Electrical transcription No. 4: Interview with Mr. Bliss Knapp

We shall now present an electrical transcription program recorded by Mr. Bliss Knapp, of Brookline, Massachusetts, on an interesting phase of the religion of Christian Science. This program has been authorized by the Board of Directors of The Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts.

Question : I understand that your parents were some of the early workers in Christian Science, and that you have known of this religion from your early youth. Will you tell us whether Christian Scientists bring up their children as other people do?

Answer : Yes, the children of Christian Scientists are brought up in much the same way as other children. For example, my parents wanted me to have a college education, but when the time came for taking the entrance examinations, I persuaded my father and mother to let me go into business instead. When that decision reached the ears of Mrs. Eddy, she promptly sent word to my parents that she wanted me to have a college education. That settled the matter, and during my freshman year I became convinced that my parents had been right. I also saw that the parents, and not the child, should decide such weighty matters.

Question : I see that Christian Scientists believe in having their children well educated; but what was your reaction to the religious beliefs of your parents?

Answer : I suppose the natural inclination of most children is to accept the religion of their parents; but the remarkable way my parents applied this new religion to their daily living aroused my active interest in Christian Science.

Question : Can you enlighten us on that point by citing some specific example?

Answer : Yes, I believe one of the first opportunities to test the practical value of Christian Science came soon after my parents returned from taking class instruction with Mrs. Eddy. I had a serious accident and an artery was cut. My mother immediately applied what she knew of Christian Science, and the healing quickly followed.

Not long after that, I awoke one morning with an eruption on my body which my father recognized as the measles. He applied his understanding of Christian Science to the problem, and within twenty-four hours all trace of the difficulty had disappeared.

Question : Then Christian Science does heal children's diseases?

Answer : Yes, indeed; but best of all, Christian Science proved to be such a protection to us that sickness became almost unknown in our home. Sometimes, though, we brought trouble on ourselves by disobedience.

Question : Do you mind telling me what you mean by that?

Answer : Not at all. I recall the time when my brother and I were inveigled into buying an old rifle; but when we took it home, we were forbidden to use it. Every boy in the neighborhood soon knew that we had that rifle, and when one of them found an unexploded cartridge on the sidewalk, his first thought was to see whether it would fit our rifle! We knew that to load the gun would be disobedience, but the temptation was too great. We found that the cartridge was a perfect fit—and I happened to be standing in front of the gun when it went off. When the boys saw that I was actually shot through the leg, they dropped the gun and fled, leaving me quite alone; but my older sister was at home, and she soon stopped the flow of blood by her understanding of Christian Science. Then she washed the wound and made me comfortable on the sofa.

As soon as the other members of the family were told that I was shot, and with no further details, they hurried home, filled with fear. When they came into my room I saw the wound suddenly swell up and turn black. My mother realized what their fear was doing to me, and she quickly mastered it in Christian Science. Then I saw that swelling and discoloration vanish as quickly as they had appeared. In a short time, I was all right again.

Question : How do you account for such mental control? Is the method some form of will-power or suggestion?

Answer : Those who are unacquainted with the methods of Christian Science may find difficulty in explaining its healing power on any other basis; but let us be satisfied for the moment by stating that will-power and suggestion never enter into the practice of Christian Science. As for fear, the only remedy humanly known is expressed in the language of the Bible; "Perfect love casteth out fear." Perfect love must come from God: so it is the love of God, humanly expressed, which overcomes fear. When a frightened child rushes to the arms of its mother, her loving compassion brings the comfort.

Question : How early in your experience did you begin to interpret these problems?

Answer: It was while I was in the secondary schools that I once noticed a boy at the blackboard perspiring freely. I knew the temperature of the room had not caused that perspiration. He was afraid because he didn't know his lesson. Then I concluded that fear and ignorance must be related in some way.

Later, while I was in the university, I discovered the nature of mental suggestion in rather a novel way. It was during the season of the year when a drizzling rain was followed by a wintry blast which left the streets, the sidewalks, the trees and fences covered with ice. When I ventured out that night, the mental suggestion of falling on the ice kept aggressively troubling me. However, I did not fall; but I got a sharp twinge of pain in my shins just as though I had fallen. Quick as a flash I saw that the pain was mental, and that it came with the suggestion of falling, although I never fell. That is how I discovered that pain, accidents, and even disease must be some form of mental suggestion, mixed with fear.

