In your issue of March 12 there is a very interesting...

Miss Maude A. Law, Committee on Publication for Barbados, British West Indies,—Bridgetown

Agricultural Reporter

In your issue of March 12 there is a very interesting article entitled "The Influence of Mind over Body," reprinted from the Crusader. In it, the reverend doctor makes some astounding admissions as to the effects of hypnotism, or the influence of the human mind on the body, —admissions that might throw light on many sudden deaths and unaccountable diseases, —and he goes on to propound the theory that suggestion is their cure, and calls this "Christian Science."

Permit me to say that Christian Science is the antithesis of suggestion, and that its students are definitely forbidden to learn hypnotism "on penalty of being excommunicated from this Church" (Church Manual, by Mary Baker Eddy, Art. XI, Sect. 9).

On the contrary, it draws a very clear line between the mortal or carnal mind, which the apostle describes as "enmity against God," and the divine Mind, or "the mind of Christ," which the Bible enjoins upon all men, and which Christian Science reveals as God.

Far from being a "stupid philosophy," Christian Science is the most practical, scientific religious system extant and is the only refuge from the appalling avalanche of hypnotic suggestion (in the shape of sickness and sin) that is threatening to overwhelm the world to-day.

Statements as to the nature of all earth's woes, made by Mrs. Eddy over fifty years ago, which were once called "egregious fallacies," are admitted as scientific facts to-day by the world's great thinkers, and some have become ordinary even to the man in the street.

Christ Jesus was the most scientific teacher the world has ever known, and this is his remedy for every ill. He says, "This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent," and, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

Christian Science enjoins upon its students considerably more than just "thinking about God" and "His goodness." It teaches that men must know God, understand His laws, which are in no way connected with material laws, so called, and put them into practice; and suggestion no more enters into this process than it does into the practice of mathematics. The teacher of arithmetic does not suggest to his pupil, or to himself, that two plus two equals four instead of five. He makes a clear statement of facts, which can be proved according to the rules of mathematics, and works the sum from that basis; and in the same way Christian Science teaches the glorious facts of God and His creation, in which all is perfect as the Bible states, —"and God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good," —reveals His laws, and reduces them to practical everyday use.

There is no difficulty in "reducing all this to law that we can teach and understand," as the writer of the article complains. Christian Science has already done this. God's laws are already set forth in our beloved Holy Bible, which is available to all mankind in hundreds of languages to-day; and God has given to mankind a wonderful "key," "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" by Mary Baker Eddy, with which to unlock that treasure house, that its marvelous store of comfort and healing may be made practical for all mankind—not as the outcome of hypnotic suggestion, but as the result of practical, scientific understanding, the understanding which dispels fear, worry, ignorance, disease, and sin, as the sunshine dispels the night of darkness.

Christian Science declares: "Divine Mind rightly demands man's entire obedience, affection, and strength. No reservation is made for any lesser loyalty. Obedience to Truth gives man power and strength;" and, "The supposed laws which result in weariness and disease are not His laws, for the legitimate and only possible action of Truth is the production of harmony" (Science and Health, p. 183).

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit