The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1900-11-19

| fathers, and out of the controversy
sprang the Presbyterian church and all
/ Of its multiplied offshoOtS that have
made the world better: Martin Luther
raised his mighty voice against the re-
ligious beliefs and religious practleeS OF
his fathers, and the Reformation glad
dened the world; the great Wesleys con
| troVerted the religious tenets OF tneir Ia
theirs, and the heroic Methodist CIRCUIT
rider began his task Of making sWeeter
and happier and holier the humble MONIES
of England and America Why shoulo
we not have the independence, the IN
tellectual integrity, to think of GOD IN
the splendid light of today rather tnan
in the bonds Of ancestral thought!
''As one means of clearing your MINDS
of the prevailing prejudiceS OF the oid
churches against Christian Science, let
me remind you that there are many re-
ligious beliefs and religious practices,
respecting which you of the old churches
and Christian Scientists are IN perfect
accord. For instance, you and they are
in favor of whatever makes men ana
women better, happier, more loving ana
utmost whatever will lessen the burdens
and sorrows of men, Danish superstl-
ton, minimize fear, and add sweetness
and holiness to the home and nome re-
lations; you and they believe in the one
ever living God and Father of all, in
finite in power, wisdom, truth and love,
q divine fncorporeal, spiritual intel
ligence; you and Christian Scientists
alike believe in Jesus Christ. the only
begotten son of God, born OF the virgin
mother, who taught in the temple,
preached the gospel healed the SICK,
made the lame to walk. gave sight to
the blind, hearing to the deaf and purity
to the sinful; and with equal terVor we
worship and glorify this dear, compass
sionate, healing Christ, as Lord, Savior
and Exemplar. You also believe, as we
do that the Bible is the divinely in
spired revelation of God TO man; tnat
the ten commandments are Gods laws
of requirement and restriction, to be
resolutely and absolutely obeyed, one
not less than the other; that prayer IS
both a privilege and :, duty; and with
equal loyalty you and Christian Scien-
lists accept the great commandment,
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with
all thy heart, with all thy MIND ana with
all thy strength, and thou shalt love thy
neighbOr as myself" So it appears that
whatever you may have thought be-
fore you know now that you and Chris
tan Scientists are In absolute accord
respectins. the essential requirements Of
the Christian religion as you understand
that religion
1.-The most potent objection urged by
the older churches against their own
concept of Christian Science is that 1t IS
sheer impiety for any man or woman to
assert that he or she is clothed with the
power of God to heal the sick. The
striking weakness of this objection is
that Christian Scientists do not profess
in any degree, any such power. Chr1Stlan
Scientists simply assert, as it was de-
cldT6Q IN the Tune OF JESUS that Liz
power that heals the sick is the power
of God. Now if it is true that the health
giving power is of God, and it is also
true that Gods power and love are as
great now as they were in the morning
of the Christian era, then, tell me, is
there anything strange in the fact that
the lame do walk and the blind do see,
today, as they did walk and see nineteen
hundred years ago? On the contrary,
would it not strike your human sense of
justice as passing strange, with Gods
power and love for men unchanged, that
He should not manifest that power and
love to His children as He did in the
time of Jesus? But, really. about the
only difference between our thought re-
specting the power and willingness of
God to heal the sick, so far a. can dis
Germ it, is about this: You say you be-
lieve it, and we believe it; you say you
believe it,and do not trust it; we believe
it, and do trust it; you say you believe
with Paul that in God you live and
move and have your being-and go to
the doctor or the drug store for your
life and health; we believe with Paul
that in God we have life, health and inn
mortality, and go to God, and God only
for life and health.
"I assert that there IS not a Christian
religious orga nization in the world to-
day and never has been one, whether
Protestant, Catholic or Jewish. that does
not hold and teach the doctrine of Gods
power and willingness to heal the sick.
You must believe, as mere matter OF
might, that God has the power to heal
the sick, for you say that by the word
of His power He created all the worlds
and all that is in them; you say that He
fashioned the eye, and the ear, and If
this is true, then you must believe that
God can remove q little film from the
eye He created; that the power that
fashioned the ear can remove little
thickness from its drum. It is very ap-
parent that you believe that God has
the physical and mental welfare of His
children in His keeping and is willing to
l 41,ar oil
in your churches. you openly, and some
times deliberately, pray to God for the
sick and the afflicted the poor and the
distressed the widow and the orphan
and you would not, am sure, go to God
with a petition for relief, where you
doubted either His power or willingness
to grant your petition. Really, do you
not think that your professed belief and
your practice should keep company with
each other? And may you not wisely
learn tonight, if you have never realiz-
ed it before, that a declared moral belief
that is not supplemented by what you
do, is simply an assault upon your in
tellectual integrity? I submit to you
this simple proposition: If you really be-
lieve that you live and move in Cod
then should you not, as a mere act of
keeping faith with yourselves, trust your
life and your health to their Infinite
Keeper
Christian Science is indeed a key to
GODS revelation of Himself to men; a
comprehension Of it's truth enlarges the
moral status of man; quickens the kind
1ier sentiments of his nature; makes the
husband and father 1x1ure devoted and
affectionate; the wife and mother more
tender and loving; works the negation
of self and the development of love for
our kind; moves the heart to pity;
spreads the mantle of charity; and lifts
the weary children of earth nearer to
the great, loving heart of God"
RUSS HARRISON OBJECTS.