The San Francisco call., 1908-12-20

garding diagnosis, the Christian Sci
enlist is accurate in his conclusions
concerning the real nature of disease.
In any event probabilities" are not
sufficient evidence to the contrary.
The doctor declares Experience
shows that when a person has had many
doctors, many diagnoses. many dis
eases or many operations. he usually
turns out to be suffering from nervous
prostration or some other form OF
functional nervous trouble" There are
a great many persons in this world who
have had many doctors. many diagnoses
and many diseases, if not many opera
tions. and it is kind in Dr. Cabot to
point out the fact that there is hope
for them in Christian Science.
CHRONIC CASES HEALED
Our critic declares: "A patient suffer-
ing from organic disease rarely consults
a Christian Scientist" To be exact it
should be said that thus far very few
patients suffering with any sort of dis
order call upon a Christian Scientist
until after they have exhausted their
patience or their means in experiment
ing with material remedies 1t is nat
ural that one should not experiment
with something that is new and untried
so long as the old ways promise results.
Those who apply to Christian Science
are as rule those who have failed to
recover through medicine, and if 1t be
true that from medical point of view
organic diseases are more difficult to
heal, it is likely that more cases af-
70
Christian Science. If it be true that or
ganie diseases are as a rule more diff
ficult to heal than functional troubles
it is because the one has Il stronger
hold upon human belief and in the
breaking requires a more stalwart un-
derstanding of the divine power. Some
cases are more difficult to heal than
others, just as some problems in math-
ematics are more difficult than others,
but while even a simple problem might
battle the efforts of neophyte or one
with limited understanding, the most
difficult would be easy to Master.
Therefore the remedy for the inability
to heal any class of diseases does not
lie in resorting to a more material
means but in understanding more per-
fectly the spiritual
In the writer's own practice, extend
ing through a period of 20 years. he
has seldom had a patient who was not
afflicted with both organic and func-
tional disorders, and his success has
been quite as uniform with organic
troubles as with those which have been
called nervous disorders.
In conclusion our critic declares:
Believing. then, as 1 do that most
Christian Science cures are genuine
genuine cures of functional disease
the question arises whether the special
methods of mental healing employed by
Christian Scientists differ from other
methods of mental healing" l..
that is, by producing in the patient
strong belief that he will get we'll"
Whatever may be said concerning the
Christian Scientists ability to diagnose
disease, we think Doctor Cabot will
concede to him at least one privilege.
namely, the privilege of stating how
Christian Science heals, since the
Christian Scientist is at least supposed
to be informed on his own subject. To
acknowledge the Christian Scientists s
qualification to define his own theory
and practice would be no less consist
ent. 1t is evident that no one knows
quite so well how Christian Science
heals as the Christian Scientist. through
whose understanding the healing is
effected.