The Washington herald., 1914-12-14
SICKNESS IS Sin,
I. SAYS STRICKLER
Healing, However, Is Not the
Primary Purpose Of Chris
tian Science.
Jesus MAKES IT PLAIN"
Interesting Statements Made by Board
of Lectureship Member Before
Large Audience at Polls.
{" JESUS MAKES IT PLAIN"

A lecture on Christian Science by Virgil
o. Stricken, c. s.. was delivered at Polls
Theater yesterday afternoon under the
auspices of First and Second Churches
OF Christ, Scientist, of this city. Mr..
StrickIer is a member of the board Of
llectureship OF the Mother Church IN
Boston. He was introduced by William
S. Campbell. first reader Of the First
Ch6stian Science Church. Of Washington.
The theater was filled.
Among the statements made by Mr..
SIickler were the following:
The healing of the sick is not the
primary purpose of Christian Science.
According to the teachings of this Science
all sickness and disease result from error
and false belief. which are summarized
as sin, and when the error of belief Is
destroyed by the truth which Christian
Science imparts, the disease disappears.
Christian Science, therefore. teaches that
the cause OF all disease and sin is mental,
and not physical, and that both sin and
disease may be cured by one and the
same metaphysical process, namely, by
the substitution OF spiritual truth in
place of error and false belief in the
human consciousness.
Difficult to Understand.
II is sometimes difficult for people to
understand how religion can heal sick
ness and destroy sin, but the words u
Jesus make 1t plain. Since 1t is through
a knowledge Of the truth that these re-
suits are accomplished the important
thing for each one is to gain an under
standing of truth instead OF being salts
fed with mere belief about it In other
words, in order to find out how religion
can destroy sin, sickness and all sorts Of
Il. -,
gain an understanding as to what IS
religion. To gain the benefits promised in
the Bible TO true believers it is necessary
to get rid OF that which is erroneous in
religious belief and practice. and to ascer-
tain what constitutes true religion.
There are many who honestly think
that 1t makes no difference what rellG-
ious beliefs they entertain, so long as
they are sincere in them. A moment 9
reflection, however. will show that such
a theory is pernicious and destructive.
for II is perfectly plain that If thing
is not, in fact, true, no amount OF sin
cerity on the part of the believer can
ever make 1t true. No engineer ever ar
rived at correct result, no matter
how sincerely he may have believed that
his processes were correct, If they were
not so in fact
With respect to many things 1t may
De unlmportant wnether the thlng De-
lieved Is true or not, hut with respect
to the things that people believe about
God, and about themselves. and about
their relationship TO God. they are
vital. because 1t will be shown that the
things believed with respect to these
matters, become laws that are binding
upon the believer.
IN trying to ascertain what constitutes
religion the very first subject to be con-
sidered is that which relates to God.
Every one must agree that a correct
understanding of God is essential as the
foundation OF religion. Any system OF
religious teaching that is founded upon
an imperfect or erroneous conception OF
God must necessarily fail to bring to
its adherents the help and comfort.
Christian Science. therefore. pleads
for a rational and demonstrable under
standing of God in place of theoretical
and speculative beliefs about Him