The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1908-09-27
Literary Lights and Shad0hS
BY S. MAYS BALL.

| fore the public in practical way the
folly INDUCED in by many otherwise fair
minded men and women of discussing,
critcising and condemning persons and
things of which. from a personal knovl-
edge. they know absolutely nothing. Mr..
Hayes realizes that the world today is
given to fiction, and that a book of that
character is frequently read when a more
profound book would be neglected He
therefore has made Paul Anthony, Chris
tian," fictitious as to its characters,
scenes and episodes, but he adds that the
most startling and significant events 1t
chronicles have all been parallel in eX-
periences which have come under the au-
thor's personal observation.
And as ye go, preach, saying, the king
dom of heaven is at hand. Heal the SICK
cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast
out devils; freely ye have received, free
ly give is the keynote to the story.
The book opens where a sweetheart
loses her fiancee by death. She had been
a great churchgoer, and couldn't under
stand that if We believed all of the Bible
why we could not heal the sick. The lover
had been on the eve of leaving for lndla
to be a missionary. So the sweetheart
takes up this work and goes out TO 1hula
as a missionary Paul Anthony was
civil engineer in charge Of oil Wells IN
India; he also built water works and
things of that kind. Anthony was won
der according to the book about him. He
meets the lovely girl sent out by the
Methodist church as a missionary and
every one can see the answers it not
so? But before that there were many
things happening to fill up Ais pages of
the novel; which, to be candid, is simply
a brief for the Christian Scientists. But
it also must be admitted that few books
written in such a form will give better,
fairer and less prejudiced idea of the be-
liefs and acts of the Christian Scientist
than Paul Anthony, Christian" Once
when an Indian put his hand on an ex-
posed electric wire carrying 1000 volts,
and was shocked to death, Paul simply
thought out the error" had the Indian
carried into his office prayed a bit and
the Indian was raised from the dead. An
other case, where a young boy of IL or
10 years old, who had been a cripple from
childhood, saw Paul and intimated to
the latter that if he would he (PauD could
heal him. Paul had him carried to his
room, thought out error" and told the
crippled youth to go and open the door.
When reminded that the youth couldn't
walk, Paul told the boy that he was mis-
taken, and he was, for the cripple threw
away his crutches and became complete
ly healed. Mr.. Hayes says that that
is all from real life.
One of the arguments in the novel Is
ItldI people OD Tie OuISlQt VI I'll otlai
Science do not do justice to that sect, and
no doubt that is true, for in the book
are explained many matters which are not
believed in by Christian Scientists that
most people thought were.
The book is interesting, and as stated,
will give one a better idea of Christian
Science than he can get from many other
books written that this reviewer has ever
seen. The descriptions of life in India,
wherein appear an Indian prince and his
sister, who loved Paul Anthony, are I'M
usually good. All of us should read such
books, if only to post ourselves on the
truth with or without capital ''T'D, and
paul Anthony, Christian" is a book
which can be recommended. A very diff
cult argument to get around in all Of
the tenents of the Christian Scientists is
simply this: If we believe in the New
Testament completely that is to say,
everything in it, then why cannot a Chris
tian with faith raise the dead, heal the
sick, cure lepers, etc? If it was done.
say the Christian Scientists, 1000 years
ago, why cannot it be done today?