The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1913-09-17
Christian Science, Its Teachings Explanations

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belief or doctrine originated, the evi
: dence is not so clear. 1t is possible
however, and perhaps it is probable
that this theory got it's start from mis-
, understanding an incident related in
one of the gospels After the cruel
, fixion and resurrection, when the
doubling Thomas was at length con
WINGED that Jesus was alive in spite
of all that evil could do, he uttered
the words, my Lord and my God" OF
course this was a mere exclamation
But if it was more, it would only in,
dictate that when doubter is once
convinced he is liable to go to the
other extreme.
1t is sometimes supposed that the
word Lord" as used in the New Tes-
lament authorizes the doctrine that
Jesus is God; but not so. The pri-
mary meaning of this word (and the
Greek word which it representa- is
lone who has power or authority
whether God or man. In a secondary
sense it is a title of honor or respect.
Jesus used this word to denote su-
lations. In this way he used it with
reference to a householder in rela-
ton to his house with reference to
man in relation to the sabbath, and
with reference to himself in relation
to his disciples But it is fairly evil
dent from the conteXts that he never
used this word. nor any word, to
designate himself as, God.
One more question respecting the
divinity of the Christ remains to be
explicitly answered. 1t is this: Who
or what is the Christ? In the bible
the word Christ is used with three
shades of meaning. 1t is used as
synonym for the Messiah whose adj
vent was the subject of Jewish
prophecy and expectation. 1t is used
as a title given to Jesus because he
fulfilled the Messianic prophecy and
the character of the office of the d.
vine Saviour as that which exercises
or manifests the saving power of God.
Mrs. Eddy has adopted this biblical
usage Consistently with it she has
furnished a definite statement of the
Christ on which both Jew and Gentle
may unite. That is, "The divine man.
Hesitation of God, which comes to the
flesh to destroy incarnate error
(Science and Health, p. $3.50
Another argument against Christian
Science is so vague and inarticulate
that it is difficult to define. Perhaps
for this reason it has affected more
people than were aware of its inf1u-
ence The gist of this argument is
that Christian Science was not dis
covered by some one else.
Human nature is disposed to dis
credit the ability of any particular
person to render the world great
spiritual service. Especially is this
the case where the individual who
has rendered such a service is not one
whom the world had thought of as
prepared. History has more than
once exposed the fallacy of this atti-
tude, but it persists nevertheless.
SANDER and invective have usually
fallen upon those who have served
the world in this manner, but they
would not convince any one were it
not for the concurrence Of this trait
of human nature.
1t should be understood, however,
that Christian Science is not some
thing invented by Mrs Eddy; no more
than the Ten Commandments were
invented by Moses. 1t was unfolded
to her and through her in the manner
foretold by the Master in his proph-
ecy of the Comforter or Spirit of
Truth "He shall not speak of him
self, but whatsoever he shall hear,
that shall he speak" In this way Mrs.
Eddy has been the means of making
known to human understanding the
science of God and His universe, in
Guiding man, and especially this sci
ence as applied to the redemption OF
humanity.
So far as Mrs Eddy is concerned
her fitness for this service is now
proved by her having accomplished it.
The Christian Science movement has
now become world wide; and its won
derful redemptive value is fact of
authentic history-a fact that cannot
be reversed nor turned back
The facts of Mrs. Eddys personal
history are simply told in biography
by Sibyl Wilbur, which can be found
in most of the public libraries. AS an
man this book is well worth
thoughtful reading I Shall not try
to sum it up here. but will quote what
was said of Mrs. Eddy by one who OBJ
served her in her youth.
From the time when she was a girl
of Is until she married at the age of
%, Mrs. Eddy resided with her parents
at Tilton, N. H., where the Rev Enoch
Corser was pastor of the Congrega-
tional church. He received her into
this church when she was II, and
five years later officiated at her we'd
ding. Meanwhile he was her pastor
and to some extent her tutor. Himself
man of mature years and liberal
culture his contemporaneous evidence
is of course entitled to much weight
In these circumstances Mr.. COrser
once said of Mrs. Eddy to his son,
Bartlett COrSer with such earnest