Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1913-03-27

discussing the SUBJECT Win some par
ticularity, and shall endeavor to ans
wer the objections that have been
presented TO healing by prayer
There are two classes OF critics
who attack Christian Science healing
First, those who say that it is i'm
posi- bic, and therefore preposterous,
for Christian Science to claim that
the sick may behealed without drugs,
through the medium Of prayer, and,
second, those who claim that it is
unscriptural to attempt to do So All
criticism of Christian Science heal
ing falls under these two heads.
With respect to the first class,
those who say that it is impossible,
i can only be answered that through
Christian Science all kinds of dis
eases have been healed. This can
not be denied The entire Christian
Science movement is made up OF peo-
pie who have been healed. Most of
them turned to Christian Silence as
last resort, after having failed 10
get relief through other channels.
hristian Science churches are built
with money contributed as a thank
offering to God By those who have
| been healed thru Christian Science.
The person in this day who denies
that Christian Science heals the
sick is merely closing his eyes to
what he does not wish to see. 1t is
| a fact that Christian Science does
| heal al manner of disease and suffer
| ing, and it is fact for which every
one should be grateful
| With respect to the second class,
those who think that it is unscriptur
al for Christian Science to teach that
| the sick may be healed without drug
| by sepiritual means only, through the
medium of prayer, l will say that it
| is difficult to understand how any
person who has studied the Bible or
believes in God, can be troubled by
such a question. 1t seems obvious
that people who pray to God for every
| IlnS lney utoiIt dI1SHI esAoo nc CA
pected to pray to Him for deiverance
from sickness as well as from sin.
Christian Science declares without
any equivocation that the truth taugh
| by Jesus, when rightly understood
and rightly applied, is sufficient with
out the aid of anything else whatso-
ever both to heal the sick and to re-
generate the sinner. This, then, give
us starting point from which to be-
gin to measure Christian Science with
the Scriptures
1t must be admitted that Jesus heal
ed the sick by metaphysical and not
by physical means. He did not ad-
minister drugs nor recommend their
iuse, aud yet he healed the sick in
some manner and by some process
that was infallible. Organic dis
eases yielded to his treatment as
readily as those that We're purely
functional People who were born
blind and with crooked and misshap-
en- bodies found themselves restored
to normal conditions under his Patio
logical treatment, as readily as those
who were suffering from feVers or
insanity.
The question is, How did he do it,
and is it possible for human beings
now walking the earth to learn his
method so as to be able to produce
crues in the same way?
Many believe that Jesus was able
to do his wonderful works because h
was divine, and therefore that it is
impossible to do the works he did
and even blasphemous for any per
son to claim to do them. This, how
ever, will not explain the exercise OF
the same power by his disciples, and
by the early Christians. Jesus HIM
lself never said anything to justify
such belief On the contrary, he
apparently took every precaution to
prevent such a theory from becOm-
ing prevalent.
In a conversation with his disci-
pies concerning this very matter, re-
corded in the 14th chapter of the Go:
pei of John, he said in the 10th
verse: "Behevest thou not that |
am in the Father and the Father in
me? the words that / speak unto you
| speak not of myself: but the Fath-e
that dweIeth in me, he doeth the
works" This was equivalent to say
ing that God is Mind and that he
dwelt in Mind and Mind in him so
that he of himself did not do anything
but it was God operating through hin
that did the works
Giving all honor and power to the
Father he said, the Son can do no
thing of himself
On all occasions Jesus denied that
he had any power in or of himself,
and declared always that it was
God operating through him that en-
abled him to do the works. He like
wise declared that the divine power,
operating through him, was available
to every one and could be possess
ed and exercised by every one who
accepted his teachings and fulfilled
their requirements.
In this connection it is sisnifi-
cant that Jesus never at amy time
sent out his disciples to preach with
out telling them also to heal the
sick. There is no Scriptural author1-
ty for preaching that does not have
coupled with it the command to heal
go We into the world and preach
the gaspeP' and heal the sick We're
his commands. Lest there should be
any doubt about it he said: Verify
verify, l say unto you, He that bel1eV-
eth ON me, the works that | do shall
he do also; and greater works than
these shall he do; because | go unto
| 4hO Ioc dc