Article January 4, 1969 Issue

Relying Radically on Truth

KATHLEEN O'CONNOR

Mrs. Eddy writes in Science and Health, "Only through radical reliance on Truth can scientific healing power be realized." ^{ Science and Health, p. 167;} Sole reliance on the omnipotence and omnipresence of God, Spirit, Mind, divine Principle, Love, in obedience to the first great commandment, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me,"^{ Ex. 20:3;} necessarily precludes reliance on the false gods of materiality, including drugs and other material remedies.

But someone may ask, "Why cannot our prayers be directed toward the spiritual welfare of the patient while the doctor takes care of the bodily disease?" In other words, why cannot Christian Scientists cooperate with material medicine in the healing work—the one support the other? While this may sound feasible on the surface, it will be found in practice that these two systems are fundamentally and diametrically opposed, each tending to counteract the effect of the other. Therefore they cannot be used together successfully.

As in a pair of balanced scales, whatever is put into one side outweighs the other, so in Christian Science whatever faith is put into matter and material remedies takes away from full reliance on God, Spirit, and vice versa. Our great Master, Christ Jesus, said: "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." ^{ Matt. 6:24;}

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