The Washington herald., 1916-04-03
EXPLAINS FAITH
TO Vast THR0NG
Frank Bell, c. S., Lectures on
Christian Science at
Polls Theater.
TALKS ON VITAL POINTS
Lecturer Introduced by Senator John
D. Works, Who Dwells on Bene-
FITS from Scriptures.

ne suDJeCl tndt we are 10 con-
slider has to do with issues that are
vital to all mankind, with questions
that go to the very heart OF human
affairs; questions which. by the way.
involve consequences as important to
those who may have given them lit
tie or no conscious attention as to
the most profound thinkers along
such lines"
The foregoing was the opening
statement made by Frank Bell, c. S..
of the Christian Science
board of lectureship of the mother
church in Boston, in a lecture on
Christian Science" delivered in Polls
Theater yesterday after DON under
auspices of the local Christian Science
churches.
1t was Mr.. Bells first lecture in
Washington and he was greeted by
an overlooking house. He was in
troduced by Senator John d. Works.
who spoke briefly of the benefits that
had come to mankind through cor
rect understanding OF the Scriptures.
Mr.. Bell said in part:
at is obviouh that an intelligent
and good God could not have made
evil, and that to attribute to evil any
other positive source is equivalent to
contending for the impossible theory
OF there being more than one primal
cause or creator. the conclusion nee
essarily is this: That evil is not an
entity at all. but a negation. This
may be illustrated in a simple way.
The Overthrow of Ignorance.
Ignorance is one of the most pro-
nounced types of evil. A very consider
able proportion OF human endesvor is
directed to the overcoming of ignorance.
Thousands OF schools and colleges, hun
dreds of thousands OF teachers. the ire
mendous facilities of modern printing.
publishing. and distribution, are devoted
largely to this service. The profession
of the educator is honored among men.
and the business of education is sup
ported by untold wealth of public and
private funds. And all this vast expendi-
ture of talent and time and treasure Is
directed against what? Against igno-
rance, nothingness
Would the educator succeed II he were
to regard that against which he con-
tends as positive thing. with a real
source and an actual presence and pow
er? Is there school anywhere whose
includes a course of instr,lc-
ton in the origin and elements Of igno-
rance? What would be the opinion OF
a college or university founded upon the
theory that the best way to make
pupil wise is to keep his attention fixed
on the opposite OF wisdom? Though all
education effort is exerted to the over
coming of ignorance. such effort Is based
on full recognition OF the fact that ig-
norance is not of itself anything, but
merely the lack of something and that
the one practical way to dispose of lack
Is by the positive process of supplying
the needful thing
Sickness Not to Be Ignored
sickness is a phase of evil which
needs to be considered from the stand :
point of evils essential negativeness
II II Is to be handled intelligently. This
of course does not mean that the
practice of Christian Science consists
of reiterating in the patients ear that
there is nothing the matter and he
should just forget it, as we yet oc-
casionally hear. even in this enlighten-
ed period. What II means Is that II
the sick man has been thinking dis
ease to be something that it in fact
is not. his difficulty doubtless lies very
much In that direction. and he will
be helped, not harmed. by learning to
see disease for what II is. He needs
not to shut his eyes but to open them.
For instance. 1t would be difficult
to conceive of anything more depress-
ing than for the victim of suffering
to believe that in some unaccountab BILE
way divine purpose is being accom-
plished by means OF his painful ex-
perience. Therefore one OF the things
the sick man needs to know Is that his
Maker is not a party to his undoing,
not in the remotest degree. With that
thought clearly implanted in con-
seriousness the journey healthward has
been well begun and the succeeding
stages should follow in natural Sc
quence. He needs to know that since
infinite intelligence in it's very nature
could not be the author of sickness,
and since there is no other power that
could be it's author, the basis of sick
ness. like ignorance and other forms
of evil. must be nonentity. or mega
tion, not something but the absence or
lack of something.
Clean Thoughts and Health.
In view of what has been here said il
should be evident that Christian Scien-
lists have no fanatical objection to drug
medicines, or other material curatives, as
such. The Christian Scientist dispenses
with material medicines under no species
of compulsion. but as a matter of volun-
tary choice, based upon observation and
experience. If material remedies were
capable of doing all that Is claimed for
them by their most enthusiastic advo-
Gates, they would yet fail to meet the
requirements of the Christian Scientist,
for the reason that the whole system
OF material medicine is devoted solely to
physical conditions which the Christian
Scientist understands to be only effects,
not causes.
There is a mass of evidence of a
direct and particular nature to be found
in the individual testimonies of healing
in the official publication of the Chris.
tian Science Church. The Christian
Science Journal, for instance, has been
published monthly since 1883, being now
in its thirty-third year. The Christian
Science Sentinel, issued every week, is
in its eighteenth year. Each issue of
these publications contains statements
of from eight to dozen persons who
testify to having been healed through
Christian Science of ills that cover vir-
tually the whole range of human suffer-
ing"
LkIl MEI1 Ann O,OnT