Article December 25, 1937 Issue

In Opbouw of September 3, a psychiatrist states that he...

Dr. David A. Giel, Committee on Publication for Netherlands,—Lochem (translation)

Opbouw

In Opbouw of September 3, a psychiatrist states that he finds the source of Christian Science healing in the exorcism of the people of India. Such a statement gives an unfavorable and incorrect impression of Christian Science. No righteous cause is served by misunderstanding, and for this reason I am asking space for a reply.

Jesus, the perfect Master, understood the language he must employ in order to be understood by the people of his time. When he spoke of casting out devils he simply meant that evil does not belong to man, and his understanding of this had a freeing influence on the self-condemned, helpless thought of the sick and sinful. With the word "devils" he indicated that evil obtains in human thought, and not in unconscious, irresponsive matter.

The difference between Christian practice and Indian exorcism lies in the means by which Jesus "cast out" evil, that is, with the understanding of the truth. In speaking of the truth as something absolute and of universal application, he could be alluding only to the truth about God. The Christian Scientist acknowledges on the basis of the Bible, confirmed by reason and revelation, that there is one infinite, eternal, and perfect God, the first and only cause of all that is; and since He in His infinity can reveal only Himself, Christian Science acknowledges that only as true or real which conforms to the nature of God, and in this way exhibits the qualities of eternity and perfection. The transitory and inharmonious phenomena, in conflict therewith, are thus found to be counterfeit and impermanent. Hence, to the Christian Scientist it is clear that this material world, in that it exhibits impermanence and inharmony, is a lie regarding reality.

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