Article March 17, 1934 Issue

From Letters, Substantially as Published

Your contributor, commenting upon my letter in your...

Alfred Johnson, Committee on Publication for Yorkshire, England,

Halifax Courier and Guardian

Your contributor, commenting upon my letter in your issue of the 1st inst., criticizes Christian Scientists because they rely for the harmony of their being upon God and His Christ, rather than upon material ways and means and human personality.

Jesus made the healing of the sick in the manner and by the method he practiced as binding on his followers as the preaching of the gospel. "And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils," he instructed his followers; and Christian Scientists are striving to be obedient to the whole command, which is as imperative today as it was in the time of Jesus; and thus Christian Science is reinstating healing by spiritual means as an essential element of Christianity, and a necessary outcome of spiritual understanding of the nature of God, Spirit, and of man's relationship to God.

Our critic asks what I mean by "worldly impositions." A worldly imposition is anything that is not of God. We are told, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." From this statement it follows that since the Giver of all good, in whom there is no "shadow of turning," never varies, then all disease, poverty, sin, and sorrow—all that is baneful—is not of God, but is an imposition of the world which can be removed by the application of the teaching of Jesus, who invariably destroyed them. Jesus said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also." When we think of the great works which Jesus did during his earthly career, how he overcome and destroyed all kinds of sin, how he healed all manner of sickness and disease, and how he did many other wonderful works—when we think of this, and view things from the standpoint of our mortal senses, we may well be astonished at his words. The need for a change of base in our thinking before we can understand his words is apparent.

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