Article October 23, 1948 Issue

REFUTING PRIMA-FACIE EVIDENCE

BENJAMIN WELLS SELBY

The phrase "prima facie," while not often heard in everyday speech, is in common usage in the legal profession. It usually denotes a certain type of evidence presented in court. Prima-facie evidence is that kind of evidence which seems true at first view, or, as a well-known dictionary defines it, "evidence sufficient to raise a presumption of fact or establish the fact in question unless rebutted." Therefore, even though fundamentally and provably untrue, it may well be considered conclusive if its veracity is not contradicted.

In the study and practice of Christian Science the student is continually confronted with the task of disproving that which appears true to the material senses, in other words, prima-facie evidence. All the claims and suggestions of the physical senses and the supposed existence of matter as substance fall into this category.

Christian Science clearly states and conclusively proves that materiality with all its accompanying evils is not the truth of being, but only prima-facie evidence of a supposed existence apart from God. It establishes incontrovertibly that this fictitious existence is not supported by enforceable law, and that by proper refutation and rebuttal mortal man can free himself from its suppositional power and bondage.

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