The Washington times., 1915-05-10


entire community should be given ,he
public-spirited citizens who gave their
time and energy to the work
HOUSEHOLDER.
Says Pastor Russell Is Mistaken.
To the Editor Of THE TIMES:
The main thread of the sermon OF
Pastor Russell in your Issue OF May
was woven about a series of mistaken
| suppositions regarding the pospioh
OF Christian Science toward the item
of human experience called death. Inc
philosophy Of Christian Science was
supposed to be as follows: Whoever
dies commits mortal error; death Is
the greatest of errors. and ones fail-
ure to overcome it here and now
leaves him hopeless-he has failed in
the last moment of his trial The con-
clusion drawn from these premises
was that the death of Christian Scien-
lists disproves the truth of Christian
Science. The fallacy OF this conclu-
sion. however. begins with the falsity
OF its premises, for they do not rep
resent the teachings of Christian Sci
| ence in a single particular.
The position of Christian Science
with reference to the change called
death is simply that of original and
unadulterated Christianity. When
Christ Jesus said. "If a man keep my
| saying, he shall never see death. and
when he said. BE ye therefore perfect.
even as your Father which is In
| heaven is perfect" he lifted up an
ideal which will sooner or later draw
all men. But. 1T is not only in the
belief called this world" that we
have hope in Christ; the true idea
must reign in our thoughts until the
mortal qualities of human beings are
wholly eliminated.
The passing on of a Christian Sc,-
enlist no more disproves the truth of
Christian Science than the same event
in the experience of st. Paul disproved
his statement, I'VE live, and move,
and have our being" in God.
One of the difficulties encountered
by Pastor Russell while speaking. of
Christian Science. is due TO his in
| sistence on its being system of neg
ative thinking. Take this illustra-
ton: christian Scientists declare that
the ten most potent words ever writ
ten are the first ten words OF Mrs.
| Eddy's scientific statement OF being
| There IL no life, truth. intelligence
| nor substance in matter. ] have
been a daily reader of Christian Sci
| epce literature for over fifteen years.
and have talked with several thousand
| Christian Scientists, yet / never read
! OF nearO SuCn n OeClaTdtlOn a
| Christian Scientist.
| If anybody will read the scientific
| statement of being. on page 468 Of
| Science and Health with Key to the
| Scriptures" to which Pastor Russell
| referred the reader win find II to be
| a paragraph of six sentences, in which
positive and negative statements are
| evenly balanced. In form and in sub
| stance the entire paragraph cores
ponds to these words from Christ
| G,Sl IL tl%., l.
life; the flesh profiteth nothing" For
anyone to say that Christian Scientists
| regard the ten words in question as
| the most potent ever written. would
| be like saying that Christianity is
| founded on the unprofitableness of
the flesh-on the nothingness of Spir-
It's opposite.
| Another mistake that Pastor Russell
| insisted on making for Christian Sci
entists was expressed by him as their
| teaching that God is in everything"
| There Is no such teaching in Christian
| Science. Mrs. Eddy has said, Spirit,
| Soul. is not confined in man, and is
! never in matter" IScienCe and Health
page 467). Christian Science is based
on infinite Spirit. and the infnitude OF
Spirit means. as expressed by Mrs.
Eddy. "one God and His creation, and
no reality In aught else" Christia n
Science versus Pantheism. page 81.
| Therefore the entire argumentative
l
| the supposition. God is in every
thing" as the teaching of Christia n
Science. must fall for lack OF founda-
tion.
Pastor Russell also fell on Mrs.
Eddy's use OF the word "Principle" as
a synonym for God. In the larger die
tionaries. the primary meaning of the
word 'principle" is >origin. source.
cause; that from which anything pro-
ceeds: fundamental substance; Jrimor-
dial substance. 1t has been used by
lexicographers in their definitions OF
Soul or Spirit. as follows: Soul. the
principle OF thought and action In
men" COxford English Dictionary
spirit. the principle of life" Century
Dictionary; Spirit. the universal
principle imparting life from the
Creator" Hastings Dictionary of the
Bible); Spirit, the principle of self
consciousness. self-activity, and OF
rational power in general: that which
signifies a likeness in man to the Di-
vine Being" (New International Die
tionary).
Taking the word principle" as thus
in use. Mrs. Eddy gave it a distinctly
dei1c meaning. which she distinguish.
ed by means OF capital letter. and
employed the word "Principle" with
several other terms ito express the
nature, essence. and wholeness OF
Deity" (Science and Health, page 465)
In effect. the rest of Pastor Rus
sells sermon was fault-finding with
Christian Science because II does not
agree with him on the following
propositions: God is dealing with the
world as criminals under death SEN
| tence" THE church should not ex-
pect divine healing. which is so much
of restitution and will belong to the
world by and by. after Messiah's king
dom shall have been established
Christian Science agrees that true
healing depends on the will or law
OF God, but emphattcally differs from
everything else expressed or implied
in these propositions. Such doctrines
were repudiated over 500 years before
the Christian era; indeed they shoulG
have been obsolete from the days OF
Moses. for he said. speaking of God
He is thy life"
The rejection of Mark 16:l5-lS h,
recourse to higher CRITICISM" as pro
posed by Pastor Russell, would not
help him to controvert the present
possibility OF Christian healing. 10,
two parallel sayings would still re-
main INTACT. No criticism has vel
found a reason for expunging IN.
Masters command to his discipIes es
Heal the sick" and his extension ot
IT to "all nations" as recorded by ST
Matthew. nor any reason for deIetine
these words preserved by st. .Tohn
He that believeth on me, the work,