A short time ago an evangelist made an attack upon Mrs. Eddy,...

William C. Kaufman

Helena (Mont.) Independent

A short time ago an evangelist made an attack upon Mrs. Eddy, the revered Leader of the Christian Science movement. It is quite generally conceded that the world needs to be evangelized, but the methods of this preacher could hardly measure up to those of the gentle Nazarene. To evangelize means to preach the gospel, and the original spelling of gospel was godspell, meaning good story.

Jesus and his followers confined themselves to teaching the truth about God and man, and emphasizing and confirming this teaching through physical healing as well as reformation from sin. Jesus prophesied the coming of that "Spirit of truth" which will "guide you into all truth." Christian Science is the fulfilling of Jesus' prophecy. It came to Mrs. Eddy as a revelation, through the reading of the Bible, after she had been instantaneously healed of a physical injury from which she was expected to die. After proving her discovery she gave us the result of her approximation of the Science of being in the Christian Science text-book, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures."

Students of Christian Science realize that Science and Health has been to them a key to the Scriptures, because it has given them a spiritual interpretation of the Bible that has enabled them to grasp its deeper meaning and prove this understanding by healing the sick without drugs or hypnotism. There should be no objection because the Christian Science text-book has been designated a key to the Scriptures, since nearly all religious denominations have a commentary on the Bible. At the time of Jesus' ministry the Old Testament was read in a perfunctory manner. We are told by Luke, "Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures."

Christian Science does not wink at sin. It teaches that sin and its penalty exist as long as sin is indulged. However, when the mortal repents and turns away from sin and follows that which is good, he ceases to be a sinner and there ceases to be sin to him. When every individual has demonstrated over sin in his experience, sin will cease to exist in a universal sense. At present few understand the influence of Mrs. Eddy's teachings on science, theology, and medicine in this age; that this spiritual mentality has injected into them the Science of Christ. The spiritual leaven is at work, and this accounts for much fermentation in these systems.

When the New York Herald made a misstatement regarding Mrs. Eddy's spiritual leadership, she furnished the following statement, which it published: "What I am is for God to declare in His infinite mercy. As it is, I claim nothing more than what I am, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, and the blessing it has been to mankind which eternity enfolds" (Pulpit and Press, p. 74).

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