Article December 8, 1928 Issue

I would point out to your correspondent that his inability...

William K. Primrose,—England

Burnham-on-Sea Gazette

I would point out to your correspondent that his inability to understand that the teachings of Christian Science are preeminently Christian, doubtless arises from his lack of understanding of them. The first tenet of Christian Science reads as follows: "As adherents of Truth, we take the inspired Word of the Bible as our sufficient guide to eternal Life" (Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, p. 497); and I can assure our critic that the teachings of Christian Science in no way depart from those of Christ Jesus. They elucidate many of the sayings of our Master which before seemed difficult to understand; and they clear away the mystery which has surrounded so many doctrinal questions, such as the atonement, the eucharist, and the trinity.

In his letter our critic states that the aim of Christian Science is to take away Christ Jesus as the alone Saviour of men. This is incorrect. When a questioner looked to the personality of our Master, Christ Jesus rebuked him with the statement, "Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God." In the Bible Christ Jesus is referred to as the "Son of man" and the "Son of God;" and his followers must learn to distinguish between the human Jesus and the Christ, his spiritual selfhood. It is impossible in the space of a letter to the press to answer each and all of the questions of our critic, but until he understands that man in the image and likeness of God is unfallen, and can distinguish between the references in the Bible to man as such and to a mortal, many passages in the Bible and many of the statements of our Master cannot be comprehensible to him.

The serenity and happiness of Christian Scientists is proverbial, and the reason for this is that the Bible, in the light of the teachings of Christian Science, has become to them the guide to eternal Life. They are also able to prove what they know through demonstration, as our Master said his followers should do. From the concluding paragraphs of his letter it is evident that your correspondent is without knowledge of the vast amount of good which is being done by Christian Scientists and the Church of Christ, Scientist.