The herald. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1905-1953, 1920-10-14

The christianity scientific method OF
treating disease and sin meets the hui
man need today as surely as il healed
the sick and reformed the sinner in
the first century Of the Christian era.
! The apostle James left a word Of in.
struction which was intended for all
men in all ages and not merely for
/ those who lived in his day. In the
4 fifth chapter Of his epistle We read a.
is any sick among you? Let him call
/ for the elders OF the church: and let
/ them pray over him. amounting him
with oil in the name of the Lord. and
the prayer Of faith shall save the sick.
and the Lord shall raise him up. and
I if he have committed sins they shall
| be forgiven him"
No distinction is made between types
! or forms Of disease. The method OF
practice here outlined will suffice in
. one case as we'll as another. Jesus did
! not teach that some diseases are cur
able and others incurable: on the con
| trary he healed all manner Of physical
and moral intirmities and taught his
| followers to do likewise
James instructed the sick to call
! for the elders of the church" 1t is
evident he did not mean that the sick
should appeal only to those who had
been elected or appointed to some Off
cial position in the church organiza-
ton. for in the same epistle he tells
them to pray one for another that they
| might be healed. BY the elders of the
church, the apostle must have meant
those who were advanced in spiritual
! understanding; those who had gained
| such a grasp Of the teachings Of Jesus
! as would enable them to do the heal
ing works which he declared would be
done by all who understood him
Let them pray over him, amounting
him with oil in the name of the Lord +"
These words should not be interpreted
as indorsing the use of material rene
dies. The oil had nothing whatever to
do with the healing. II should be re-
garded as but the sign and symbol of
that spiritual amounting which cleauses
and purifies. Jesus once anOinted the
eyes of blind man with clay and sent
him to wash in the pool of Sloan.
Whatever the lesson the Master sought
to teach on this occasion. surely no
one believes il was the CLAW which
opened the eyes of one who had been
born blind, or that Jesus here showed
QnnrnVal of hn Of
means for healing. If such had been
his intention there would have been
some reference to it in his teachings
and his followers would have been
carefully instructed on a matter of
such vital importance This is the
only instance in the life of Jesus where
anything was said or done which could
in any manner possibly suggest a ma
terial remedy for fleshy ills, and vet
we have no record that any school of
medicine, or even one recognized prac-
ttioner, has ever attempted. by means
Of an application of clay to restore
sight to one who was born blind.
The apostle tells Us that the pray
er of faith shall save the sick. and the
Lord shall raise him up There is no
question as to who, or what. is the
healer. The prayer of faith is the
means by which man is brought into
harmony with the law of supreme
good, yet it is God. and not man, who
heals the sick. OF himself man is help
less to accomplish any good work
even the faith which makes possible
his obedience to divine law is the gift
of God.