The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-10-14
COURIER MONDAY OCTOBER l4 9O7

of man, the nature Ol-sIu, anu the nd- ture of salvation, is in vital particu- lars unscriptural, unchristian and un- true. Such a presentation of the heart of Christian truth for example as was given this morning by that noble sim pie Christian man, the Bishop of Lon don, is utterly incompatible with fun damental teachings in Mrs. Eddy's. writings. Her divine Principle" is and ever has been in entire 'ignor- ance" of human suffering and sin; the God and Father of the Bishops evangel and of the historic Christian faith suffers for us, with us because of our sin, and by that suffering, love shames and wooes us from our sin.
 In concluding tonight l shall have time to touch upon one phase only of our third reply to the query under dis cussion, and that but briefly. Mrs. Eddy's teachings as to the nature of man is in vital particulars unscriptur- al and. untrue. Man, according to Mrs. Eddy" is the infinite idea of in finite spirit" But God is more than mind" and man is more than an idea" of the infinite thinker. God is creator and man is a created per sonality. Here is the deepest mys- tery of all thought how the sovereign God could create finite wills endowed with real freedom. Tennyson, bend ing over the cradle of his new born babe, muses in awe upon
 The main-miracle, that thou are thou,
 With power on thine own act and on
 the world"
 It is this "main-m miracle" of a self determining human villa genuine freedom and moral responsibility which is the essence of personality and the secret of character, and 1t is this main miracle" of human free dom which Mrs. Eddy's teaching de- nies "Will power" she says, belongs to the sensesn and aga1n will power is but an illusion of belief" This is pure Hinduism; it belongs to the Orient, and it's hopeless dreams not to the Oceident, and its splendid achieve ments. The power of choice is mans most sacred and aweful endowment; it belongs not to the fsenses' but to tho very citadel of the spirit It is a mystery, but deny It and you have greater mysteries and hopeless mys- teries upon your hands; accept it, and !! you have a key to all other mystery. As the keenest metaphysical thinker in America, Prof. Borden P. Bowne of Boston, used to say in his class room "Myster< we must have at the best, but thlre is a choice of myster- ics; pool your mysteries in freedom. Mrs. Eddy has pooled her mysteries in mortal mind" :" a scape goat whose in trusion upon a perfect universe she makes no attempt to explain. She has 4 all the problems of speculative thought left upon her hands and she has besides thrown away faith in mans most kingly endowment oi which Tyndall, the physicist, was constrained to write: Amid all oui speculative uncertainty, there is one practical point as clear as the day namely, that the brightness and the usefulness of life. as well as it's dark .l ness and disaster, depend to Q great extent upon our own use or abuse oi this miraculous organ"
 As we shall sec next Sunday night 1t is the abuse of freedom, which Mrs. Eddy denies and not any error O. :. metaphysical thinking, as Mrs, Edd, aiIirlns which has wrought the disas ters of human history, and to over come which there is needed not thu "Principle' of Mrs. Eddy's teachings whose love Is ignorant" of our need
 but the God who was in Christ re
 conciling the world unto Him self" Next Sunday evenings discus sion will conclude our necessary mega tive criticism and we shall be read, to, consider positively why and in wha sense every Christian though by nt means an Eddyite, should be a Chris tian scientist.