The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-09-11

with sincere desire to be healed
Through divine power, are likely to
be more ready than those who are
sent, simply for public exhibition
i Already multtudes have been heal
ed, a large per cent of whom had ex
hausted all hope in material remedies
and had been pronounced incurable.
/ Would Prof. Townsend or Dr. Smith
wick accept an offer from a Christian
Scientist to convert a stubborn sim
ner of my selection for $1,000? Would
he consider such proposition Chris
tian? Would he be willing for the
sacred reputation of Christianity to
hinge upon the result of an attempt to
convert given sinner for a sum of
money? If not, why should he con-
slider the silly proposition of Prof.
| Townsend worthy of quotation?
Christian Scientists bid God-speed
to every institution which in any way
contributes to the welfare of man
kind. While they have outgrown the
use of medicine, they do not object to
it's use on the part of their neigh
bors, but on the contrary recognize
that materia medica fills a necessity
in the history of mortal existence and
must have it's day.
| Our critic ridicules the proposition
/ that erroneous thought is the basis of
all our misery; but if he will consider
this carefully and intelligently we
think he will agree that every wrong
| act, every mistake, is due to an erro-
ineous mental conditions; thought al
ways precedes action, and it is GER
/ tain that the sustaining power of God
will save even a drowning man. if he
knows how to utilize that power.
| Christian Science does not teach that
lit is always the conscious thought of
the patient which gives power to q
poison, but that his belief in powers
| opposed to God and the absence of
| Spiritual understanding, places him
where he is defenceless against the
power of evil. If this be not true,
| then Jesus was wrong when He said:
And nothing shall by any means hurt
| Them
| Christian Science does not teach
| that a man may indulge in strong
| drink and commit SIM" and at the
same time escape the penalty thereof.
| Mrs. Eddy clearly teaches: He who
sins must suffer-; that sin must be
grappled with and overcome. Whether
| or not sin be real in the sight of
| Supreme intelligence it is reality to
him who INDUCES in it while it is I'M
| real to him who does not sin.
| Mrs. Eddy does not teach that the
earthquake, the wind and the wave are
| products of the imagination but
that they belong to the material sense
of things which will cease when Gods
spiritual creation is fully discerned,
and the universal conduct of man is
in strict accord herewith.
1t is not claimed that Christian
Science is in accord with the material
/ istic theories of the schools, but it is
in strict harmony With the scientific
teachings of the Bible. 1t is called
| Christian Science because it is the
Science OF Christianity. Christian
Science does not teach that men and
things edo not exist but that they
are not what they seem to those who
are not able to perceive them as God
made them and as they really are; il
is the instrumentation of creation which
is denied by this Science.
| Christian Science discards the use
| Of medicine, not because of a fanatical
dependence upon a religious belief,
but because the use of material rene
dies is not in accord with scientific
methods, and because they have had
greater success in their exclusive de-
pendence upon Divine power than they
have had while dividing the power
between God and matter.
Our critic declares that Mrs. Eddy
dscards the teachings of Ecclesias-
ticus: 1.-The Lord hath created medi-
cines out of the earth; and he that is
wise will not abhor them" The gem
tleman ought to have stated that Ec-
clesiasticus is not in the Bible, but is
found in that compilation of ancient
records called the Apochrypha, the au-
thenticity of which is considered
doubtful In insisting that this quota
ton is Scriptural, he makes 1.-The Bible
contradictory. for the Word of God re-
commends an unreserved dependence
upon God in time of trouble.
1t is written in the Old Testament:
"And Asa in the thirtieth and ninth
year of his reign was diseased in his
feet until his disease was exceeding
great; yet in his disease he sought
not to the Lord but the physicians,
And Asa slept with his fathers, and
died in the one and fortieth year of
his reign Moreover, our Lord never
resorted to material remedies and
never recommended them, and he is
our only example.
The ill-advsed assertion of our
critic that the tendency of Christian
Science is toward insanity, and that
there are many cases proving this on
record is pure assumption, and the
| reader will see that he has not men,
! toned any names and dates. Contra
ry to this unsubstantiated allegation
many have been healed of insanity by
this Divine influence. There may be
some insane individuals who have had
to do with Christian Science in some
way and are still insane, but that can
not be Justly credited to any effects of
Christian Science.
The gentleman repeats the fossilized
claim that Christian Scientists reject
the Bible and that they accept it only
as an allegory." | am wondering if it
would have occurred to the gentleman
to make this assertion about Christian
Science if he had studied the Science
/ itself instead of the assertions of 9TH
err critics.
l desire to call his attention to the
fact that Christian Science is based
upon the Scriptural teachings: GOD
is Spirit "It is the Spirit that
lquickeneth; the flesh profiteth moth
ing" and thus far no critic has ever
lattempted to show that any part of
the Christian Science text book is in
consistent with said Scrptural teach
ings. 1t is not true that Christian
Scientists recommend the study of the
Christian Science text book instead OF
the Bible more than Christian Scien-
tists and this is evidence that they be-
lieve it and understand it.
Nothing in our critics paper is
more unjust than his assertion that
Christian Scientists neglect their chill
dren and permit them to suffer and