Article June 18, 1938 Issue

From Letters, Substantially as Published

In the Saturday supplement to Stavanger Aftenblad appeared...

Nils A. T. Lerche, Committee on Publication for Norway,

Stavanger Aftenblad

In the Saturday supplement to Stavanger Aftenblad appeared a book review wherein Christian Science was mentioned as an example of "primitive healing art," the most characteristic feature of which is "the belief in the supernatural and magic power of the physician." Such a statement can be due only to a lack of knowledge of Christian Science, and I therefore beg to ask space in your paper for the following information.

The healing method which is applied in Christian Science is the same as that which was used by Jesus and the first Christians, and also by the prophets in the Old Testament, namely, prayer. Healing through prayer is mentioned in the Bible as one of the "signs following" in the practice of Christianity. It was the result of enlightened faith and a spiritual understanding of God, and of man's true selfhood; and it is evident not only that prayer was a means of delivering men from their suffering, but also that the resultant healing was considered a proof of the truth of the Christian teaching, a proof which perhaps more than anything else contributed to the rapid growth of Christianity in the first centuries.

The opinion that the healings wrought by Jesus were "miracles," which were possible only to him and at that time, that they refer only to special nervous diseases, or that they indicate a primitive and bygone stage compared with modern medical science, is not shared by all physicians. Thus the renowned surgeon, the Nobel prize winner, Dr. Alexis Carrel, in his book "Man the Unknown," tells of several cases which he has observed where patients have been almost instantaneously healed from various diseases, such as tuberculosis, cancer, et cetera, through prayer.

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