A doctor endeavored, as reported, to belittle Christian Science...

B. W. Oppenheim—Boise, Idaho

Idaho Statesman

A doctor endeavored, as reported, to belittle Christian Science by picturing it after fifty years from its discovery as a melancholy failure, "waiting, hoping for the dismal, hopeless afterwhile." The doctor's apparent mental picture of a personal God granting special dispensations to favored individuals, is so at variance with the concept of God as taught in Christian Science, that it but illustrates how difficult it is for the indoctrinated devotee of one school fairly to judge another denomination, except by its fruits.

Christian Scientists, being in the world, have not attained the perfection of the ideal man, but they gratefully acknowledge the assistance of the perfect Science which Christ Jesus taught and proved in aiding them to overcome the problems of the world which it is their lot to meet; in other words, to solve the individual yet universal problem of salvation. In this hopeful struggle they are encouraged by the faith and sure knowledge taught in Christian Science, with the injunction to make it practical, not only that all things are possible to God, but that all men may here and now directly and individually benefit from the goodness of the ever-present divinity to whom each bears the relation of a child. If Christian Scientists await with patience the manifestation of greater works as the result of their increasing apprehension of God's nearness and power, it is no disparagement of their present attainments. Any picture of a dismal afterwhile for Christian Science is not drawn with a just appreciation of its rise and development.

It takes time for men educated by centuries of false theory and practice to turn from the contemplation of what they have regarded as real in sin, sickness, and catastrophe, to an understanding of the fundamental truth of immortality,—that only the good, the godlike, is real. But this process of transformation is not an argument for the reality of evil, as the doctor seems to imply, nor does it establish any inconsistency in Christian Science practice. Christian Science differs from some other religious beliefs in that, instead of admitting the application of the truths underlying immortality only in some future state, it acknowledges the necessity and practicability of their present application. Hence its insistence on meeting present human need by healing sickness as well as overcoming sin.

The development of Christian Science as a world-wide movement, with its revival of divine healing, is so well known that a court of law would be compelled to take judicial notice of it as an established historical fact, better known and more fully established than the historical record of such healing during the two or three centuries immediately following the ministry of Jesus. No amount of skepticism can refute the truth of the continuous record of healing of all sorts of physical ailments and human troubles through Christian Science during the past fifty years.

With respect to the doctor's attempt to prove that Christian Scientists do not accept the Bible, it is sufficient to say that they do not accept his interpretation of the Bible. They do most emphatically believe in and read the Bible, and they cheerfully submit their interpretation of it to the test of practical living. It is not profitable to enter into an argument on matters of Biblical interpretation, since each person is entitled to place his own interpretation on a matter which so vitally affects his conscience.

No one can successfully refute the proposition that Christian healing is in consonance with the Bible. The doctrine of Christian healing, which Christian Scientists say in reasonable, universal, and divinely natural, has been stated for them in modern scientific language in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mrs. Eddy. That the practice of Christian healing is possible is being proved by the earnest daily endeavors of Christian Scientists. That these endeavors are meeting with success is shown by the remarkable development of the Christian Science movement within the last fifty years, with its attendant spiritual revival of divine healing comparable only to the development of primitive Christianity.

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit