The morning journal-courier., 1908-03-09

lHe Cnrlstldn Science people actually trying to practice in everyday life And if the old view of the New Testament is to stand. if people are 10 refuse to study 1t critically, Winnewing out the essential from the non essential, tho true from the false. that which is his- torical from that which Is traditional: if we are to accept these wonderful stories of healing just as they are re- lated. then, for the life of me. cannot see why we should not admit that tho claim of Christian Science to have pow CT over all manner of diseases. daring and eXtravagant as it seems. is not d valid and rational claim, one resting squarely upon the admitted experience of the early church. By what just principle do people apply their laws of historical and scientific criticisms to Mrs. Eddy's Key to the Scriptures" and refuse to apply those same laws to the Scripture itself? How dooes it which to-day orthodox church people call irrational and absurd are the same claims that in the pages of the New Testament they accept with their eyes shut?
 Turn now from the relation which Christian Science holds to the healing ministry of Jesus to that held by the Emmanuel movement. The leaders in this movement have stepped out to open ground. Apparently they have tho courage of their convictions They have brought the tests of genuine sci- ence to bear upon Christian Scienees and they have brought the principles of historical criticism to bear upon the records of the New Testament. Tha result of these inquiries and studies has been to convince them that the same healing principle exists today that existed in the time of Jesus That principle will accomplish what 1t ao- complished then, and it will not accom- plish anything more. God has given us various agencies by which to work. And the plain meaning of this revela- tion seems to be that we should use; would confine itself to one principle of healing. That principle Is an import ant one--it has done, and will continue to do, a blessed work. It is the same' principle that Jesus used the principle of an operating faith going forth as energizing will They may call it some-l thing else, but we all need to learn that the names which we attach to re- alities mean nothing. Every school has, it's own set of names for spiritual rea'- ities. In the New Testament this prin- clpal of healing is called one thing. in Christian Science it Is called something else. in modern psychology we have al wholly different set of words and even in the Emmanuel movement they have already begun the process of putting together a new terminology. But tho nature of man does not change from one century to another, nor is the nature of man different in one religious sect from what 1t is in another. All men. from Jesus time until now, who, have attempted this kind of healing,a have been playing with the same forces, have achieved their results by the em -l ployment of the same laws The onlyl sane -endeavor is to discover, If possi-i ble, some unifying principle. It makesl no difference how intelligent body of people may be. or how religious they may be-in just the measure that they employ the laws of psychic treatments use any combination of words to desig- nate the complaint, or, the laws by which cure Is to be affected, or tho methods employed to set those laws in operation--it makes, no difference' whatever. Where the underlying prln- clple of healing is grasped-whether' consciously or nconsciously--where 1t is grasped and used. results will be produced-and it makes not the sllght-l est difference whether it be in Chris tian Science church, or in a Baptist church, or In an Episcopal church. or in a question as to whether we have thel right philosophy of the cure or. not; it| Is question of whether we use th01 process. The Emmanuel philosophy isl wholly different from that of Christian, Science, but both movements produce . the same results, because both moves .ments are compelled to work on hu-i man nature which Is everywhere the same. and both movements are c0m- peiled to use forces which are every- where the same, and both movements are compelled to employ spiritual laws which are everywhere the same.
 This is the position, as I understand it, of the leaders In yne Emmanuel movement. The cures wrought in tho New Testament. the cures wrought to greater or less degree in all ages of the Christian church. the cures to-day-these cures have convinced them that there is a distinct and ini- portant principle of spiritual healing. The study of modern psychology has gone a long way towards defining that principle When they put down their lament they find that every page of .the book illustrates this principle What matters it if in that old day they work ed in the dark? They were dealing with fe-giving forces. even though they did not understand them, This verse iq gel went down at a certain season into | the pool, and troubled the water. whosoever thus first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made | whole of whatsoever disease he had. z No doubt people were helped by this process. The ignorant multitude sup posed, and the writer of this gospel | took 1t for granted, that the thing which effected the cure was the angel
 stepping into the pool. Does any man
 to-day seriously believe that at stated | times an angel went down into that
 pool and stirred up the water? No! doubt if there is one in this house who
 believes it. But they all believed it | then, and they believed that the angel
 was the cause of the cure. We see to-
 day that the cause is to be found in this
 healing principle of faith. If the disl
 which put it into the class for psychic | treatment then cure was effected | if the disease claimed to be of the character which required another kind
 of treatment then it went uncured. The
 same thing happens to-day, and sooner
 pie will see it. In this faith the lead. CTS of the Emmanuel movement are do. | ing their work. They believe that Gud has more than one way of making 8 whole life. Not only has he stored tho
 soul of man with curative forces bu
 such forces. All the agencies of Gpt are to be used. The physician wiit would claim that he had some medicine
 which would produce moral character
 some drug by which it was possible
 to redeem man from sin-such a phy.
 sician might be sincere, but he would
 not be taken seriously. A religious
 teacher who claims that he has som,
 principle of faith by which it is possi
 ble for him to heal a broken limb, o
 to restore destroyed tissue, or to giv, sight to the blind-such a teache
 might be sincere, but I cannot believ,
 that the world will ever vaKe him yer,
 seriously. Christian Science has takel
 possession of a great and valuabl
 principle; it does not belong to them
 it belongs to humanity. But 1t is their
 in the sense that they have given i
 peculiar emphasis. Those who hay
 sympathized with them in their worl . have hoped that they would accept il
 time a more critical view of the Ney , Testament, that they would winnoy out it's teachings and come to see tha the law which Jesus used in healing like every other law, has exact limita tions. Magnificent as their work ha | been I cannot help believing that ] nply 1oft loe 5