Los Angeles herald., 1909-08-08
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE
ADVANCES BEYOND
PHYSICAL SCIENCE
SUBSTANCE OF UNIVERSE IS
SPIRIT
Everything Is Caused and Governed
by One Prlnciple-There Is but
One Creator and One
Creation

The article on Science" in the New
STANDARD Encyclopedia contains the fol-
lowing sentences: I'm all scientific in
quiry the first step is to scrutinize the
evidence of the senses, whose indica-
tions are always imperfect and often
misleading. History shows again and
again that the supposed scientific be-
lefs of one age are at variance with
the scientific facts of a later age. In
every such case 1t will be found that
the earlier and false science has laid
too great stress on the apparent, and
has from insufficient knowledge failed
in apprehending the real" Similar
statements could be quoted from other
works of reference. These statements
undoubtedly express the opinion Of all
exponents of the physical science OF to-
day. Notwithstanding this concurrence
of opinion, the distinction which Chris
tian Science makes between what is
real and what is merely apparent to the
physical senses has been the subject of
more adverse comment, intended to be
humorous or intended to be serious,
than any other feature of Christian
Science. While these criticisms have
not been consistent with each other nor
always self-consistent, they have ex-
hibited a marked ignorance of the his
tory and progress of human knowledge.
The most that can be said for the
of perception. They are instruments
through which the human mind obtains
or receives impressions in regard TO
material phenomena. The sensations
thus conveyed to individual conscious
ness do not constitute knowledge. They
merely constitute evidence, or ground
|of belief, to be accepted, rejected or cor
rected by the individual according to
his experience and education.
Theories Are Speculative
The physical senses only report data
which human knowledge regards as the
phenomena of a material world; and
even as to matter and its phenomena
their testimony is neither complete nor
reliable. This fact is illustrated in the
following extract from the article on
Matter" in Nelson's Encyclopedias:
Matter in physics, is one of the in
deflnables OF the universe. What we
are directly conscious of in our eXpe-
rience are certain sensations, which we
believe correspond to the changes in
the world outside of us. Not only, as
we believe, is there change in the world
external to us, but there is physiolog-
ical change in the substance we call
our brain. Behind these changes we
postulate a permanent something
whose essence remains unchanged,
however much the conhgurations of its
we call matter. The limitations of our
senses should warn us against the as
sumption that matter has ultimately
any real resemblance to what we con-
ceiVe ii to be. Indeed, many of the
characteristics by which we recognize
different kinds of matter do not, strict
ly speaking, belong to matter. Such,
for example. is color, which depends
on the nature of the Illuminating light.
Moreover, the progress of physical sci
ence has brought to our knowledge
properties of matter which have no eff
feet on our organs of sense-e. g., 'elec-
trical and magnetic properties. Had
we an organ of perception sensitive to
differences of electrical potential, our
outlook on the world of phenomena
would be fundamentally altered. These
considerations show that all theories
as to the ultimate constitution of mat
ter cannot be other than purely spec
ulative."
Only One Universe
Just at present physical science re-
CARDS matter as consisting of ether,
ions and electrons; conceptions Of
which the physical senses furnish no
direct evidence. And whatever the ul-
innate nature of this permanent
something" may be. physical science
does not expect it to be directly per-
ceptible by means of the five senses.
Christian Science advances beyond
physical science and declares that the
substance of athe universe is Spirit
More at length, the universe is caused
and governed by one Principle; thcre is
but one creator and one creation; the
one principle of all things is God, Spir-
it, Mind; and the real universe is there
fore spiritual and mental. Christian
Science also explains the popular be-
lief in a material universe There is
only one universe, and the people who
believe 1t to be material have failed
to correct the testimony of the phys
ical senses. They have either drawn
erroneous conclusions from the data
of sense perception or have accepted
the conclusions thus drawn by others.