Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-12-29
of theoretical and speculative beliefs
about Him?

of theoretical and speculative beliefs
about Him?
Correct Concept of God
Yet, all the while that people have
! gone on believing these erroneous
things about God, the Bible state
ments concerning him have been per-
fectly plain. The Bible says. for in
stance, that God is Love, and. since
He is infinite, he must be infinite Love.
Christian Science says. therefore, that
infinite Love cannot be the author of
evil, either in the form of sickness
or sin, and that, no matter what one
may think about evil, it must be ac-
counted for in some other way than
as being a part Of the creation of
God. Now, note the significance of
that statement, for if God did not
create evil, and 1t is manifest that He
could not have created ii, then it fol-
| lows absolutely that evil is not eternal.
For whatever God created must be
eternal like Himself, and if God were
the creator of evil, then evil would
be eternal, and, hence, indestructible.
Christian Science presents scien-
tific method for the destruction of
evil. No matter in what form 1t may
present itself to the individual, wheth-
er as sickness, sin, unhappiness, sor-
row or distress. Christian Science
says. that since 1t is evil, it may be
luSSlIOyGu lI1dl IfiO ueStIOAcI VI
evil in every case is Truth. precisely
as Jesus has declared. Wherever you
] find a Christian Scientist, therefore,
you will find a person who is honestly
striving to destroy evil out of his or
her experience by means of the Scien-
tific method which Christian Science
| presents. While it may be true that
no one, thus far. but Jesus. has been
able to make a perfect demonstration
over evil, yet every one will concede
| that Christian Scientists have, at least,
made some progress, and have sue
ceeded, to some extent, in destroying
both sickness and sin for themselves
and others.
The Bible further discloses that God
not only is Love, but is also omni-
| present. If that is so, then He is
everywhere. for that is what the word
means. He fills all space, and is in
one place in precisely the same de-
gree and to precisely the same extent
that He is in every other place. Does
that not lift ones thought above the
concept of a limited God? And is it
not plain that so long as people be-
| lieve In limited God, who is limited
as to His form, dwelling place, or
goodness. they will continue to suffer
form limitations-limitation with re-
spect to life and the duration thereof,
health, strength, mental capacity, sue
cess, love, spirituality and every good
thing? Christian Science makes plain
that humanity can hope to be emanci-
pated from the curse of limitations in
any and all of these directions when
men and women shall have given up
their false beliefs about limited God,
and shall have learned the truth con-
cerning His nature and character.
Upon one occasion they asked Jesus
to tell them when the Kingdom of
God would come, and he made an
answer that has proved to be
stumbling block to many people from
that day to this. He said. in substance,
that the Kingdom of God is not
place that you can see with obserVa-
ton; it is not n place that you can
say, Lo here it is, or Lo there it is.
for behold. he said, the Kingdom of
God is within you. If that statement
is true, then it follows absolutely that
the Kingdom of God, or the Kingdom
of Heaven, must be a state of con-
seriousness, and not a locality. Then
is it not plain that the further people
go in the belief that the Kingdom of
God. or the Kingdom of Heaven, is
locality, and that it is necessary for
people to die and go there in order
to become citizens of that kingdom,
in reality the further they are alienat-
ing themselves from it? And the
more sincerely they believe that sort
of thing, the more their sincerity will
stand as a barrier to prevent their
progress towards that kingdom.
Christian Science, therefore, pleads
for a rational and demonstrable un-
derstanding of God in place of theoret-
ical and speculative beliefs about
Him.
What Real Prayer Is
Another subject that enters into the
religious life of all people is that Of
prayer. Since prayer is the medium
through which the connection is estab-
lished between the human and the di-
vine, it is, therefore. of great impor-
tance for every person to find out
what constitutes true prayer. What
are its characteristics, what is it's ma
ture.. and how it may be employed so
as to bring TO the one who prays with
certainty the blessings which the
Scriptures say shall come as a result
of true prayer.
It is stated in the fifth chapter of
James that "The prayer of faith shall
save the sick" There is no ambiguity
tbaut that language. 1t is not indeti-
mite or uncertain in any particular. 1t
is in fact. as positive and direct a
statement as can be made with hu-
man language. And yet, it would
seem that one of two things must
necessarily be true, either that state
ment in the Scriptures is wholly false.
or else people have not known how
to make the prayer of faith through
out the centuries Except in sporadic
instances. the sick have not been
saved as the result of prayer. 1t,
therefore, becomes a subject for legiti-
mate inquiry in order that it may be
determined, il possible, whether or
not that statement in the Scriptures
is true. Many people ask If Christian
Scientists pray, and how Christian
Science prayer differs from that of
other churches. and il will doubtless
prove both interesting and helpful II
the difference is explained.
1t can be said that almost every per-
son is taught to make the prayer %
petition, the prayer of pleading. They
are taught to petition God for what
ever good thing they desire. and also
to petition Him to withhold whatever
evil thing they seek to avoid. Run
ming through the prayer of petition.
and in fact. its very foundation and
essence, is the belief that the mind of
God can be changed by the petition
There is the belief that. but for the
petition, God would not do the thing
He is asked to do, else why ask Him ?
Or that but for the petition, He would
do the thing and would send the evil
that He is asked not to do or not to
send.
Yet, ALI the while that this form OF
prayer has gone up from unnumbered
millions of agonizing hearts. the Bible
has declared that God is unchanging.