If the correspondent "Open Mind" is correctly described...

Charles M. Shaw—Manchester, England

City News

If the correspondent "Open Mind" is correctly described by his signature, there should be no difficulty in convincing him of his error in classing Christian Science with "clairvoyance, crystal gazing, etc., which gull the people with miraculous and mysterious doctrines."

The popular belief about miracles, that they are supernatural and that they are infractions of divine law, permitted for certain ends and for certain favored individuals, which is the belief accepted by the contributor "Ignotus" as well as by "Open Mind," is in opposition to Christian Science teaching, wherein the word miracle is used in the strict New Testament sense of a manifestation or sign of divine power. In this sense Christian Science, therefore, does claim to work miracles, not, however, as infractions or suspensions of divine law, but in conformity with and in reliance upon that law. Just how this can be, Christian Science makes clear in its interpretation of creation as spiritual only. Mrs. Eddy says on page 27 of "Miscellaneous Writings": "Creation, evolution, or manifestation,— being in and of Spirit, Mind, and all that really is, — must be spiritual and mental. This is Science, and is susceptible of proof."

Consequently the material world and its phenomena are but the false mortal sense or counterfeit of the true universe, therefore unreal. It follows then that what are called miracles are only evidences of the subordination of matter and material laws to the influence of divine Mind reflected in some individual like Christ Jesus, who performed his wonderful works not in virtue of a specially bestowed power but because of his understanding and application of his knowledge of God and His law, an understanding which he indicated could be shared by his followers. On page 23 of "Mis-cellaneous Writings" Mrs. Eddy says, "The prophets, Jesus, and the apostles, demonstrated a divine intelligence that subordinates so-called material laws; and disease, death, winds, and waves, obey this intelligence." The ability of men, however, to reflect this intelligence and its power is in proportion to their spirituality.

Undoubtedly many have difficulty at first in accepting the Christian Science view of the material world, but there are far more difficulties involved in the belief that God is the author of that world and of those so-called laws which in their operation produce catastrophies, disease, suffering, death. Christian Science shows that these things are the effect of mortal ignorance of God, and unfolds the divine way of escape. Neither is there anything mysterious in Christian Science, as your contributor states. Truth is never mysterious, though it may be difficult to apprehend. Jesus said, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Scholars agree that what he meant here was the absolute truth, implying that men have the capacity for and ought to seek absolute truth. Christian Science is the explanation of absolute, that is spiritual, truth, and is enabling men to gain freedom from sin and its effects.

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit