Christianity has quite generally accepted the Scriptural...

Alfred Farlow

Boston American

Christianity has quite generally accepted the Scriptural teaching that healing the sick as well as the sinful should attend the Christian ministry, and there is an earnest searching to discover the gospel which heals the sick, and thus reinstate primitive Christian healing.

Jesus said: "The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works." He also said: "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also." The two texts considered together convey the important lesson that he who understands what the Master understood and deports himself accordingly, will be able to utilize the power of God in the overcoming of everything that is not Godlike; namely, sin and all its consequences. Since a correct understanding of truth is the means of freedom from the bondage of evil, as is stated in our Master's words, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free," it is a logical conclusion that a lack of understanding, a want of truth, is the cause of disorder.

We oftentimes hear it said that sickness is occasioned by violation of the laws of health. With this proposition we agree, and would invite our readers to a thoughtful consideration of the fact that above and beyond the violation of a so-called mortal law, the prime cause of all disorder is a belief in a power apart from God, the infinite Mind. What are the laws of health? What are the laws which govern the health of mankind? We may answer, Nothing more nor less than those conditions of thought which are essential to health, and to which Isaiah referred when he counseled men "to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke;" adding, "Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am."

Here the prophet clearly teaches that wickedness constitutes the "heavy burden," the "yoke" of oppression which needs to be broken in order that health may be established or restored. He makes plain the fact that righteousness becomes a protection to the individual and places him where his desire for relief may be answered, not because of much asking but because he has found the light which darkness cannot penetrate, and he has won divine protection by the scientific demonstration of truth over error. Christ Jesus taught the same lesson when he said: "Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk;" and again when he said, "Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee." The Master did not teach that sickness is occasioned by wilful wrong. He was aware that many good persons are afflicted, but he knew that this is not because of their goodness, but because in spite of a degree of goodness they are still identified with humanity and subject to mortal law.

Jesus understood the word "sin" in its broad sense, as applying to all the errors of life, whether wilful or ignorant. He knew that the requirement of health is a perfect life, an existence which is free from sin, in fulfilment of his declaration, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." He even knew that carelessness in respect to the material care of one's self was due to a state of consciousness that was unbecoming the wide-awake Godlike man. It is evident to all that the man who is improving his moral condition and is striving for the full stature of manhood in Christ is on the way to health and harmony, though he may not yet have reached it; and it is equally evident that the man who is doing wrong, and is wandering from the path of rectitude, is on the way to discord, even though he may not yet have found it.

It is the mission of Christian Science to awaken the world to spiritual truth, to show man what he has to do in order to do in order to be the image and likeness of God, a state which is not subject to suffering. If there is something to do by way of improvement, in order that we may measure up to the standard of divine requirement, that something of necessity involves primarily a better understanding of God, and secondarily a better understanding of man as His image. Such knowledge, though not in accord with the testimony of material sense, must of necessity be true, and therefore scientific and justly entitled to the name Science. Hence the propriety of the term Christian Science. It is the mission of Christian Science to awaken mortals to what constitutes God's likeness, and thus make them too wise and too good to be sick. The psalmist seems to have had a glimpse of this idea when he said: "I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness." Man only needs to advance spiritually, until he finally becomes awake in the likeness of God, to reach that individuality which within itself affords all that is necessary to make a perfect, healthy, righteous, and satisfied man.

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