The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1913-10-06
Powerful Lecture
by Bostonian on
Christian Science
Judge Clifford P. Smith, c. S. b. Delivered Powerful Ad-
dress Yesterday Afternoon on Christian Science
Large Crowd Turned Out to Hear Noted Boston Jurist Who
Is Member of Official Church Board
President Emery of City Commission Introduced Speaker
at Orpheum Theatre to Fargo Audience
Continued from Page Four.

Continued from Page -Four.
that it was teaching; it was %enlighten-
ing the world; it was bearing witness
unto the truth. His entire ministry
was q concrete lesson by which he
objectified the truth or reality Of mans
being.
Such a service would have been
vain n useless, indeed 1t would
have been impossible, if the truth
which he proved were not as true for
US, as it was and is for him. Happily
for us, 1T was the reality of mans be-
ing brought to light. Hence it was
that Jesus said, Because 1 live, We
shall live also"
Jesus Human; Christ Divine.
Jesus, therefore, must have been hu-
man; but the Christ is divine. A SEN
tence written by Mrs. Eddy will eX-
plain our view of his dual personal
ity. This Christ, or divinity of the
man Jesus, was his divine nature, the
goodness which animated him." (Scl-
ence and Health p. 26.)
There is another point hat needs to
be emphasized in his connection. 1t
is this: The belief that Jesus was able
to do what he did because he was God
not only tends to ~perpetuate a mortal
and material concept of mar, but 1t
also tends to limit and obscure the
knowledge Of the only true God.
To understand the love which Jesus
manifested one must understand that
love is God; that is, divine love, or
divine principle, is God. To compre-
bend the life which Jesus reflected one
must perceive hat divine life is God.
To appreciate the intelligence which
Jesus showed forth one must see that
God is mind and that divine mind is
God. To grasp the spirituality and
truth which he expressed one must
apprehend that God is spirit and is
truth.
To get the meaning of the ~so-called
miracles which Jesus wrought one
must know the divine law n power
which made them possible. 70 under
stand whatever he did or was, one
must understand that God is the prln-
ciple of every right action and of all
true being. Every evidence Of good is
a witness to the principle of goodness,
and this divine principle is God Hence
it was that Jesus said, IF We had
known me, We should have known my
Father also
The object, then, of what is called
the incarnation was fulfilled when
God was made manifest to human
thought through man; and the atone
ment or at-one-ment was revealed
men lIlS ISdl lIldll q PtO'SN ~
fn%separable from God and entirely
separate from evil.
Question of the Trinity.
How. then, did the belief that Jesus
is God originate? The Jews had al
ways been ~monotheists. The Shema,
declaring the oneness of God. was the
cardinal point of their faith; n 1t
was expressly approved by Jesus.
When and why did his followers for
mulate the doctrine of the trinity?
The first part of his question can
be answered somewhat definitely. The
growth of this doctrine a be traced
in the creeds which came into use by
the Christian churches Of the second
and third centuries. AS to how this
belief or doctrine originated, the evil
dence is not so clear. 1t is possible,
however, and perhaps it is probable,
that this theory got its start from
misunderstanding an incident related
in one of the gospels. After the
cr%ucifxion and resurrection, when the
doubling Thomas vas 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 1nd1-
cate that when a doubter is once con-
WINGED he is liable to go to the other
extreme.
1t is sometimes supposed that the
word Lord" as used in the New
Testament authorizes the doctrine that
Jesus is God; but not so. The primary
meaning Of this word (and the Greek
word which it represents) is lone who
has power or authority" whether God
or man. In a secondary sense it is a
k+I - ~,,o ~. .-acJN@1f TnC11c I1cnH
this word to denote superiority or
supremacy in various relations. In
this way he used it with reference to
a householder in relation to his house,
with reference to mar in relation to
the Sabbath, and with reference to
himself in relation to his disciples.
But it is fairly evident from the con-
texts that he never used this word, nor
any word, to designate himself as
God.
The Christ Defined.
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. It is used as Il
synonym for the Messiah whose ad-
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
expectation. 1t is also used to de-
note the character Or office Of the
divine Savior 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 'definitive statement of the
Christ on which both Jew and Gentle
may unite. That is, 'The divine mani
festation of God, which comes to the
flesh to destroy incarnate error
(Science and Health, page $3.50.
This is a definition for every era and
for all time. Thus it was that Paul
spoke of the Christ as having de-
livered the children of Israel from
certain forms of evil at the time of
the exodus from Egypt; and thus it is
that the Christ actually can be with
very one always, "even unto the end
of the W~orld;"-eyen unto the end Of
error. ~. % a.,
A F~aIIacious Objection.
Another argument against Christian
Science is so vague and i~narticulate
that 1t is difficult to define. Perhaps
for this reason 1t has affected more
people than were aware Of it's in
fuence. The gist of this argument is
that Christian Science should have
been discovered by some one else.
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