Los Angeles herald., 1909-03-07

piled just as practically as in the first
century. When they read the Chris
tan Science textbook and began to
grasp something of what Mrs Eddy
was telling them, in that book, of the
spiritual power to be gained by bet
ter understanding of the Bible. When
they saw all around them the sorrow
full being comforted, the sick being
healed, the sinner being reformed, by
means of this better understanding,
they began, like the blind man, to take
the world into their confidence. and
the world constantly replied quite as
emphatically and not much more po-
litely than the Pharisees, when they
declared, Thou vast altogether born
in sins, and dost thou teach us?"
Criticism Not True
Only quite recently one of these crit
les has been affirming that Christian
Scientists maintained that they could
not sin. and that to think they could
would be an illusion, since man was
perfect. The criticism is not new, and
only proves how absolutely true is Mrs.
Eddy's contention that 1.-The one i'm
portant Interpretation of Scripture is
the spiritual" If the orthodox inter-
probation simply leaves on the mind
the impression that the image and
likeness of God is perpetuated in the
Adamic race, and, therefore, that when
a Christian Scientist refers to mans
sinless perfection he is alluding to the
Caesar Borgias of this world, 1t can
only be said that the sooner he learns
to interpret the Bible spiritually, and
to discriminate between the crea tons
of God and the illusions of the senses,
the happier for himself and for those
with whom he is brought in contact
IF we say that we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves, and the truth is not
in u.s." John writes in the First Epistle.
Paul. however, told the Philippians to
"Let this mind be in you, which was
also in Christ Jesus" who, says the
writer of Hebrews, was in all points
tempted like as we are, yet without
SIM These texts are quite common
ones, as every one knows, and their
meaning has not been in any way
twisted by detaching them from their
context. 1t is evident, therefore. that
they are either collection of contra
dictory aphorisms, or that there is
some deeper meaning in them than
the critics have yet discovered.
Questions Sin
If sin is real, as the critics say, one
of two things is certain, either that God
made sin, or else that there is some
thing that God did not make. Now the
Bible says quite distinctly that God
made all that was made. Consequently
it is unquestionable that if sin is real
it Is God-created. The morality of such
teaching may, for the moment, be laid
aside, since If 1t is true it is inevitable,
in order to consider the far more i'm
portant question of its effect.
Sin, then, being real becomes necessa-
rily part of omniscience, and as omni-
science cannot forget anything it has
once known it becomes eternal. The d.
vine Mind, however, is not merely ON
niscient, it is omnipresent. Sin, there
fore, being real becomes eternally om-
nipresent. In word 1t must be per-
petually existent in every human con-
seriousness.
Arguing from such basis as this
it is perfectly easy to accept the prima
facie meaning of the stateSlent of John
that IL man says he is without sin
he is self deceived. But it follows, as