Article October 28, 1933 Issue

The views of a bishop on Christian Science, as reported in...

Charles M. Shaw,

Burnley Express

The views of a bishop on Christian Science, as reported in your issue of the 18th inst., are beside the mark, because he is under a misapprehension as to the nature of Christian Science teaching. He assumes that Christian Scientists have discovered that faith is of value in the restoration of the sick. But the value of faith in this respect was known by some before Christian Science was discovered.

Every doctor knows that faith assists healing—not necessarily faith in God—but faith in himself, in the medicine he gives, in the measures he takes. Innumerable instances could be given where faith in the most diverse things has not merely assisted healing but actually restored bodily health. Apparently the bishop refers to such faith, which obviously may have no religious value. That it has only a subsidiary value is evident, for the bishop emphasizes the necessity for reliance on medical advice and help, and states that even this is useless if it be God's will that the patient shall not recover.

Another fundamental difference between Christian Science and the bishop's misconception of it is that Christian Science does not regard the physical body as the source and controller of health. On the other hand it holds that ignorance, fear, or sin, operating through human thought, is the source of disease. The aim and purpose of Christian Science is to enlighten and spiritualize human thought so that erroneous beliefs shall be quelled and replace with the divine truth, the truth which makes free. The following passage from "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 482) by Mrs. Eddy indicates the process: "Sickness is part of the error which Truth casts out. Error will not expel error. Christian Science is the law of Truth, which heals the sick on the basis of the one Mind or God. It can heal in no other way, since the human, mortal mind so-called is not a healer, but causes the belief in disease."