Article May 14, 1979 Issue

Letters to the Press

From Christian Science Committees on Publication

Allison W. Phinney

The Wall Street Journal

In The Wall Street Journal
New York, New York

It was a genuine surprise to see the Journal article (on Christian Science, Feb. 27) sounding like so much of the entertainment-oriented journalism of the era rather than a balanced assessment of religious views. A straightforward call to Christian life, for example, was reported as part of a "crisis," a "warning," and a "loss of faith." The statement from which the phrase "need for more healing" actually came was made at the Church's Annual Meeting in 1978: "And so today the need is not for more busywork but for more healing. It's not for more organizational mechanics but for more spirituality, meekness, humility. The need is not for more media exposure but for more demonstrated Christlikeness in the lives of all of us—more inspiration, love, and unity of action."

To the reporter, this apparently seemed an "unprecedented" call. For many Christians, it is a familiar if no less urgent demand in this increasingly headlong secular age. The dramatic example of the supposed futility of prayer which was used to set the article's tone at the outset seemed in many ways to say more about the style of journalism today than anything else.

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