Article May 21, 1932 Issue

In a sermon broadcast last Sunday evening, certain misleading...

Philip H. Simpson,

In a sermon broadcast last Sunday evening, certain misleading statements regarding Christian Science were made. Although the preacher has explained how it was that his opinion on this subject was broadcast contrary to the rules of the broadcasting company, the company, recognizing the fairness of a request for an opportunity to correct the erroneous impression which the sermon must have created in the thought of the public, has kindly accorded permission to the Christian Science Committee on Publication to broadcast a brief statement dealing specifically with some of the points raised in the sermon.

The main objection to the preacher's remarks is the quoting, in support of his arguments, of a number of isolated passages from the Christian Science textbook, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy. It is obvious that the removal of words or parts of sentences from their context must in large degree tend to convey a meaning different from that intended. As instances: The preacher gave as a quotation from Science and Health (p. 475) the words, "Man is incapable of sin, sickness, and death." Unsupported by any explanation, this sentence may appear to many nonsensical. Placed with its context, however, the quotation reads: "Man is incapable of sin, sickness, and death. The real man cannot depart from holiness, nor can God, by whom man is evolved, engender the capacity or freedom to sin. A mortal sinner is not God's man." It will be observed that Christian Science differentiates between the real man, who is created in the image and likeness of God, and the false concept of man, known as the Adam or fallen man. The world is accustomed to think of man as imperfect and sinful, instead of Godlike and spiritual, and is thus handicapped at the outset in its efforts to adjust its thought of man to his rightful position as the child of God. Christian Science thus stands for the real man, the man who "after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."

Another quotation given by the preacher from Science and Health (p. 71) was, "Evil has no reality." Placed with its context, the passage reads: "Nothing is real and eternal,—nothing is Spirit,—but God and His idea. Evil has no reality. It is neither person, place, nor thing, but is simply a belief, an illusion of material sense."

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