Views of a Clergyman

T. A. Goodwin

We are pleased to publish the following letter from Rev. T. A. Goodwin, a prominent Methodist clergyman of Indianapolis, Ind., which appeared in The Indianapolis News of September 20. Dr. Goodwin's letter discloses great liberality of thought and true Christian fellowship. The justice of his plea should appeal to all who are seeking the Christ in the way of his appointing.

To the Editor of The News.

Sir:—I was greatly surprised at the tone of a paper in last Friday's News from Dr. Lucas. It does him great injustice in the opinion of those who do not know him personally, for whatever else he may lack, all who know him will write him a lover of his fellow-men; whereas, a stranger reading the paper is sure to classify him with the least lovable characters in all Bible stories, the coterie of Pharisees that surrounded the young man who was happy in his restored sight and who was recognizing and praising the Christ as the immediate instrument. They could not deny the fact, that was too palpable, but it seemed to afford them some comfort to shake his faith in the instrument and take away much of the joy of the new experience without benefiting any one thereby.

There are scores, if not hundreds, of men and women in Indianapolis of assured sincerity, culture, and social standing who are happy in having recovered from a wide range of diseases through Christian Science. And the healed are not the only witnesses, but their families and friends are cognizant of the facts. Indeed. Dr. Lucas does not deny that there are some such cases. He cannot; but he attributes them to hypnotism or suggestion or something of that sort, just as the Pharisees of the long ago tried to minify the work of the Man who went about doing good.

Unconsciously, I am sure, Dr. Lucas puts himself in another unenviable light. A long paragraph, epitomized, is a challenge to Christian Science healers to get together a lot of invalids and prove their profession by healing them. A similar challenge was made to the Christ when his revilers called upon Him to prove his Messiahship by coming down from the cross. There was no argument against the Christ in this challenge; neither is there any argument against Christian Science in the corresponding challenge of Dr. Lucas.

I was surprised that a man so well versed in Bible history should try to bring into contempt the fact that faith in the subject, if not also in the friends, is a necessary factor in the healing process. Does not Dr. Lucas recall that the Christ himself sometimes could not succeed, and that the historian records that it was for the want of faith on the part of the subjects? Christian Science cannot heal any one who does not in his heart resolve to live a pure life, following the commandments of the Master.

Personally I do not intend to try to suppress this cult, and unless Dr. Lucas has some better instrument than ridicule. I think he might as well give up the job.

One thing, however, I greatly deplore. I wish they could get along without organizing a distinct church. To my thinking, it would be vastly better if the believers in Christian Science could remain in the several churches in which they have had church homes. But this seems impossible unless they are willing to be sneered at from the pulpit whenever the preacher has nothing else at easy command to say.

So far as I know, there are but one or two Christian pulpits in this city that do not occasionally speak disparagingly, if not untruthfully, of Christian Science in the presence and to the grief of some of the most intelligent and religious of the congregation, who have been benefited, as they believe, through it in person or in some loved one. Meanwhile, it would be a wholesome revelation for Dr. Lucas and other pastors to drop into their midweek prayer meeting and see a crowded house of happy, intelligent men and women, while at their respective prayer meetings empty seats are conspicuous. T. A. Goodwin.

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The Value of Understanding

October 1, 1904

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