Question : Then if disease is so closely related to suggestion, why not use it for a remedy?

Answer : Because evil suggestions are the product of the carnal mind, and we have learned in Christian Science that the same carnal mind which produces disease can never cure it. However, the professor at the head of the philosophical department, when I was in the university, firmly believed in mental suggestion, provided it were used by the right individual and under proper circumstances.

Question : That sounds interesting; but what did the professor do about it?

Answer : First let me say that he was regarded as a great man, and a good one, and he had received many honorary degrees. Moreover, he was so sincere in his belief that hypnotic suggestion was beneficial that he used it on his own son to try and make a genius out of him, or at least to help him graduate more brilliantly than if left to his own natural resources. That boy was in one of my classes so that I could observe him carefully, and it was well known among the students that he was the object of his father's experiment.

Well, the professor's theory seemed to succeed because the boy won brilliant grades and was actually graduated brilliantly. But that did not result from the boy's own mentality; it was his father's mind, dominating that of his son. When finally the father withdrew his personal control or domination, it left his son in such a weakened mental condition that, within three years after graduation, the boy was pronounced a helpless imbecile and he never recovered.

That was a terrible price to pay for a philosophical experiment; but it serves as a convincing proof that hypnotic suggestion can never be of any real benefit. That is why a Christian Scientist never employs suggestion in the healing of the sick, or in the bringing up of children.

Question : That seems to be a pretty strong reason for dropping the use of suggestion: but how can the Christian Scientist do so much good?

Answer : Perhaps I can answer that by telling of an experience I once had in school. While I was in the primary grades, I had a spell of answering questions in class incorrectly, even though I often knew the correct answer as soon as I sat down; but then it was too late. This perverse habit put me almost at the foot of the class.

When the teacher reported this condition to my parents, my mother applied her understanding of Christian Science to heal it. She began to lead me out of my bewilderment by explaining why children go to school. She said they do not go merely to learn a mass of facts, but rather to cultivate or develop certain faculties of intelligence; such faculties for instance as perception, reason, memory, application, and judgment. There are many other faculties, but these at least are fundamental. Then she explained that it is through the faculty of perception that a student first grasps a new idea; then he takes it into his understanding through the faculty of reason; he retains it from being lost by the faculty of memory; and finally he expresses it to others through the faculties of application and judgment. I began to see that my faculty of application was at fault, until my mother explained that all these faculties are from the divine Mind, and they must therefore be as perfect as the Mind which made them. What a relief it was to find that my faculties were normal! Then my mother told me that these faculties of intelligence, being creations of the divine Mind, must be expressed in all God's children alike. Imagine my joy when I realized that my faculties were God-bestowed, and that I had as much right as anyone to be a genius.

Thus it was that my mother gradually led me to recognize the source of true intelligence, not in the human brain, but in God. Therefore, in reality, I could no more be separated from the activity of those faculties than God could be lost or destroyed.

Using language that was intelligible to a child, my mother led me step by step to realize my own inseparable relationship to God and to the faculties which He bestows upon all alike, and that it was my divine right to use those faculties. When I actually realized that relationship, I was healed. Once more it was easy to recite correctly, and I soon regained my standing in the school.

Question : Can that experience with your mother be called a Christian Science treatment?

Answer : Yes, it was an audible treatment. I learned from that experience that a Christian Science treatment, whether silent or audible, is a well-reasoned, logical explanation of that which is true about God, and of man's relationship to God. And when that explanation is carried to the point of realization or understanding, it heals the sick, just as it healed me.

Question : That certainly puts a different light upon the subject. There is no suggestion in well-reasoned logic.

Answer : You are quite right, for suggestion appeals to the nerves or emotions, whereas truth always appeals to the reason and understanding. There is a chapter entitled “Fruitage” in our textbook, “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures” by Mary Baker Eddy, which tells how people have been healed, simply by reading Science and Health, just as many have been healed by reading the Bible. It is the inherent power of the truth about God which heals, for we have the promise, “Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace.”

You have been listening to an electrical transcription program by Mr. Bliss Knapp, of Brookline, Massachusetts, which was authorized by the Board of Directors of The Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts. If you desire further information regarding the religion of Christian Science you may write to The Christian Science Board of Directors at Boston, or you may write to the station to which you are now listening.