Editorial January 18, 1993 Issue

No adamants

Richard C. Bergenheim

The insight that a single word can bring us as we pursue the practice of Christian healing is striking. It is one of the reasons why the regular study of the textbooks of Christian Science, the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, is so rewarding. These books reveal the nature of spiritual reality and expose the fraudulent character of mortal existence.

The word adamant is particularly thought-provoking. It is not a word we use commonly. But consider these two sentences. "His professional opinion was adamant: nothing more could be done for the patient"; and "He was adamant in his presentation of the facts that the situation was dangerous and required immediate action." Webster's unabridged dictionary provides these definitions of the word: "1. An imaginary stone of impenetrable hardness," and "3. Loadstone, magnet." When used in normal conversation, adamant is usually synonymous with totally unyielding, rigid, inflexible.

Suppose a patient is suffering from a disease that seems unresponsive to any form of treatment. Recently a testimony was received from someone who had tried virtually all forms of medical treatment—allopathic, chiropractic, homeopathic, herbal, and so on—before being healed through Christian Science. In essence she had been told that she would have to learn to live with severe pain and that neither relief nor cure appeared possible. One could say that the symptoms had been adamant.

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