Article November 20, 1978 Issue

Safety from chemical hazards

ERNEST H. LYONS, JR.

People are concerned today about the effects of exposure to various chemicals in foods and in the environment, in the course of industrial processes or as the result of accidental spills.

Christian Science can dissolve the uneasiness. The certain and practical knowledge supplied by Science is that chemicals have no inherent power, that being is actually spiritual, and that man in his true status is nonmaterial and therefore cannot be injured, cannot even be touched by a material element. Obviously, mankind at present believes otherwise. Therefore one must deal wisely with the false sense that identity is essentially chemical in nature and that it responds to substances in accordance with the laws of physics and chemistry.

The Science of Christ shows that these supposed laws can be set aside by recourse to genuine law—God's law. The Bible tellsof Hebrew captives unharmed in a fiery furnace,^{See Dan. 3;} of Paul unhurt by a viper.^{See Acts 28:3-6;} In modern times, verified testimonies published in the Christian Science periodicals recount a number of instances in which the human body has been preserved or quickly restored from the action of caustic chemicals and acids.^{For an account of the author's experience with cyanide poisoning, see A Century of Christian Science Healing (Boston: The Christian Science Publishing Society, 1966), pp. 168-172;} Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, observes, "There is divine authority for believing in the superiority of spiritual power over material resistance." ^{Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 134;}