The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1899-11-24
CHRISTIAN
SCIENCE.
"The Most Irreverant, Preten-
tious ana Absurd System
of Belief"
WHAT A CANTON MINISTER
Says In His Discussion of the
Subject.
LUCID AS LONDON FOG

BOOK OF the new beIeI anu DecAEeb
1t Is at Variance with the
Teachings of the
Bible.
Among the other subjects discussed
at the meeting of the Canton Ministerial
association is that of Christian science.
At the meeting Monday Rev. e. p.
Herbruck opened the discussion by a
paper. He said in part:
We have been requested to discuss
this morning one of the numerous pro-
posed modern substitutes for Christ
ianity, namely Christian Science. We
cl-.im no special qualification for the
task except the profound conviction
that Christian Science is one of the
most protentious, irreverent and absurd
of all the systems of belief that have
ever been maintained by mortal kind.
1t is perfectly proper to consider the
question here and in our pulpits be-
cause the converts to this new vagary
come, to certain extent at least, from
the ranks of the Christian church. The
great majority of its devotees are
UNDOUBTEDLY SINCERE
yet we feel disposed to question the sim
cerity of some of the leading advocates
of this strange eXtravanza. There is
so much of the mercenary, so much of
the irrational and so much of the wild
logic of Bedlam in it that we are in
clined to question the candor of some of
its leading lights. Be that as it may,
the system as such is before us, and
we shall endeavor to analyze it and
show what we believe to be it's glaring
fallacieS, not ignoring, however, the
fact that there is a grain of wheat in
the midst of this bushel of intellectual
chaff.
Christian Science, as it is called, was
discovered, If we may use that term, by
IN
set forth in a book she has written, a
large and voluminous volume entitled
"ScienCe and Health" This book is
pompous and sententious, abounds in |
words that are difficult and unusual |
words which instead of making her |
ideas plain only tend to obscure them. |
Both in matter and style the book is as |
LUCID AS A LONDON FOG.
There are whole pages of useless rep |
etitions and stereotyped phrases. 1t is |
strange mixture of science, metaphys-
les, scripture passages and startling |
statements of alleged facts. and 1t would |
take more than the proYerbial Philadel-
phia lawyer to make meaning out of it |
all. It is fine material for such hu-
morists as Mark Twain and Elbert |
Hubbard who without much effort can
make the thing supremely ridiculous
We cannot be exhaustive in this pa
per but will simply give a few of the
principles Of Christian Science as we
learn them from Mrs. Eddy's book.
One of its doctrines is that every
thing is mind and that there is only one
mind and that Is God. There is no
such thing as matter. Our bodies, the
trees, the rivers etc, have no real eX-
istence. They are only ideas of the
mind. They exist only because we
think they do.
What are we to think of that? Well. |
the person who believes that is simply
IGNORING MODERN SCIENCE
and about all of respectable philosophy |
If we claim there is no matter then it
doesn't matter much what we claim.
Surely the proposition is not scienti-
fic. Mr. Youmans in his class book of
chemistry says: Whatever occupies
space or has weight is matter" Mr..
Ganot in his work on physics, SAYS:
THAT which possesses the properties
whose existence is revealed to us by
our senses. we call matter or sub
stance" The first definition of the :
Standard Dictionary is, THAT which ,,
makes up the substance of anything
and which constituts the material uni
verse; corporeal substance" When
Mrs. Eddy claims that matter is moth
Ing, she is turning her back on the as
sured results of the best science of
modern times.
Another teaching of Christian science :
IS this: Matter does not exist, there !,
Tore matter cannot be sick. :
THE MIND IS GOD, =
therefore the mind cannot be sick. ;
therefore there is no sickness in the :
world, except so far as we think it.
sickness Is only a belief of the mind.
Destroy that belief and you have de-
'troyed sickness" r
What are we to hold of this? It is I
oaded with mental dynamite, and Mrs. a
Eddy is hoist by her own petard." {
Notice, she says that matter is moth .
ng and mind is everything. Sickness i
S belief of the mind. The mind is d
iod. Therefore we conclude that God n
$ the author OF this belief or illusion of
sickness. For If the mind is God and
IN and sickness are the products of the
nlnd, then God is the author of sin and i
lckness and all these other illusions h
lhrlstian science speaks of. Where h
use could they have come from? Thus O
Ars. Eddy places her God in the con- ii
radictory attitude producing the IL b
uslons which she claims He is trying to
lispel. She. makes him the author of
he illusions which she claims are in di-
ect contradiction to him. If there is q;
my defect in the conclusion drawn -
rom these premises we are unable to /,
md It, 1t seems to us that this simple
title argument
KNOCKS THE PROPS
rom under the airy and fantastic struc- IL
ure of Christian science. y
There is slight grain of truth, how b
Ver' on this second point. If 1t con-
aimed no scientific truth whatever, this
agary would not be so deceptive.
nat truth is this: The mind has an in n
Iuence over the body to limited ex- p
ent. Every student of nature knows
MS Every physician recognizes II.
cow this Is what Mrs. Eddy claims to
ave discovered" few years ago, yet ga