A recent clerical critic tells us that "Christian Scientists are not Christians." He is only one of the many who have come to scoff, but remain to pray, and afterward to learn what constitutes a Christian. Doubtless he will remember that Jesus laid down but one rule by which his followers should be known, and that was that they should do the same works which he did. He said, "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also," and further, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." Is it the mark of a Christian to misrepresent other workers? St. Paul wrote, "Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things."

We are told that "Christian Scientists deny God." This is a mistake. On page 497 of Science and Health are these words: "We acknowledge and adore one supreme and infinite God." We are also told that "God is incorporeal, divine, supreme, infinite Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, Love" (p. 465). The gentleman objects to God as "Principle," but the authorized definitions of the word are, "Beginning, original cause, origin, source." Will he tell us what the objection could be to recognizing God as the "beginning," or "great First Cause"? St. John says, "In the beginning was the Word. ... and the Word was God."

If the really sincere investigator of Christian Science will read the text–book, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," from the view–point of its author, viz., God as the creator of the spiritual man and universe, all seeming obstacles will melt away. The Scriptures inform us that "God is a Spirit," and that He created man in His image and likeness. If this is true, the man of God's creating is spiritual and not mortal, and Mrs. Eddy's references to man all through the text–book will be found to be logical. Christian Science teaches that the spiritual creation described in the first chapter of Genesis is one that honors God, that He made all, and saw that "it was very good." No theologian up to the present time has been able to reconcile the record of the creation of mortal man with that of the spiritual man as both being creations of God.

Again, it is said that "Christian Science denies the divinity of Christ." This also is a mistake. No lay reader, much less a minister, could be excused for failing to notice the distinction that the Master himself made between the human Jesus and the spiritual Christ. Of the first he said, "I can of mine own self do nothing;" "The Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works." At another time he said, "Why callest thou me good?" On the contrary, when speaking of the Christ he said, "I and my Father are one." And again, "Before Abraham was, I am." The teaching of Christian Science coincides precisely with the above. On page 473 of Science and Health we read, "Jesus is the human man, and Christ is the divine idea; hence the duality of Jesus the Christ." Our critic next tells us, by quoting the reference to Jesus' experience in the tomb, that Christian Science denies the need of food. On page 254 of the text–book he might have read, "To stop eating, drinkingg, or being clothed materially before the spiritual facts of existence are gained step by step, is not legitimate."

The gentleman is disturbed at the statement in Science and Health that "miracles are impossible in Science" (p. 83), and yet there is nothing strange about it. Science, according to the authorities, is systematized knowledge, acknowledged truths. To the great Master his works were supremely natural because he understood the Principle by which they were done, and he knew that the operation of that divine Principle was the same in one instance as in others. To the materialist, looking only to matter for cause and effect, the healing of the sick, the raising of the dead, the turning of the water into wine, and the walking on the water, were marvels or miracles, and it was doubtless from this material thought of the people concerning them that the record reads miracle. Again, if his deeds were miracles which he alone could perform, why did Jesus say, "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also"?

We are told that the reference to the devil as being impersonal evil is "all wrong." Has our critic ever seen a personal devil with the cloven feet and horns, or has he ever known any one who has seen him? Will he tell us how it would be possible to cast seven such persons out of Mary Magdalene? Is it not more reasonable to understand that these were seven evil thoughts controlling her which Jesus cast out, and are not these the devils by which mankind is constantly being tempted and assailed? What did the Master mean when he said, "That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For ... out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, ... murders, thefts, ... wickedness, deceit, ... all these evil things come from within, and defile the man." Are not these the devils? They certainly are not devils with horns.

We are next told that "Christian Science says sin does not exist." In more than a thousand places in the text–book are warnings against sin in its various forms. It does not teach that sin and disease are unreal to the human sense; in fact the very opposite is true. On pages 390, 391, we read: "Suffer no claim of sin or of sickness to grow upon the thought." "Suffering for your own sins will cease in proportion as the sin ceases." The critic says he has "been in four different states, and in but one small place has he found such foolish people as in Berrien Springs." One can only wonder how and when he managed to miss on his travels so many happy, clever, and intelligent people. In his own state there are over forty Christian Science churches and societies, with an attendance of from twenty–five to five hundred each, and in over two hundred other places are societies in embryo. Every other state has a similar record. In every country on the globe, from Maine to far–off Egypt, are flourishing societies.

"Christian Scientists do not believe in a final judgment," is the next objection. Christian Science teaches that judgment comes hourly and daily into the consciousness of all, but whether we are willing to recognize and accept it is another thing. The time for the final experience "knoweth no man, ... neither the Son, but the Father." The Scriptures further say, "Every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God." This means constant progression until the demand, "Be ye therefore perfect" is finally obeyed. Contrary to the critic, Christian Science does not teach that God's creation is a part of Himself; such a position would be pantheistic. It does teach that God's ideas are all reflections of His thought, but individual and spiritual. Neither is the material effect of poison to mortal sense denied, as is claimed. This is fully explained in the text–book. While the after effects of deadly poisons taken by accident have been counteracted by Christian Science many times, the suggestion of the critic to feed arsenic to horses is on a par with that of the tempter to Jesus, and the reply must be the same as in his case.

"Scientists claim we do not die," is the next criticism. It makes all the difference what is understood by "we." Christian Science teaches that man does not die, because he is God's image, and the critic should stick to his text if he quotes Scripture as authority. Christian Science does not claim that a mortal is man, but rather a counterfeit of him. Jesus said, "Whosoever ... believeth [understandeth] in me shall never die." Now right here may we ask, Is it not better to take the Master's sayings from the spiritual side, as he intended, than to quibble and strain for the literal and material sense? Jesus proved his teaching by passing through the experience of death and realizing the birthright of dominion given to man in the creation, and thus presenting himself before his disciples with the same body as before.

In closing, I will quote from a sermon by a prominent orthodox clergyman of Los Angeles, Cal.: "Christian Science is the religion of spirituality, optimism, good health, and success, because it rests upon the fundamental verity that God is All and God is Love. Physical health, moral victory, and spiritual illumination follow inevitably from the realization of this primary truth. To bring men to the consciousness of their spiritual sonship and of the divine perfection, is the work of Christian Science, and that is why the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Christian Science has no quarrel with any other organization that is trying to elevate mankind, and bears no false witness against its neighbor. Mrs. Eddy once said, "I love the orthodox church, and in time the orthodox church will love Christian Science" (Miscellaneous Writings, p. III).