Editorial September 4, 1965 Issue

Destroying the Stubborn Belief

Carl J. Welz

In the practice of the Science of healing which Jesus taught— Christian Science—we learn that faith is important to the success of each treatment: faith on the part of both the practitioner and the patient. But we also learn that faith in error constitutes a stubborn belief which interferes with healing.

Faith in what is not true distorts one's prayers, and the result is that, as James said, "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts" (4:3). James' denunciation seems too severe to be applied to one who is earnestly seeking a healing in Christian Science. But if we understand that self-righteousness is a form of lust, we may see how one can pray for healing with a desire only to satisfy one's material sense of self and receive no answer to his prayers.

Healing in Christian Science comes through the prayer of one who identifies himself with God as God's spiritual idea. One who seeks healing from a Christian Scientist is benefited in proportion as his desire for healing is the same as that of the Scientist who is praying for him, namely to spiritualize the thought of the one seeking healing.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

Our Reading Rooms