Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1914-12-29
1000 HEAR TALK ON
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE
Educational Lecture at Majestic
Theater by Virgil 0. Strick-
Ter, of New York

ence of approximately a thousand per-
sons at the Majestic Theater last even
ing to hear an address by Virgil o.
Strickler, of New York, a member of
the Christian Science board of lecture
ship. The lecture was given under
the auspices of the local Christian
Science Church, which annually pro-
vides a discourse of this kind for the
benefit of those who wish to be better
informed on the subject.
The speaker of the evening was
introduced by Roy Il. Bignall, of Har-
risburg, who briefly outlined the Vtlr-
pose OF the lecture. Mr.. Strickler has
direct, matter of-fact delivery and a
faculty for simple and apt illustration,
and while many phases Of his subject
could not be included in a discourse of
an hour and a half, those which he
did take up were handled thoroughly
from every angle He said, in part:
1t is undeniable that Christian
Science has healed many sick people
and has brought about the regenera-
ton Of many who were the victims of
sin. Among its membership are those
who have been healed of intemper-
ance, of so-called chronic and organic
diseases, as well as of maladies that
were acute or functional. 1t has
healed others of sorrow, fear, unhap-
Diness and similar diseased mental
conditions that often cause more suf-
fering and distress than physical dis
orders.
In every case of Christian Science
healing, whether the disease was
chronic or acute, physical or mental
the cure was brought about without
the use of hypnotism, mental sug-
gestions. drugs or any material means,
and entirely through the application
of the spiritual and metaphysical
teachings of Christian Science.
l. TE.,zr 80 1, wt.T- n. N~sa1-1 &c
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. Chris
tian 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 pro-
cess, namely, by the substitution of
spiritual truth in place of error and
false belief in the human conscious
ness.
1t is recorded in the Sth Chapter of
the Gospel of John that upon one oc-
casion when Jesus was being harassed
by the lawyers and theologians. who
were plying him with questions and
seeking to entrap him by his answers,
he turned to a group of his followers,
who were standing near, and said to
them, "Ye shall know the truth and
the Truth shall make you free" In
all of the Bible there is no statement
of greater importance to mankind
than this utterance of the Master. 1t
prescribes the remedy for every hu-
man i'll.
Ultimate Truth Will Make Free
There must be ultimate truth some
where, and when it is apprehended by
the human mind it will emancipate
those who apprehend it from bondage
to evil. Christian Science asserts that
ultimate truth concerning God and
man and their relationship is revealed
by the Scriptures, and may be gained
by every person when the Scriptures
are rightly interpreted
1t is sometimes difficult for people
TO understand how religion can heal
sickness and destroy sin, but the
words of Jesus make it plain. Since
it is through a knowledge of the truth
that these results are accomplished
the important thing for each one is to
gain an understanding of truth in
stead of being satisfied with mere be-
lief about it, In other words, in or
der to find out how religion can de-
stroy sin, sickness and all sorts of evil
condition. it is first necessary to gain
an understanding as to what is reli-
gion. 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 prac-
tice, and to ascertain what constitutes
true religion.
There are many who honestly think
that it makes no difference what relig-
ious beliefs they entertain, so long as
they are sincere in them. mo-
ments reflection, however, will show
that such a theory is pernicious and
destructive. for it is perfectly plain
that il a thing is not, in fact, true, no
amount of sincerity on the part of the
believer can ever make it true. No
engineer ever arrived at a correct re-
suit. 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 it may
be unimportant whether the thing be-
lieved is true or not, but with respect
to the things that people believe about
Cod and about themselves, and about
their relationship to God, they are
vital. because it will be shown that
the things believed with respect to
these matters, become laws that are
binding upon the believer
The First Essential
In trying to ascertain what consti-
tutes religion the very first subject to
he considered is that which relates to
God Every one must agree that
correct understanding of God is essen
tial as the foundation of religion. Any
system of religious teaching that is
founded upon an imperfect or err
roneous conception of God must nee
essarily fail to bring to its adherents
the help and comfort for which they
seek. When we look about US and see
the splendid fidelity of men and wom-
en- to their religious beliefs, and then
see how much suffering and failure
they experience, and how far short
they come of attaining the good which
they so honestly seek, It is fair de-
duction that there is something wrong
about their understanding Of God.
No offense will be given. therefore,
by the statement that the average
person has a very indefinite and nebul-
Gus conception of God. If you were
TO ask "a dozen people TO tell you who
ana what God is, you would get a
dozen different answers. There are
some who think God is a person.
How many people there are who.
when they kneel down and close their
eyes, and reyerently pray to God, have
in mind a person, or form, or an
image, TO which they pray! And how
many others there are who think of
God as being of anger and resent
rnent. who sends failure and suffering
70 those who displease him! And are
49,. a many ofbarc xrbo