St. Johns review. (Saint Johns, Or.) 1904-current, 1914-10-16

spiritual healing, which, accord
ing to contemporaneous secular
writer's and historians, con-
tinued among the early Chris
tians for about three hundred
years; and yet today the vast
majority do not believe in it,
and many do not even admit il
to be historically true, while not
a few deny its possibility. Some
say that these events may have
happened in Jesus time, but are
impossible now. This is neither
logical nor reasonable. The
power of God is "the same yes
terday. and today. and forever, f"
and If this healing took place in
the first century, il can take
place now, since every divine
law and order must be immut-
able and we have the same con-
ditions to deal with which they
had then.
Jesus said. "Lo, / am with
you Away" and. "He that be-
lieveth on me. the works that |
do shall he do also; :. be-
cause | go unto my Father. T"
The Master thus taught that all
of truth is always with us, and
he came 10 show us how to make
il available. This is the way of
salvation, and if this way can
not be found and followed today,
then his mission was surely a
failure. Think you that Christ
Jesus. the great Exemplar, the
worlds Wayshower. would have
taught, demonstrated, and en-
joined upon mankind a healing
and saving method which was
efficient and sufficient in the first
century. but impracticable or
impossible in the twentieth?
II is not possible to separate
Jesus word from his work.
The one is the proof of the
other; hence the healing work
must be recognized as an es.
sential element of primitive
Christianity. The healing re.
corded in the Bible was no more
readily believed when il occurred
than il is now. save by the rela-
lively few who were impressed
by the evidence presented or
who experienced spiritual trans
formation. The Scriptures re-
cord the intense hatred and per-
secution which the early Chris
tians endured because of their
belief in the efficacy of spiritual
power. This is corroborated in
secular history, and il is note
worthy that the hatred was most
intense when spiritual power
was most in evidence. especial
ly so at the moment the healing
was done.
Judging by its fruits. and by
the fact that it certainly stimu-
lates higher order of thought
and living. all must admit that
this spiritual healing is a far
better method than the use of
means. This being
true, we can but ask, Why is il
not in general use among Chris
tian people? Evidently because
It is not understood, for there
exists today very general dis
belief in its possibility. a stub
born tendency to doubt it, in
spite of the many authentic re.
cords of such healing in the past
and through Christian Science
now.
CAUSES OF UNBELIEF
Let us then, if we may, ex-
anime into some of the causes of |
his disbelief in Scriptural or
Christian healing. What are
hey? First; 1t is difficult for
most of us to see how physical
'esults can be realized through
spiritual means. The teaching
# the schools regarding the ma
ure of matter and material ex-
stence. produces such a ma
erially biased consciousness
hat it is very difficult to appre-
lend spiritual existence and
piritual power. Second: The
'opular teaching regarding the
lature of God and of His rela-
ION 10 oil ha;oc, too,ath ~, ,,,;tL