The Washington herald., 1915-05-04
PASTOR RUSSELL IS
TAKEN TO TASK
Christian Scientists Object to Certain
of His Public Crit
cIsms.

| T" the Editor of The Washington Her.
aid: Pastor Russell was quite right in as
| sumlns. when composing the discourse
: which you published on April Is. that
| christian Scientists are not averse to
truthful criticisms. II should be noted.
| however, that criticism may be sim
| Ccre. but not intelligent; and honest. but
not truthful
Pastor Russelrs main criticism of
Christian Science centered about the
/ statement that Mrs. Eddy settled all doc
trinal differences with the dictum that
| there is no evil. no sin. no death: that
what have been so-called are merely
errors Of the mind In short. Pastor
Russell tried to make Christian Science
absurd by reducing it to set of denials.
II would he fair this. to say
| that the Christian teaching of mans
origin rests the negation Of human
| fatherhood. Christ Jesus did say. Call
no man your father upon the earth: but
II these words alone were put forth as
his teaching on the subject to which they
relate. he would he miSrepresented. The
dental which they expressed was based
on the affirmative truth. for one is your
| Father which Is in heaven: and the de-
! NAL without the affirmation would not
| he understood So also a criticism of
| Mrs Eddy for denying the absolute real
! ity Of evil. without reference to the basis
OF her denial. is unfair and misleading.
In what manner. then. did Mrs. Eddy
deal with the mystery of evil? She
consistently accepted the monOtheism
of the Bible. You must begin. she
has written on page 215 of Science and
Health. by reckoning God as the di-
/ vine principle of all that really is" \
more complete statement of her reas-
oning. yet short enough to be quoted
| here is the following from page a.
of the same book: All reality is in
God and His creation. harmonious and
eternal That which he creates is
good and He makes all that is made.
Therefor" the only reality of sin. sick
moss, or death L. the awful fact that
Iunr-aliticS seem real to human. erring
belief until God strips of their dis
Guisc" II may be added that the mys-
terry of evil il most clearly dispelled
" hon some item OF il is destroyed and
cast out of ones experience by the
spiritual understanding which Chris
tian Science confers.
Pastor Russell also denounced chris-
tian Science. with several harsh adject-
ives. for teaching that God is Omni-
present. Nothing in the Bible so de-
cIarcS" An omnipresent God is not
person" These quotations contain
his reasons without his epithets. As
read tn" Bible. il distinctly declares
that God is everywhere. lSee Psalms
I3g:7-lu; jeremiah @3::23. "a; Acts
lI:21. 2S). AS for the word person"
il has too many meanings for unquali-
fied use with reference to the Deity.
Christian Scientists do not believe that
God is like d human person. They ask
with Isaiah. To whom then will We
Iiken Cod" They understand. did
solomon. that God is infnite-"the
heaven of heavens cannot contain
him" christian Scientists do. how
ever hold that God is personal in the
highest and trueSt sense of that term
He is the deific. infinite. omnipresent
Person: and a scribe said with the
Masters approval. there is none other
but he"
The word "Principle" and the term
"'Divine Principle" as used in Chris
tian Science. have been found helpful
in getting rid of finite conceptions of
Deity and gaining the infinite idea
of the infinite One. During this I'M
foldment iheer is need to continually
remember. as Mrs. Eddy has written
on page is of Science and Health,
that tod is Love. and therefore He
is divine Principle"
Pastor Russell was also mistaken
when he said that Christian Scien-
lists attribute their healing to "a
supernatural power" The power by
whI"h christian Science healing can
he done is both spiritual and natural
1t is as Jesus said. the finger of
God" which is to say, the power of
God According to the book of Gene
sis, the law Of our creation and being
includes the decree, Let them have