mrs. Eddy's interpretation may be the correct one? As an illustration, let us suppose that some ancient manuscript or papyrus is discovered which purports to contain a recipe for the long-forgotten Tyrian dye. Several scholars, holding very different views, set to work to interpret the writing, and one produces the dye. Should we not say that his interpretation must be the correct one?

The healing of the sick, important as it is, is only the first step towards healing the sinner; for, as Mrs. Eddy points out on page 138 of Science and Health, it is easier to heal the sick than the sinner, because while no one likes to be ill, many are unwilling to part with the so-called pleasures of sin. Far from disregarding sin, the Christian Scientist is more alive to it than ever before; but through the fuller recognition of God's omnipotent love he obtains a logical understanding of the nature of sin which enables him better to resist its claims and to rise above them. Depending solely on God as his Healer, he soon begins to find that unkind criticism, self-righteousness, the memory of old injuries, are injurious health, because they obscure the blessed sense of God's presence, which can alone keep him in perfect peace.

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