Article June 3, 1939 Issue

In the supplement to this paper published recently, there...

Alfred Hutt, Committee on Publication for Brazil—Rio de Janeiro (translation)

Diario de Noticias

In the supplement to this paper published recently, there appeared an article in which the author made certain declarations with regard to Mrs. Eddy and the church which she founded, which do not correspond to the facts. As a representative of this church in Brazil, entrusted with the duty of correcting any published statement which leaves the public ill-informed with regard to Christian Science, I ask you to allow me to reply to this article.

In the first place, Mrs. Eddy never, in any way, aspired to be considered a "saint," and much less a "goddess." One of the fundamental points of her religious teaching is that there is only one God, good; and since God is omnipresent and all-powerful, there is no room for any other power. As the Discoverer and Founder of a religion which interprets in a scientific manner the truths contained in the Bible and exemplified in the life of Jesus, Mrs. Eddy is respected and honored by all who know her meritorious work, but never in her lifetime did she willingly consent to any personal adulation. Her followers regard her as an inspired Discoverer, Founder, and Leader, but they do not deify her.

The writer of the article accuses Mrs. Eddy of having copied and adopted the methods of curing sick people by mental suggestion which she had learned from Mr. Quimby. The truth is, however, that she discovered the law of true spiritual healing—which she denominated Christian Science—after Mr. Quimby's death, and this Science is radically opposed to the methods of mental suggestion. Suggestion or hypnotism is based on the action of the so-called human mind, which claims to be both good and evil. The effects of suggestion are, therefore, temporary and uncertain. The method of Christian Science, on the contrary, is based on the understanding that there is but one Mind, which is good, and this understanding heals both mentally and physically.

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