The Irish standard., 1917-01-27

III lAc b1Ul0 1LSelI, are Ill ldCL Ill Iuo
New Testament. Hence it is called
christian" Science. Let us see how
far this claim is justified. If it be
truly Christian it must be true to the
teaching and to the ideals set forth by
Jesus Christ Himself. The name
Christian means follower of Christ,
and the word has no meaning, or at
least is wrongly applied to any re-
ligious system which denies to Christ
the Divine Nature and Divine Mission
| which He Himself declared He had,
Hence any religion calling itself Chris.
tan must have as it's basis belief in
the Divinity of Christ. Once it cuts
itself adrift from this, then whatever
else it may be called, it certainly can
not be called Christian" If it does
| call itself christian" it is not merely
heresy; it is an imposter as we'll
Because while pretending to retain
the banner of Christ it has long ago
renowned all loyalty to His Divine
kinship. This is exactly what Chris,
| tian Science" has done 1t has kept
the name christian" but nothing else
All through her book the foundress of
this strange sect implies that our
Blessed Lord is a mere man and moth
ing more. For her for her followers
Ia to- mr. 90
the Blessed Trinity, true God and true
man. He was just a common creature
like you or me. For us the Divinity of
Christ is the bedrock on which the
Christian faith is built. Once you de.
StrOy this foundation the whole struc.
ture comes tumbling down. Once this
truth is lost sight of all other truths
will go likewise. So it has happened
with Mrs. Baker Eddy. We have al
ready seen she makes our Blessed
Lord a mere creature. What follows
The Redemption of man by the suffer,
ings of Christ has no lasting value.
In fact there was no real Redemption.
1t was all useless. Man was not re-
deemed. How could there he Re,
, demption since. according to Chris
tan Science" the redeemer Himself
was only a man. His sufferings could
have had no value. Lest you think |
may be exaggerating | will quote you
the words of Mrs. Eddy herself: Does
theology regard the Crucitixion of
Jesus as chiefly providing ready par
don for all sinners who ask for it and
are willing to be forgiven? Then we
must differ. Its efficacy lies in the
!! practical affection and goodness it
demonstrated for mankind" In other
words the suffering and death of our
Savior were absolutely useless as far
| as we are concerned. They showed a
| certain amount Of love and affection
on his part for lis. just as any one man
might show for another, but that was
all. They had no value in the eyes of
God Os u means of salvation for sin
ners. They were powerless to appease
His Wrath. BY one stroke of the pen
the sublime mysteries of the Incarna-
ton and the Atonement are blotted
out as useless. And yet this sect calls
itself Christian. What has Mrs. Eddy
to say of the Sacramento system in,
stituted by Christ? What does she
think OF the sacrament of Baptism and
OF the Blessed Eucharist which every
Christian denomination. even those
outside the Catholic church considers
as important? The institution of the
Blessed Eucharist she calls conces-
sions to matter. BY this she means it
was sort of idle ceremony gone
through by Christ to please deluded
mortals. But it has absolutely no use.
Therefore "Christian Science" lacks
the first principles of Christianity.
Why then, you will ask me, does it
receive this name? Surely there must
have been some reason for calling it
Christian. Yes, there is. 1t is a catch
word to deceive the unwary. Mrs.
Eddy realized that many of her re-
cruits would come from denominations
which, though not catholic, could at
least be called Christian in some
sense. Now these members, while they
might be willing to change some of
their religious tenets, would certainly
not embrace any system openly pagan
and materialistic. They insist on re-
tanning semblance, at least of Chris.
tianity. Hhence they retain it's name.
Again 1t sounds good and respectable
before the world and will be accepted
where a pagan name would be looked
on with suspicion.
But the most curious part of this
modern occultism has yet to be ex-
planned. We have already seen that
it denies the Divinity of Christ. 1t
does great deal more. 1t denies the
very existence of God as distinct from
the world. There is no need to tell
yOu that whoever ,am;+. Az, ,,.,.4ona.